The Basics

Sometimes knowing less than everyone else is an advantage. I studied Business Science at the university. Like most of the people around me. We did have the token humanities, medics and science students, but for most of the people in residence with me at UCT the 'stock' for the soup was 'how to make money'. University wasn't about expanding your mind. It was about preparing for the next stage and providing. There were many courses we all did together to learn the basics, before dividing off into various specialties.

One course was Accounting. The last exam I did at school was Accounting, and I swore it was the last time I would have to 'balance the books'. I still feel guilty about how difficult I made my Accounting teachers life with my moaning. I felt like we had been tricked. Our introduction to the subject had been fun. We had figured out what we were worth, and made up businesses. Actually doing the bean counting was less exciting, and that is what you had to do for the exams.

I went to England for two years between school and university. I left school wanting to do all sorts of creative things. Then London smacked some reality into me. When I came back, I had taken the deeply pragmatic decision to study something that made money. As irony would have it, the first test I ended up doing was on the thing I had sworn to put behind me.

Not everyone had done Accounting at school. So the first lecture was very basic. The second lecture saw attendance plummet. Those 'who knew' didn't come back. For those for whom the basics were new, they weren't so basic. They came back.

Lesson 1 in Accounting is the 'Double Entry Principle'. A = O + L. Assets = Owners Equity plus Liabilities. Everything that happens has two sides that balance. The thing is there, but as important as the thing, is who owns it. Who is it doing the work for? What you see isn't the end of the story. When you see someone with a big house, a fancy car, and smart clothing... that is definitely not the end of the story in figuring out their level of financial security. This is Basic, but it is also the key. What you see is not all there is.

Those 'who knew', got used to the later mornings. Those 'who didn't', scurried to try and learn all the things the others had it half the time. They got used to having to work harder. My two-year gap had knocked a big chunk of confidence out of me. The binge studying for final exams had disappeared. I had the long hair of someone who had wandered off into the wilderness and forgotten his table manners, so I came back much more humble than the moany high school accounting student.

Eventually, who was doing the scurrying changed when suddenly the level jumped. By that point, it wasn't what you knew that was important. It was the habits that were being formed.

What you see is not all there is. Hold on to the Basics.

University