Immature article but its an interesting topic.<p>As an engineer, it took me a long time to figure out that the same skills I apply to learning hard tech topics, could be used to learn about the business world.<p>The barriers I encountered (and my solutions to date) include:<p>- Business topics seem too boring! I think thats why I studied engineering instead. Solution: think about the money you can make by getting through them, it can genuinely make it more interesting.<p>- Many "business" people dont seem very smart (using my engineering metric), and so are a pain to deal with. Solution: Get over myself, stay humble. Read "People Skills".<p>- Many business books are so fluffy, and could be summarized in a couple dense pages. Solution: Read summaries, stick to recommended classics.<p>- Sometimes I was actually intimidated by important sounding business concepts I didnt understand. Solution: Talk to people, read, same as anything else.<p>- A lot of "business" aspects seem repetitive. Possible solution: Automate where possible (but it still seems there is tons of things that are dreary but not automatable).<p>- I dont know enough about business to evaluate "biz guys" skills. Solution: Talk to a lot of biz guys, get them to critique each other. Try to get beneath the bravado and big talk that often seems to be a biz guy trait. Learn more about their domain so you can see through it.<p>A lot of business is dealing with people. Some geeks dont really like people that much (maybe those weak people skills again!), so "biz guys" let them focus on tech. But the geeks really lose out that way.<p>Wish I knew all this 12 years ago.