Posted by One morning, I asked myself some questions after observing many students and university graduates.
Do you know that a tomato seller has a business model, whether they are aware of it or not?
What about the woman operating your favourite gobɛ or fufu joint (both are popular local Ghanaian dishes), do you know she also makes procurement and supply chain management decisions?
Even the person selling at the provision shop, do you know that person knowingly or unknowingly makes financial management decisions?
These local sellers may not necessarily have a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce or Business Administration. They may not even know all the fancy business terms I just used in the preceding paragraphs. I doubt others have even heard any of those terms. Yet, they’re using the same principles, and even better, it’s working for them, and their businesses are successful.
What am I driving at?
Maybe in terms of “practical application”, you think you haven’t learnt anything useful at the university. Or perhaps, is it you who hasn’t used what you learnt???
It’s not about knowing all the terms in your field. Learning goes beyond the boundaries of formal education in the classroom, and a big part of learning has to do with application.
Application is simply the primary result of a person’s ability to identify structures and patterns in the most basic things. Like how a local provision shop restocks. Then, map them to the procurement knowledge one has acquired from the university—I know you’ll find something interesting there.
So, enough of just gathering knowledge on a glass pedestal in the chambers of our minds. Let’s be intentional with whatever we’ve learnt, and try to solve a problem at home, in our vicinities, or wherever we find ourselves.
And let’s have fun doing it.
See you soon,
James.