They say the hardest class in the Lerner School of Business and Economics is Statistics. More students take statistics online or at a different university than any other class in the business school. As someone who likes math and was never interested on taking such a class online, I wondered, what could be so damn hard about it?
First, you had to understand statistics. You didn’t have to understand a lot, but you needed to have a deep grasp of the topics that were covered. This means that you can’t memorize formulas and cram for the test.
Second, and more interestingly, you had to know what the professor was looking for. Even if you understood the material pretty well, you still wouldn’t ace an exam because there were certain phrases you had to include to really speak his language. Now, this is undoubtedly a flaw in the exam design. Questions should be clearly worded and not only comprehensible to a certain professor’s students. But, if you understood this point, you could get an A in the class. If you failed to appreciate it, you were doomed for a lower grade.
Countless friends of mine refused to acknowledge just how much this professor’s personal influence affected test questions. Instead of catering their answers, they did the work by the book and lost points for not including the things that the professor cared about. Then they got mad because they lost points on the details.
While this may seem like a silly story about college statistics, that professor is a classic gatekeeper. He is guarding the good grades, and the only way to get them is to give him what he wants.
Gatekeepers exist everywhere. Influencers have people that read their email. Executives have assistants that schedule their meetings.
Getting past any gatekeeper is a unique task. You can’t put your head down and do what you were taught in the textbook. Each one is a person, so listen to what they’re saying. Make sure you’re speaking their language before you go and ask for the treasure they’re guarding.
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