Irritating

Pearls are the result of an oyster overcoming an irritation. A piece of foreign matter is somehow introduced to the inside of the shell where it begins irritating the oyster and until the oyster takes action, the irritation continues. The oyster begins the slow continuous process of covering the irritant with nacre, which is the substance that covers the inside of the oyster shell. Over time and with consistent effort, the oyster turns the irritant into a pearl. As the oyster grows the pearl grows. The oyster would surely expel the irritant if it were able, but since it cannot it is forced to make the best of the irritating situation or go oyster-crazy. Some of the most beautiful and elegant jewelry ever made consist of pearls, which began their existence as an irritant.

The same can be said about some people and situations in personal and professional life. They are irritating. The irritation typically begins as a rather small matter but often grows into a monster of an issue because it goes ignored, often because of the desire to avoid confrontation. The value judgment starts to come into play because of the irritation and decisions are made that are intended to eliminate the irritation rather than round the irritating corners off and perhaps develop a pearl of an outcome.

There are going to be times when things and people that are beyond your control pop up and begin to irritate you. These are the opportunities to take an irritant and gradually smooth out the cutting surfaces and create a smooth pearl of an outcome. Consider irritants as opportunities, otherwise you may become one yourself.

Who Is Fooling Who

I remember when not everyone in college passed. I remember when there were fewer really good
grades than the other kind. I remember a time when you had to really push hard in college to make excellent grades and the accomplishments were really special, because there were fewer making A's than the other letter-grades that, by design, represented a lower level of accomplishment.

Today it just ain't so. A study conducted by professors, Stuart Rojstaczer and Christopher Healy, revealed that in 1960 the most common grade in college given nationwide was a C. In fact D's and F's accounted for more grades combined than A's which were given at a rate of 15%. Today the largest percentage of grades, across a wide range of schools, are A's, The reality is not real. 73% of all college grades are either A or B (43% are A's). Are we to assume that the students of today are really that much smarter than those of days past? Should we surmise that the college students of today are really buckling down, not wed to their smart phones and taking no academic prisoners? I don't think so.

What this says about higher learning on a massive scale is that these students are living in a bubble that someone designed. Who knows what the intention is but it will be painfully obvious what the results are once the veil of academia is lifted and the application of the knowledge acquired is necessary to thrive or just survive.

Once these coddled young adults get in the business world, a rude awakening likely awaits. Because these students were excelling in their previous protected environment according to the grades they were given, and watched in admiration and awe as the grass grew greener right under their studious feet, the new reality may be hard to accept. They will find that the business world is a bit more demanding. Out here if you don't really produce you really fail and nothing is going to stop that from happening except the focused efforts that produce at the required levels of expectations.

To they who are making really good grades because you earned them, stay the course because the disciplined behavioral foundations you are utilizing to make the grade now, will pay off later in your professional endeavors. There are many schools to choose from that do grade students well and fairly and they produce the type of prepared individual that will be in a position to make positive contributions.