Because
A client of mine is absurdly successful by any definition. Not only does he have 400 employees and associated income, but his three daughters adore him, look forward to Sundays at Papi’s cheering for the Dolphins, eating barbecue from recipes that their dad has perfected over the decades. Enrique’s job may be stressful, but you would never know it. He doesn’t bring work home and never goes into the office on the weekends. “My family comes first. Period” he says. "Sunday is for my girls and the Fins. Don’t ask me who I love more.”
Having had the pleasure to do college placements for his children, I feel pretty confident about the answer to his rhetorical question, but I want to look a little deeper at Enrique’s resume and abilities before making a point about his education and training. And of course there is some gentle advice for parents in 2025.
Enrique claims to have only modest skill as an entrepreneur. “I have been lucky to have hired the right people in positions of leadership” he says. “My CFO and my COO are hard workers. They make me look good.”
I am again going to question Enrique’s modest appraisal. With hundreds of employees, offices in three states, and gross revenue equivalent to the defense budget of much of Europe, I’m suggesting that Enrique’s success has to do with his ability. So years ago when I first started working with his oldest daughter I asked him about his educational background. I assumed an MBA from Wharton or HBS. I figured he had studied business administration, marketing, and management at Babson or Bentley. He probably did an internship with a similar organization before striking out on his own.
Nah.
Enrique never went to college, didn’t finish high school actually. His family emigrated from Cuba in 1980 when Enrique was in the ninth grade. His schooling was interrupted by the necessity of loading trucks so that the family—all of whom together didn’t speak a dozen words of English—could eat.
Every one of my readers knows an American success story similar to Enrique's. But why do so many folks take an “outcome”—in this case success in business—and work backwards to a singular “cause”—usually a highly selective college.
I wouldn’t wish those years of deprivation on anyone. Enrique's family suffered food insecurity for years. But suggesting that to raise successful kids a good plan is to head to another country in the middle of the night where you don’t know the language makes no sense.
Lots of affluent CEOs went to top schools. Maybe Kellogg (Northwestern), Sloan (MIT), and Booth (University of Chicago) collect good graduate students rather than produce them. Maybe “top” schools admit students with the same qualities that allow those kids to head successful companies.
Similarly, there are any number of “Enriques” who are, years later, still loading boxes onto trucks.
Making a causal inference from correlations is always a mistake. Making a causal inference from one factor among a multitude of features is an inexcusable blunder.
Enrique has a consolation of qualities some of which are doubtless good predictors of success. But picking one—he has only a ninth grade education, he never took a business course, he was hungry and eager to learn—is equivalent to suggesting that students who attend highly competitive schools are destined to own companies with 400 employees. We all know highly successful graduates who don't have any employees never mind 400 of them.
As always the takeaways are evident. Focus on what is in your child's head--their abilities will matter more than their credentials. Don't assume that attending a "good" school inevitably leads to infinite good outsomes. And don't take too much credit, or too much blame, if your kids end up as successful entrepreneurs or Dolphin fans.
