Education is Broken: Here's How to Fix It

According to leading experts, application is the new education, and your work portfolio is your new resume.

Tomorrow’s leaders are increasingly winning by pursuing independent studies and projects that provide practical hands-on training, they say – people can learn more and achieve more by making and doing things than sitting in front of textbooks.

Why do self-taught successes continue to amaze us? Because in a fast-changing, highly-unpredictable business world, success isn’t about being smarter or more experienced. It’s about being savvier and more resourceful. The goal isn’t to be a better student; it’s to be one that’s more inventive and practical. Teach yourself to improvise, and you can teach yourself to get an A+ in life and business, regardless of what you score on tests or what you’ve paid for your education. You don’t need an MBA. You don’t need a PhD. You need a GSD (get stuff done) degree to set yourself apart.

Case in point: If millions graduate every year with similar skills on paper, what’s to help you stand out from other candidates? Here are a few simple ways to pull ahead of rivals, and vault to the top of HR’s stack, none of which require thousands in tuition or piles of course credits to achieve.