Initially,
being presented the question “why business,” I could not offer an answer with
much depth. My response was rather simple minded; I am planning on being a
clinical psychologist and owning my own practice, and to do so, I need some
general business competence and knowledge. Becoming a clinical psychologist
still remains my goal for the future, and through attending class and reading
Drucker I have been able to establish an in-depth explanation as to why I am
interested in business, and how it applies to my intended future career as a
clinical psychologist. In his essays, Drucker
provides extensive insight on business and society in general. He includes
ideas about education, values, and time which have helped me gain more
awareness of the ultimate question, “why business.”
To understand why I want to become a clinical
psychologist, first you have to understand my values; Drucker presents a quote
that caught my attention. In his discussion about the importance of realizing
your own values, in this quote Drucker has come to understand his values of
life, he states: “People, what I realized were my values. I saw no point in
being the richest man in the cemetery.” This quote grabbed my attention for
many reasons. One reason has to do with why I am pursuing a higher education in
the first place. I, unlike many students, am not attending college for financial
growth. In fact financial growth is the exact opposite of what is happing by my
attending school (especially Pacific Lutheran University). I am here to learn
how I can make a difference, and how I can contribute to the greater good of
our society. Throughout my whole life, I have always wanted to help others. Along
with that, I believe everyone has the right to seek and find happiness in his
or her life. It is my hope that I will be able to help provide that for people.
To do so, I need to understand people. Psychology seems like the best option to
provide such services, and I am attending school to learn how to do so.
Drucker also discusses the value of time. He
stresses the importance of using time efficiently and effectively. I also value
time because I understand we are only provided limited amount of time in which
to liver our lives. Drucker states,
“The supply of time is totally
inelastic. No matter how high the demand, the supply will not increase. There
is no price for it and no marginal utility curve for it. Moreover, time is
totally perishable and cannot be stored. Yesterday’s time is gone forever and
will never come back. Time is, therefore, always in exceedingly short supply”.
Understanding this view, as I share the same one, is
essential to understanding why I want to pursue a career in psychology. I
believe though psychology, I will be able to give back to my community by doing
something which I love and find intriguing.
If I can do that, I will never view my time as wasted.
Something I found rather startling
were the answers to the question of, why business, when it was presented to us
on the first day of class. Most students said they were interested in business
because they wanted to make a lot of money. Drucker actually confronts this
issue when talking about “liberal education”.
He discusses the first intention and value of a “liberal education”,
which tends to take on a more humanist stand point at first, but he further
discusses how these face values and views have depleted over the years. Drucker
explains that it is “liberal education” that has become the “brightest desert
for crass, vulgar, money grubbing reality”. I find view this particularly
ironic considering the correlation between the responses we heard in class, and
the fact that PLU’s main marketing draw is the education one will receive,
which is rooted in liberal arts.
I do value money. It is essential to our
society’s survival, but it has never been my main focus. When it comes to my purpose of life, I do not
place much value on it. I have a egalitarian view of life, and I place value in
the idea of an equal, helpful, and peaceful lifestyle. So, taking business to
become rich is not why I am here. I am here because I am more interested in the
overall view of life. Our society is SO economically driven, and business is
becoming increasingly important. Understanding why and how business works, and
how it influences us is the reason of why I am taking a business class. I am
here for the “liberal education”. I want to be educated and have a general
understanding of our culture as a whole, and I believe business can offer a lot
of insight as to how and why our society as a whole functions the way it does.
Knowledge is power. As I have just
stated, business is our countries means of surviva. Without business or
innovation, jobs would not be available, and without jobs, cash flow would
greatly be reduced. When cash flow is restricted our economy suffers, and with
economic suffrage, our nation suffers considerably. Just like the cycle of
life, each aspect of business affects another. I believe this understanding is
vital and necessary. To have a understanding of business is to have a greater
understanding of all the other aspects of life in today’s industrialized society.
In his book, Drucker applies the importance of knowledge to business; I,
however, apply knowledge of business to my future career, and to being a well
rounded citizen. In either case, his quote concerning knowledge is interesting,
and I believe it can be applied to either scenario. He states, “With knowledge
becoming the key resource, the educated person faces new demands, new
challenges, and new responsibilities. The educated person now matters.” To
actively function into today’s society an individual’s amount of knowledge
becomes extremely vital. As I said before, knowledge is power, and today in
America, business plays an active role in our everyday lives. That Is why I
believe it is important to have at least a general understanding of business. Knowledge
of business makes a better-rounded individual.
So, “Why business?” Because it is applicable
to today’s industrialized mode of production. It is essential to western means
of living, and within this cultural context, I have found a career that I would
like to pursue rooted in my values and beliefs of how society should function.
To say that business does not play a key role in my life would be ignorant. It
impacts me in ways I am sure I do not even realize. Therefore, I propose, why
not business? Why would I not want to be educated in an element so relevant to
my generation’s upbringing? As Drucker states, “What we do need-and what will
define the educated person in the knowledge society- is the ability to understand
the various knowledge’s.” By taking this business course, understanding various
knowledge’s is exactly what I am trying to achieve.