With all the debate about education, I thought there should be some understanding of what we as employers expect from that endeavor. I believe our current definition of education is bogged down by our relentless focus on testing and "accountability." But what about the education that teaches you to break new ground and explore areas that do not have clearly marked goals and boundaries? When do we expose our students to find problems that don't already exist and attempt to solve them. They say that necessity is the mother and we simply are not creating the need or desire on our students for them to invent, innovate and explore.
And while I am fortunate to have a great team of explorers and innovators that I continuously learn from, the pain to assemble this team was more than I had imagined. So I end this note with a word of caution and advice to fellow entrepreneurs who are building their teams - hire not by looking at grades and good schools. Hire instead for the candidates curiosity and their faith in themselves that they can satisfy that thirst. Curiosity creates need which then drives inventions.
A candidate can demonstrate their curiosity can be found in extra-curricular activities, breadth of knowledge or awareness, and, yes, academic achievement. I am not suggesting we forgo academic achievers for hobbyists, but I think academic excellence is not a sufficient enough condition in an entrepreneurial setting.
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