#BTColumn – The mis-education of entrepreneurs (Part 1)

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

By Selwyn Cambridge

There is quite a body of research which says that more than 20 per cent of businesses fail in their first year and by the end of the fifth year 50 per cent no longer exist.  By year ten, according to research, approximately 70 per cent of startups would have ceased operations. These alarming statistics would cause anyone to think long and hard before venturing into entrepreneurship. However, another important statistic, which reigns supreme, is that startups are the ones which lead the region in job creation and are the drivers of innovation and sector transformation.

So how can such a crucial aspect of our economies suffer from such a disheartening failure rate? And what can we do about it?  How do we create the type of fertile bed to allow those brave souls willing to venture out and create impact and change lives, to cultivate orchards of success, which bear fruit and expand? For me it begins with mindset and what we nurture.

The unmistakable truth is that each and everyone of us is born with an innate sense of curiosity and comfort with failure. As kids we are constantly on a mission of discovery fuelled by our curiosity. We are never concerned by the thought of failure but simply propelled by the excitement of learning something new, figuring something out and wanting more… But then traditional school happens to us all.

We are subjected to a rigid framework of regurgitated exercises and our successes are measured by how well we conform and how little we fail. Our creativity and curiosity are lectured out of us and alternative positions, contrarian questions and anything outside the mould is discouraged and replaced with conformity and standardised tests.

For decades our education system has been mis-educating our future innovators, entrepreneurs and big dreamers, luring them out of their creative nature, to conform to the status quo. They are nurtured to view failing as a failure and dreaming as wasting time and being distracted. We have produced an annual crop of fearful graduates eager to find a job and schooled into thinking success is connected to how well we know what everyone else does and how good they are at regurgitating for a grade. They are mis-educated into believing that failing means you are a failure and well-intentioned parents help to reinforce the doctrine, when the unmistaken reality is that every success first begins with failure. We owe it to ourselves and our economic growth to ask the question, “What are we nurturing?”

With the much talked about education reform, I am eager to see what changes will be made to help nurture the entrepreneurial mind. Our traditional education primarily focuses on theoretical knowledge, leaving little room for practical skills development. Where practical skills are taught however, there is often a slant towards learning a trade instead of learning how to learn. This ability to learn is not primarily an academic exercise but a mindset cultivating trait that can equip the individual with the adaptability necessary to be successful.

Unfortunately, these skills are often neglected in traditional classrooms. Entrepreneurship requires students to be hands-on, learning through real-world experiences and failures. Without these practical exposure and exercises being part of every subject area, students are ill-prepared to navigate the complexities of starting and running a business with an adapted mindset to facing the challenges.

Selwyn Cambridge is a serial entrepreneur and the founder and executive director of TEN Habitat, a non-profit organisation based in Barbados which focuses on developing investor-ready firms. ]]>