The Classics, Better than Business Guides

John Sloan, “Reading on the Subway” (1926)

In one of my college’s presidential inauguration events this past weekend, my son Darien talked about the importance of a liberal arts education to him as a small businessman.  His talk was at the dinner preceding our keynote talk by Eduardo Ochoa, head of the Postsecondary Education wing of the Department of Education.  Since I was introducing Dr. Ochoa, we decided to make it a family affair.

Darien and his wife Betsy run a small marketing company in Manhattan called Discovering Oz. They do business for artists and arts organizations, non-profits, and mission-driven companies.  Here’s his talk:

By Darien Bates, Creative Strategist, Discovering Oz Inc.

Hello, my name is Darien Bates. And I’m a theater major.

That wasn’t the way I introduced myself at my first job interview after college. The job was as an account manager for a short run financial services publication sent to bankers, financial advisors, and policy makers. Highlighting my theater experience didn’t seem like an optimal strategy.

No. I touted my background in journalism working for the local paper. I highlighted the cultural journalism work I did, and captaining the soccer team.  I still didn’t get the job.

I’ve been on many interviews since then, and all of them involved me making a case for my varied experience. How a blend of writing skills, literary knowledge, journalism, and, yes, theater, made me a qualified candidate. Apparently I can be pretty persuasive and I managed a pretty good track record. Throughout this time, however, there was always a sense that my degree, while it may have helped me become an articulate, well-rounded peson who can project while speaking in pubic, was an obstacle when it came to professional circumstances.

Then two years ago, in what was either a brilliant calculation or a foolish gamble, I moved to New York City with Betsy, my wife (also a St. Mary’s graduate) to found a marketing agency together. Our clients were to be mission driven companies, nonprofit organizations and arts organizations.

While I had worked in marketing previously, I hadn’t exactly studied the intricacies of business. And, as you may recall, my degree was not exactly related.

When you walk through the business section of the Strand, the great New York bookstore with their 12 miles of books, you can quickly get the impression that business is an intricate world of secret codes, high tech algorithms, and ballsy entrepreneurs. There are books telling you how to make the money you deserve, how to impress big clients, how to turn dreams into success, how to turn success into more success.

I walked through this section when we were starting out, and there was nothing in these books that appeared of any help navigating the complicated feelings that go with starting a business.  Nothing that spoke to a desire for individual achievement and public service.  Nothing about the pure and utter terror of the unknown.

I walked out of the bookstore that day with five books: Plato’s Republic, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, Rousseau’s Social Contract, Machiavelli’s Prince, and the Tao Te Ching. Over the course of the first two months of starting the business, often on the subway, I read through these books, finding support in the most surprising of places.

All of them dealt with the complex challenges of finding one’s way in the world.  All of them sought to drag the entire world forward, one idea at a time.

I recently came across a debate in the New York Times about whether a skills-specific education or a liberal arts education is a better investment for individuals and for society. On this point at least two people are divided: Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Gates believes that a specialized education helps us better improve upon what is. Jobs believes that a humanities education helps us discover a vision of what can be.

In my perspective, we need both. There are challenges that can only be met by people trained in specific skills at an early age.  Discovering Oz hires designers and web developers with just this kind of training.

However, I know that we also face enormous challenges that are bigger than any one person and that extend beyond a single person’s lifetime.  I know that we need individuals with broad knowledge of a range of studies, from literature to biology to the social sciences.  Such knowledge is essential to plotting a course for the future.

Just eight years removed from St. Mary’s, I don’t know if I’m at the point where I can look back at the education I received with some grand perspective: calculus with David Kung, U.S. History with Chuck Holden, soccer with Coaches Wagner and Gainey.  It is still not always clear to me how each of the lessons they imparted will have specific relevance.

But I also know that I’ve found essential guidance from the diverse elements of my education, and that these resources are essential as I continue to work out where the next step lies for me and for our business, which recently celebrated its second anniversary.

What is for certain is that I now proudly note that I’m a theater major on our website.

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