One of my
friend’s sons is studying ‘Entrepreneurship’ in college. He wants to get a degree in it. I am happy that the university is offering an
opportunity to study something besides Neo-European Obscure Literature in Funny
Languages, although I understand that the major is making a comeback. We’ll be flooded once again with people who
have to choose politics as their means of support because they are otherwise
unemployable. I do hear that the
Ministry of Silly Walks (Monty Python???) is hiring.
I didn’t
realize that one needed to study and get a degree in order to be an
entrepreneur. This is a very confusing
major. Entrepreneurship is not a
profession and it really isn’t a science.
It must be a liberal art, in which case I hope that the prerequisite
English classes teach them how to write decent emails.
Entrepreneurs
usually start out with a product, service or pitch that they want to sell. They have a strong belief in the product, and
a stronger belief that they are the ones to push it. They take on the responsibility to solve
problems, support their families and they risk their own capital. They are willing to work long hours and
perform all sorts of non-executive work.
Above all else, successful entrepreneurs learn as they go and spend a
lot less time blaming other people or ‘circumstances’ for any failures they
might endure.
I’ve
observed the successes and failures of businesses over many years. I find it interesting that the failure rate
of businesses does not seem to relate to the existence of a degree in
entrepreneurship. So why do we have such
a thing in the first place?
Years ago,
we had lots of choices if we just wanted a degree. We could choose from such wonderful options
as Art History, Geography, Political Science, English Literature or my personal
favorite (because they made it up just for me in order to get my sorry butt out
of college), Mathematical Ecology. It
didn’t cost much to go to college. When
we finally made up our minds about what we wanted to be when we grew up, we
went back to grad school, or just went to work.
Today, it
isn’t that simple. College costs a
fortune. The general hope is that the
student will graduate one day and have enough skills to work a little and pay
off the enormous debt they incurred by going to college. So the majors are a little bit more directed
at learning skills. Well, at least the
names look that way. Hence we have “Entrepreneurship”
instead of “Advanced Basket Weaving”.
Of course,
there is another aspect that makes a B.A. in Entrepreneurship so
interesting. That is the fact that kids
today are overprotected to the point that they have no idea how to take a
risk. Helicopter parents watch their
children play safe in helmets, kneepads and protective armor. Mom and dad do their best to catch little
Jimmy before he falls and if he hits the ground, he is whisked up and cuddled
until the tears stop. Of course this just
encourages more tears.
"Inc.
Magazine" has charted a
slowdown in new companies over the past few years. They see a more positive future among millennials
than I do. It has to do with taking
risks. If a trophy is given to every
participant and if everyone is provided protection from everything, they will
never learn to take risks. They will,
however, expect to be compensated and supported for everything that they
attempt. Entrepreneurs don’t get
rewarded unless they succeed at their business.
There is no
real need for a four-year degree in Entrepreneurship. There is, however, a great need for a little
restraint in the parenting department. I
laugh when my kids tell me that they are going to be better parents than I ever
was. They interpret that as a whole
roomful of soft landings. The truth is,
the scrapes and bruises teach a lot more.
We learn from mistakes and we are more informed each time that we make
one. We assess risk better after failures
and we are unwilling to take those risks if we have never learned that failure
is not death or dismemberment, that we don’t suffer the fires of hell if we don’t
succeed.
And that is
the message that our children and grandchildren should be learning from their much
better parents.
Instead of
being ‘afraid to fail’ as so many of our children tell us, they should be
afraid not to succeed. This is the
difference never trying and never quitting.
And it doesn’t take a college degree to learn.
