How Books Replaced A College Degree

In every personality test that I’ve ever taken, my most polarised category is invariably the observant/intuitive scale. This is the scale that determines where you direct your mental energy; I’m extremely observant and don’t like to leave much up to chance. 

So the decision to delay starting university for the foreseeable future wasn’t taken lightly. I’m passionate about personal development and prosper in settings of formal education. However, in the context of the unique career opportunity that arose just at the right time, I was able to, observationally, make my decision wholeheartedly.

I say observationally, as along with the decision to forgo university offers, I entered into a silent contract with myself that impels me to read at least 2 books a month to self-educate and bridge the gap. The contract doesn’t discriminate the type of books I can read; any business-adjacent, self-improvement fiction texts will do. 

And for those of you who don’t know me, I’m a stickler for these silent contracts…for better, and for worse.

Now, two years into my young career and more than 50 books down, I want to share some of the knowledge that has helped me build our company from four people just 12 months ago, to the current 120 people and counting. 

While I’m by no means an ambassador for the anti-university tide, and wouldn’t dare recommend it without the appropriate context, I’m comfortable with my decision, for me. My friends and colleagues have for the most part relished their university experience, but one after the other, I’ve watched them enter the workforce feeling mildly unequipped. 

I’m certainly missing that diploma on my wall, but otherwise, I feel like I belong...and I definitely have my library to thank.

Over the next 5 weeks, I’m going to release a series entitled, “Top 10 Books that have Helped Me in Business, Practically!” The core focus will be on how the information in the book has helped me in my day-to-day business setting, accelerating the trajectory of my career by years. Throughout the series, I will share the story of MultiplyMii and Escala, exploring how lessons from these books have practically impacted the direction of our businesses.

And as always, if you do like the content, please tell my Mum. 

If you don’t, please tell me - let’s improve each other! 

Series Introduction - How Books Replaced a College Degree

#10 - The Hard Thing About Hard Things - Ben Horowitz

#9 - The Lean Startup - Eric Ries

#8 - Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell

#7 - Zero to One - Peter Theil

#6 - The Undoing Project - Michael Lewis

#5 - Freakonomics - Stephen D Levitt & Stephen J Dubner

#4 - Steve Jobs - Walter Isaacson

#3 - The Sales Acceleration Formula - Mark Roberge

#2 - Multipliers - Liz Wiseman

#1 - Traction - Gino Wickman