Thank you.

A big, boring book?

It happened in 2015. 

At the end of that year, I was about to complete the very first semester of my bachelor degree in Business Administration & Information Technology in Vechta, Germany. It was the last lecture before the exam, and we were given a few short weeks to review specified sections of a big book on economics. According to course requirements, everyone had to obtain their own copy. Some of my fellow students were already complaining among themselves: “Why do we need to buy this book? It is so expensive!” or “We will never look into it again after. This is a waste of money!”.

Indeed, more than 80 USD isn’t exactly cheap for a book. However, I experienced in the past that some books sometimes hold great information for exams or teachers re-using examples from these books. Additionally, I saw fellow students from my days from high school struggle if they didn’t purchase a required textbook for a particular class.

This is strange.

When the exam was over, the book was no longer required. I put the book on my bedside table after coming home from the exam (I quickly unpacked my bag to go to another friends house). Typically, after coming home, I would just have moved it and put it away. It could have just ended up in the corner, with many other books from the time when I was in German high school ready to never be reread. But it didn’t.

I picked it up before going to bed, flipped through a few other chapters which we didn’t read during the course, and realised how little we actually covered in the exam. The book itself held so much knowledge! And this is how much we learned in half a year? Shocking.

I kept reading another chapter to see what we might have missed. Initially, I intended to quickly overview to put our past learning in a better context of a whole. Nonetheless, I quickly remembered how much fun I had discussing concepts from the book in class and to come up with examples that would approve those concepts - or not. And reading that book became just the same! Not just an enforced read from a teacher (which is truly the most awful form of reading in my opinion) but rather a developed interest and true joy that let me continue reading and finishing that book. 

So I just thoroughly read a scientific book without any humour or entertaining elements, and I enjoyed it? This is strange.

Starting.

I kept on signing up for related newsletters online, attending events (even on vacation) and tried to get more into touch with people about this topic. But it was not easy. Some of the people I met before were very specialized and also not that much interested in the subject. Maybe it had to do with which events I visited. Still, whenever bringing up this specific topic, the conversation almost always quickly shifted back to the original one.

I truly wanted to get to know more about this topic. But I am somewhat limited in time at the moment with work and study. What can I do?

I thought I needed to do something. Right now. Yes, I am working as well as studying - but I told myself that that is simply a bunch of excuses. Not having time is about priorities. I needed to step up and do something and get in touch with people of the same interest to learn as much as possible. Now. 

This is why I created Uncover Strategy.

Thank you. 📝 It has only been a few months, but I am incredibly grateful for everyone who has contributed. Let's keep this discussion going. I would love hea...

Can’t you just keep reading books?

Reading a book is practically cheating. I mean think about it like this: What if I told you that you can have almost any person you admire teach you their experiences, passions and motivation? That is possible! Just read their book! Books and any other form of created content for the purpose of education will secure a huge advantage. You will not have to do what they did. You will not have to go through what they did (sometimes). But you get one of the best things that came as a result: Insights.

So can’t you just keep reading books? Of course! I will most certainly continue to do so. But where is the fun?

Looking at the simple sender and receiver communication model, this is a one-way street. You can talk back at that book about you being thankful all day. It will never talk back. And most importantly, it will never give you hints about your own situation or the opportunity to provide your own insights and thoughts to it.

I am excited to hear other peoples opinion, thoughts, criticism and ideas. I needed a way to open my receiving channel. Not only to receive feedback but most importantly, to do more about what I discovered to love: business strategy discussions.

Thank you.

I am so incredibly grateful for everyone who has devoted their time to the (few) articles I wrote so far and provided me with a wealth of information and further resources. Living and studying in South Australia is something I would have never expected to happen when I started my bachelors. Even less, I expected to one day create content on my own. But I am loving it - and that is mostly because of you all who have given me insights, tips and most importantly support.

I hope to see one or the other maybe stick around and leave a comment on how I can improve or what your opinions are on what I have put out there. I would genuinely appreciate any form of input. And if you think I can help you out with anything - contact me any time. I would be happy to do so and grow together.

All the best from Australia,

Simon