We Need More Entrepreneurs, Not Lawyers

In some downtime at work, I've been watching talks on TED.com. TED.com is a great resource to learn new ideas and hear them from experts. I recently finished listening to Cameron Herold's talk "Let's raise kids to be entrepreneurs." It got me thinking.

Think of allowance - it's a simple concept. We teach kids that if you keep the status quo you will get money. Cameron Herold's alternative idea? Have kids look around the house for things that need to be done. When they find something, negotiate with parents over the value of that task. After an agreement is reached, they can complete that task. It teaches children to look outside of themselves and solve problems.

He also notes that society vilifies kids with ADD or any attention/social "deficiency". The founder of Kinkos, the founder of JetBlue, Steve Jobs, Ted Turner. What do these people have in common? All have been diagnosed with either ADD, ADHD, or bipolar disorder. We're lucky they didn't get put on medication. Our world would have lost brilliant minds and brilliant innovations.

We generally teach kids what not to do instead of what to do. As I noted in an earlier post (titled "We're On The Verge of Something..."), young kids have no fears. They're willing to try anything. As they grow up and are told no, they become fearful of the unknown. The ones who end up making a monumental impact in the world are those who throw fear aside and follow their active minds.