Recently, whilst having lunch with several successful businessmen, the value of formal education was being discussed and one said, "When I got out of school, I thought I was fully educated and ready to take on the business world, but actually, I was clueless."

The others laughed, recalling their own introductions into business. All agreed that, although they had taken all of the requisite courses, formal schooling prepared them not at all in the understanding of commerce.

That is, all except one. He, as a boy, had been encouraged by his parents to take on a paper route, open lemonade stands, cut lawns for neighbours, etc. Although his parents couldn't afford university for him, by the time he graduated high school, he thoroughly understood the principles of commerce.

The bicycle that he rode in his early teens was bought out of profits from his early business ventures. Later on, he bought his first car out of his earnings. And so, when he left school, he hit the road running and was ahead of his "luckier" peers who were then at university.

When they graduated, each had an advantage the others didn't have. Yet, at the lunch meeting mentioned above, each university graduate agreed that understanding commerce, which they had had to learn on their own, after graduation, was the central lesson that enabled their later success.

So why do businessmen so often agree that the primary ingredient to success—that of understanding commerce (developing a work ethic, a sense of self-reliance and responsibility to customers, staying solvent, etc.)—was something that they had to gain by their own efforts? Why was this vital component not drilled into them in school?

Well, the simple answer can be found in the old saw, "Those who can, do; those who can't, teach." Which is to say that those who simply do not grasp or do not wish to have to deal with the essential lessons of understanding commerce often become teachers. And of course, they can't teach to others what they don't understand themselves.