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At 70, Bill Gates continues sharing reflections on the professional life he built after leaving college to found one of the world’s most influential companies. Among the advice he often repeats in his speeches, there is a phrase that sums up much of his philosophy on continuous learning.
“You are never too smart to be confused,” the businessman said during a commencement speech delivered at Northern Arizona University, where he received an honorary doctorate in May 2023.
These kinds of reflections, built from his own career path, often generate interest among those seeking inspiration for their professional decisions, beyond the fortune or business success that characterizes him.
Accepting confusion is part of learning
According to Gates in his speech shared on Gates Notes, he thought he knew everything when he finished his studies, but over time, he understood that the first step to learning something new is recognizing what you do not know, instead of clinging to the knowledge already acquired.
For the businessman, facing a problem without an immediate solution should not cause anguish, but rather the impulse to seek help from other people.
“Almost everything I have achieved has been thanks to seeking help from people with more knowledge,” he said, stressing that the key is not being afraid to ask for that support, whether from a more experienced colleague, a classmate, or a specialist in the subject.
Other advice shared by the Microsoft founder
Beyond that central reflection, Gates listed other ideas that, he said, he would have liked to hear at his own graduation, which he never attended because he had dropped out of college.
One of them was that professional life is not linear: “What you do tomorrow, or over the next ten years, does not have to be what you do forever,” he noted, referring to his own path, which went from software to philanthropy as his main occupation.
He also emphasized the importance of gravitating toward jobs that solve problems relevant to society, as well as the value of friendships built during the training years. At that point, he recalled his own experience with Paul Allen, the friend with whom he ended up founding Microsoft.
Lastly, he stressed the importance of knowing how to rest, something he himself took years to learn: “You are not lazy if you take a break,” he said.
Who is Bill Gates?
Bill Gates is the cofounder of Microsoft, the software company he helped build with Paul Allen in 1975 after dropping out of Harvard. Over the decades, he became one of the most recognized figures in the business and technology world globally.
In recent years, the businessman has redirected much of his activity toward philanthropy through the foundation that bears his name together with that of his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, focused on fighting disease, reducing inequality, and promoting access to education in different regions of the world.