Twenty-four years ago, as a wet-behind-the-ears ex-salesman and marketing guy, I attended the AeA Stanford Executive Institute.  My expectations were grandiose:  since I'd been hand-picked by my company to attend, becoming CEO almost immediately would be a slam dunk.  It actually took another 17 years for me to become CEO, and it may not have ever happened without an important lesson I learned at the Institute:  the lesson of humility.

The lecturers and the other attendees were a cut above the usual people one meets in the business world.  They had an energy level and achievement orientation that were truly extraordinary.  Everyone involved, even the lecturers, had a hunger for learning, for benchmarking, for comparing ideas, and for absorbing knowledge.  There were people from all functions in business, people who could make intuitive decisions about manufacturing, or engineering, or finance, or other areas that I had never thought much about.  And the format of the sessions threw me together with these people for intense and focused interaction to solve real business problems.

My feeling of inadequacy at the time was humbling. How could I ever be a CEO when there were hundreds or thousands of people as talented as my classmates, who had a depth of knowledge far outside of my zone of familiarity.

However, looking back on the experience now, I realize that I observed something about business that I might not have ever learned:  there is more to know in the business world than any human being can possibly ever know.  My classmates knew things I would never know, and visa versa.  My eyes were opened to a limitless and rich world of new ideas and new areas to explore. 

• I learned that all decisions are made without knowing everything you need to know, and the difference between success and failure might be the difference between being right 60% of the time and being right 40% of the time.
  
  

• I learned that experience and intuition, my own and that of others, leads to better decisions than purely abstract analysis.
  
  

• I learned that higher the decibel level and the more controversy in a group planning meeting the better the decision.
  
  

• I learned that there is no magic formula for good management or good leadership--the situation defines the need.
  
  

• I learned that the best way to solve a problem is first to understand it, the worst way is to develop a good solution for a misunderstood problem.
  
  

• I saw in action the proof that there is nothing more effective than a team where nobody cares who gets the credit.

None of these lessons were articulated or obvious to me while in the course.  However, somehow they made their way into my DNA and became a part of my career and the successes I've had.

Would I have succeeded without attending the AeA Stanford Institute?  There's no way to know.  But one thing I do know:  I enjoyed one of the most exhilarating and stimulating two weeks I have ever had and was forever changed by the experience.