The Taiwanese education system is setting students up for failure professionally. From K to 12 and on to college, we’re taught that good students are to be seen but not heard. We are not to turn left if told to go straight. We are never to raise objections because the teachers are forever the beacon of light that leads always to the truth. We are not to deviate, only to imitate and replicate. We are programmed to be docile sheep. Conformity always comes first, never try to buck the system and God forbid that you should ever stand out.
But corporations are not looking to hire robots. If they were, they would’ve streamlined and mass produced them themselves, and the economies of scale alone would’ve saved them money. They’re scouting for talents who are able to learn the basics, then integrate and improvise. They are looking for innovation and origination. More importantly, they are looking for prospects with the audacity to blaze new trails and take the roads less traveled. None of which are things we were trained in the seventeen long years of our education. We were never incentivized to develop these skills, nor were we ever penalized for lacking them. We sit in classrooms and the only sound that should ever be heard from students is the scratching of pencils against notebooks. Teachers and professors prepare two-hour monologues that will last the entire class with no expectations of any interruptions. Performance is measured only by how well you memorize and recite. Unfortunately in real life, an above-average short-term memory doesn’t land you many jobs that’d pay.
In real life, there are no written exams to take, there isn’t that back row corner seat where you can shrink back and hide out in, you can’t slack off for the first 2 months of the semester and start cramming for the final in the very last week and still hope to ace the test; participation grade doesn’t just take up an insignificant 10 percent, and you can’t expect to not ever say a word and still walk away with an A and be put on the honor roll. In corporate, one day you’re silent, and the next day you’re no longer relevant. It’s really all a big game of charades (and not miming). Performance may not be limited to verbal contribution, but having a voice and an opinion certainly is the first step to establishing a reputation and setting yourself up for success.
In real life, docile sheep doesn’t stand a chance. People want kings of the jungle. And they expect to hear your roars from miles afar.
Be heard to be seen. Speak up, or wash out.
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