A gifted student will likely take many classes in English, history, science, and math in high school, but he may have little exposure to business, especially if he does not work (and the teenage employment rate has fallen). An economics course could help but is still abstract. My high school offered an accounting course, but the best students did not take it. When I was a teenager I knew little about the business world or what executives did.

Here are some things I would like them to understand about business. There are probably books that explain the business world to teenagers.

Executives are paid to make informed decisions about what products to produce and sell, how to market them, where to open offices, whom to hire and how to set pay, how to fund operations, and countless other things. Successful executives tend to be smart because intelligence helps them make good decisions. Increasing profits is what they are paid by their shareholders (including many retirees, pension funds, and college endowments who need returns) to do. Bad management can be bad for workers as well. If executives make bad decisions about product lines, their companies are forced to shrink, and workers are laid off. Business is about serving people.


"To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle." - George Orwell