The future of (entrepreneurial) education
York Zucchi
33 years of starting & growing projects around the world. Sustainability│Innovation│Entrepreneurship
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Unless you have been living under a linkedin rock you'll know that I am ridiculously passionate about entrepreneurial education. Entrepreneurship - the real stuff that doesn't try to make you the next unicorn (a truly idiotic description around creating billion dollar startups and businesses... I'll explain further down why this is idiotic) - is an incredibly sensistive topic for me and through our work across 27 countries I get incredibly frustrated that so many individuals are taking on this responsiblity without truly understanding what they are taking responsibility for....
To clarify... Teaching entrepreneurship is not teaching a business skill. Teaching entrepreneurship is empowering the individual to pursue their dreams. You - and by extension - the programs you design for entrepreneurs - are the foundation which will make the person either love the journey and set them up to pursue their passions for life (and make it easier to absorb the invevitable setbacks) or see entrepreneurship as a grind with a goal in mind.
If the above intro woke something up in you then read on. If not just watch this clip by the master educator (RIP) Sir Ken Robinson (sharing it to start with the time that I particularly find inspiring, but you're welcome to watch the whole thing). Obviously he speaks of education as a whole but the principles apply to entrepreneurial education.
How we are getting education wrong (and what we can do about it)
Sir Ken - in clip above - shares how we have made education into an output factory, standarising education to such a degree that it on the whole leaves vast chunks of modern society totally uninspired to continue learning. Learning recipes is not learning: it is an exercise in compliance.
When I was learning to fly airplanes a million years ago at the tender age of 17 my amazing instructor at 43 Air School (Pty) Ltd really helped me clarify what true knowledge looked like. I had memorised all the checklists and was flying by checklist until he pointed out that while it is important to know the checklists it was more important to understand the foundations of flying. Once you understand the foundation (the mechanics, forces, how the plane reacts to the environment) you fundamentally understand the checklists better and can spot issues and problems far easier than a check list approach. When things go wrong you want to have at the controls a pilot that truly understands the foundation of flying rather than a pilot who has memorised just the checklists.
The challenge for most entrepreneurial support programs out there...
To be absolutely clear, most of the programs I've looked at over the many years in this space across the world are run by truly amazing and well intentioned individuals who are genuiniely trying to help aspiring entrepreneurs make their dreams a reality. It is just that I cringe when I see the structure and content of what is being taught.
The challenge is that they are funded by sources that need standarisation and clarity in expected outcomes vs based on the (messy and chaotic) true nature of entrepreneurial education. Those who write the cheques want replicable and semi scalable programs with clear outcomes (often with nonsensical targets like job creation of funding readiness goals... if you know anything about how entrepreneurship work in terms of timelines forget about job creation for a good 1.5-2 years).
It starts with 3 realisations...
1. We are teaching entrepreneurship using outdated methodologies.
Heard of the business model canva? Really great tool to help frame your business. But here's the crux: it was created 20 years ago on data that is even older. Of course it has been adapted and updated a little, and it does help clarify thought, but it is an outdated model. Yet you'll be hard pressed to find programs that do not teach it or use it as their default. Yet starting and growing a business in a post-covid world, with all the technologies at our disposal, is an insanely different beast to what it was pre-covid. Show me an entrepreneurship support program where they spend time showing you how to use LLMs to create your marketing material, website and value proposition or digital tools to reduce your time to market. We are teaching entrepreneurship the same way we teach school children or university/college students. It isn't just that it is terrible inefficient but also kills all passion for the dreams that people are pursuing. Is it no wonder that life long education is so rarely adopted by people? Would you want to keep learning when it is made so boring and dry?
Want to know a better approach? Open your eyes. There are amazing people out there at the forefront of entrepreneurial education. Follow them! One for example is Prof Greg Fisher and his upcoming book (https://a.co/d/6ZPKQ8O) on what real entrepreneurship looks like (and by extension how to teach it in a modern age!).
2. We teach too much and do too little.
I've lost track of the amount of programs that teach skills that no startup will ever need for another few years... from investor term sheets, hiring policies and strategies, etc. That's not to say one should not be aware of the skills you'll need, but to shove knowledge into people's faces that they have absolutely no need for in the present moment is just drowning out the energy and attention that an entrepreneur ought to spend on.
Watch this (10 min) clip to help you understand why you need different skills at different points in the lifecycle curve... By all means make people aware, but spending 15 mins on a topic in an interesting way is far more powerful and sticks longer than spending 3 days on a topic that has no relevance for a long time. The majority of entrepreneurs out there will NEVER get funded (in the classical funding way) yet we are teaching them about termsheets, investor terms, negotiation etc as if that is the path they will go on. We teach things that on the whole are entirely unrelated to the statistical facts underlying most entreprenuerial activities.
3. We kill the passion of what true learning (in entrepreneurship) is like.
The best entrepreneurial teacher is DOING. It is not sitting in an environment filled with like minded dreamers. It is sitting the in office of potential clients. It is engaging regularly with people in the sector who can give you a realistic insight into what they really need and what they wish you would offer them and not what you think they want to be offered. Real entrepreneurship is like dating: going out there, chatting, seeing if there is chemistry (people do business with people and not with businesses, especially at the micro startup level). It is getting turned down by potential partners and in the process learning who would be a good partner and who not, what works and what doesn't. Real entrepreneurial education is going to a social gathering with real people and not swiping on tinder.
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And no. Inviting guest speakers - while cool and it makes for great social media posts - isn't the real world. There is certainly space for that in terms of exposure work for aspiring entrepreneurs and small businesses, but it isn't real education (as a nice to know: we run the academies of hundreds of cities and our approach to education is to give short practical ideas to entrepreneurs to help them start to think differently, but it is the application of that knowledge that the entrepeneur learns... we did a survey of 6.000 entrepreneurs and it was kind of cool how many never finished out courses... at first we thought we were doing something wrong, but it turned out that the entrepreneurs found the one lesson in the course that helped them unblock themselves.. and thats the point. Our courses are not meant to be finished, but rather to help you find the answer that helps in unlocking your path).
As Sir Ken so beautifully says, we as entrepreneurial educators are given the (AWESOME) responsibility to kindly the dreams of people. Suffocate those dreams with too much old fashioned wood and you'll kill the fire.
A personal perspective...
I had the pleasure of interviewing Nadine Esposito yesterday (interview will be shared in due course) around longevity finance, essentially a field of research around what we as society need to do in the face of a large chunk of the population living for much longer than the financial structures of days gone by can support. One of the (many) awesome points she reaised is the important of constant learning (call it what you want! Lifelong learning, constant upskilling, etc) to the mental and physiological health of people living into their 70s/80s/90s. The idea of retiring at 60-65 is not only not financially sustainable, it is just ridiculously unappealing. It means you hate what you do so much that you can't wait to stop it so you can do something else. It is as if you are living today just waiting for the weekends to start.
I was in that situation when I worked in the financial sector/banks. Nothing wrong per se with the banks but I am just not a great fit for that environment. If you find yourself not loving what you do I wholeheartedly encourage you to start taking steps towards figuring out what you love and then walking towards it....Oh? You have a morgage to pay off? Move to a smaller place. Can't afford to earn less even if it would make you happier? Figure out how to reduce your living expenses! I'd rather live a modest lifestyle but where I wake up motivated and happy then a luxury lifestyle where all I do is look forward to the end of the day.
And that's the point I a trying to get to (hey, I work in entrepreneurship development and not as a writer... this article is being typed as I am thinking it, no rewrites or polishing... which explains often the many spelling mistakes)...
Go and create the life you want!
Go and create the life you want. In entrepreneurship it means figuring out what works for you. Not everyone needs to become a big business. If you want to be a baker then that's totally awesome! Want to turn a farm into a coworking and coliving space using second hand furniture? Fantastic. Don't feel you can do the entrepreneurial path on your own? Great. Find the right partner (I have a nice article in my linkedin newsletters about how to find the right partners in case of interest). There's nothing wrong with developing a solution that is loved in your community and that's it (I know an awesome IT support company that refuses to expand in other cities because the founders just love what they do and the sense of community they have and don't want to shift into an HR management business :-)
Creating the life you want where what you do is what you love is also a recipe for longevity.
Creating the life you want where what you do is what you love is also a recipe for longevity. As the work that Lynda Smith and her partners are doing so aptly demonstrates, there is a ton of opportunities for people 50+ once you align your doing with your being. You will feel more motivated, more secure in yourself (one of the big reasons for many people stopping to learn is that we are scared of the modern world becase so much of our self worth is associated with outdated but known knowledge) which means you'll feel less scared of letting go of old ideas and embracing new knowledge and opportunities. Plus a healthier, engaged happier mind often has a direct correlation towards a healthier body.
Education can be re-inveted!
Think it is all nice to read fluff? There are people right now all around us doing incredible things on the ground across all spheres of education. From revolutionising how children education is done (see this article based on my visit to Barcelona last year -
https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/pisa-off-how-fix-broken-education-system-york-zucchi-lb9xe/?trackingId=q0J%2FAhhwQoa4YEXtwKspwg%3D%3D) to Prof Fisher's work in teaching entrepreneurial methods in a modern day to Lynda's work in helping 50+ feel ready for a modern world (visit her free 50plus academy with tons of awesome short free courses)
Be selfish!
Education - the real stuff that we love doing - is fun, engaging and addictive. If a program feels boring to you or you're struggling to connect to it, move on. There are so many options and methodologies out there that you are invited to go and find out that fits your specific style of learning. I learn and consume knowldge differently to how you do so it makes no sense for us try and learn the same way.
The best education programs - be they entrepreneurship, lifeskills, children or business schools - will change over the years from a standarised one to a fare more individualised learning path that reflects the richness of humanity and approaches.
Here's to each and every one of us. May we find the path less traveled that we end up loving walking for life!
Mental Health Activist | Entrepreneur
2 个月"one of the big reasons for many people stopping to learn is that we are scared of the modern world becase so much of our self worth is associated with outdated but known knowledge" This resonated with me in terms of how neurodivergent children are taught the same way as neurotypical children. And because intelligence is associated with being able to master the "standard" way of learning, some neurodivergent children end up hating school or anything related to learning. Thanks for sharing this
Scaling-up the Strategic IQ of Entrepreneurs and their Unicorn-bound Ventures | Chairman, Maranville Enterprises—The Guide By The Entrepreneur’s Side | Venture Advisor | Keynote Speaker
2 个月Thanks for raising the topic of entrepreneurship education. While there is a place for learning specific business skills, I offer that the best entrepreneurship education occurs outside of a business classroom. A more general education prepares entrepreneurs who think critically, think creatively, and clearly communicate what they're thinking. The function of entrepreneurship is to innovate, and innovation is the product of a well-prepared mind. Venture With Vision ??
4 Exits + 30 yrs of Experience in Startups, Scale ups, Education, Impact Investment and Leadership Transformation
2 个月Thank you York Zucchi - Here's how I see entrepreneurial education evolving: It's not just about creating the next big startup; it's about empowering anyone to chase their dreams, big or small. We're stuck using outdated models that don't reflect today's tech-driven, fast-paced business world. We need to teach how to leverage AI, cloud computing, and other tools from day one for agility and customer focus. Real learning happens by doing—talking to customers, failing, and iterating. This hands-on approach teaches life skills like navigating uncertainty and pivoting. We need to make this education more inclusive, reflecting diverse backgrounds and success beyond scaling up. In short, future entrepreneurial education should empower everyone to start their journey, giving them tools and confidence to explore, fail, and succeed uniquely, fostering innovation and diverse business landscapes.
For me, entrepreneurship starts with a pain or a passion and preferably both - a pain that needs alleviating the passion to alleviate it. If that is in place, then we can start establishing if there is a viable market. We like the work of WIllem Gouws who challenges people on his courses to have started a business which pays for the course within 30 days - no business plans, no pitches, just do it. Great to know York and Lynda are in connection - both doing wonderful work in the world
If you are over 50, you have been gifted with an extra season of life. Career and Life Coach 50+ I Longevity advocate I Social Entrepreneur
2 个月Great article York. Thank you for the mention. One of the great challenges, I am finding with individuals who do my 6-part course called The Next Chapter is to discover what they can do in this season of life. I call it a "gift". We are all unique and we live in a fast paced, changing world. At this point you get to choose what makes you happy and then discover how much it motivates you to keep learning, growing and moving. The most important part is the group facilitation. They learn by listening to others. They learn to become vulnerable and share. They do the time to reflect, experiment and try out different things. The joy for me in this work, is seeing the lights come on. Fear is replaced by hope. In a post COVID world, I think many reach these crossroads/transitions . Keep learning, moving and doing. It is messy at times. Find your joy and your gift and bless others. We are all unique. It needs to be discovered.