#107 Training is not Education

Training can effectively be measured by Return on Investment.  Education cannot.

 

Return on investment is an effective way to measure training.  It’s a terrible way to measure education.  The Wall Street Journal made three attempts recently to do this.   The first article is titled, Is college worth the cost?  The second is How Much MBA Debt should students take on?  And the third asks Should USC Push a $115,000 online degree?  The answers are: Yes, as little as possible, and no.

Let’s unpack.  “Is College Worth the Cost?”  “That depends,” answers the Wall Street Journal.  Problem is: They are trying to measure the unmeasurable.  A friend visited our home this week, whom I met as a freshman in college in the fall of 1973.  What’s a 48-year friendship worth?  You see, college is more than a diploma that’s used as a bludgeon to beat society over the head until it gives you want you want.  College is where we gain an understanding of our world.  That understanding is not always rewarded in dollars. 

 

What and Why are Different Questions

I have participated in both education and training in my teaching career.  For many years, I worked for the AICPA.  I would leave my DBU class and rush to the airport.  The next day I would lead a seminar for Certified Public Accountants.  Also, my consulting partner, David Deviney and I have produced this nice collection of half-day management seminars.  That’s training, which can and SHOULD be measured in ROI.  Because the definition of training is “Teaching a skill or behavior.”  It answers the “what” question.

Education is defined as “An enlightening experience,” because it answers the “why” question.  The unexamined life is not worth living.  Or “An unlived life is not worth examining.”  Get it?  

 

Work is Good

In Biblical Economic Policy, Sergiy Saydometov and I claim we have found Ten Biblical Commandments of Economics. The one that applies here is called “Work is good.”  We believe God worked in the very first verse of Genesis, and He wants us to work.  I explain that in more detail in podcast #24 titled Work is Good.  I warn my students against getting on their high horse about being educated and comparing themselves to those who did not earn a college degree, but had training.  My Dad owned a one-man fuel delivery business and encouraged his five kids to attend Christian liberal arts colleges.  He made a wonderful contribution to his community, as HVAC technicians and plumbers do.  Christians believe that all work is God’s work – with of course, a few exceptions for things like prostitution and pornography. 

 

An Audience of One

This idea of training to answer the “What” questions and educating to answer the “why” questions is answered for our students at Dallas Baptist University, every time they attend a basketball or volleyball game at the Burg Center on our campus.  The “what” is clearly exemplified in the practice and training they do as a team every day.  They “why” is answered by this sign that is posted above the entry to the gym.  It’s taken from a chapter title in The Call by Oz Guinness.  If you can’t remember how to spell his name,