It is my pleasure to sit on the board of one of the successful management institutes in India and see things from the other side of the table. One thing that I have lately observed is that our education system, especially the one at the Post Graduate level has always stressed so much on the “quality of job” as the most important success parameter, that right from the time the student is considering which B-school to apply to, he starts judging the institute and the courseware by the successful placements the institute has had in the past. To me it appears that we may be taking away the ability of the students to learn to take risks (read calculated risks) by creating so much pressure on him on this one success parameter. It seems that we may be creating excellent managers but very scared entrepreneurs.
During some of my recent stints with global organizations one thing that I recognized was that these companies had grown not only because they had people working for them who had great experience and academic backgrounds, but more because they hired people who could think and work like entrepreneurs. The basic difference between these two sets of people was that a person with entrepreneurial bent of mind thought holistically and not just about his expert area. I am not saying that being an expert is bad, but I am just trying to say that do not ignore other aspects of business while you think of your expert area.
Now, coming back to my basic question, “Can Entrepreneurship be taught?” I personally think that though the aspects of entrepreneurship can be explained but the ability, the willingness and the eagerness to take risks is something that comes naturally. Rather than teaching “entrepreneurship”, the management institutes must explore ways to let people identify these traits and nurture these basic abilities in their students.
Starting an “entrepreneurial program” can do only so much. What we lack in our systems is to give practical exposure and an opportunity to actually experience entrepreneurship. Some institutes like the IIT’s and IIM’s have done this with success and it shows in the number of successful enterprises that have been created by the past students of these institutes. I have always loved the “culture” of entrepreneurship that is there at Stanford and have wondered what is so different there.
I believe that we need to give an honest opportunity to our students in India. They get stopped by basics of starting business, lack of moral support and mentoring. It is time for successful entrepreneurs to give back to the society by training these students by experiential process rather than creating merely theoretical classroom sessions.
After much deliberation, I am taking this responsibility to create a group of likeminded people who can share their experience and knowledge to mentor such students who are keen to experience entrepreneurship and create enterprises which they dream of. The structure is a simple collaboration between students with a rock solid idea and though process creating confidence on his / her ability to execute (business plan), the education institute and a team of mentors who can guide them and support these students with their industry network. Wondering what to call it, I think I will call this project “Anirudha” which means “being unstoppable & boundless” and invite entrepreneurs and successful managers to come forward and create a generation of young entrepreneurs who not only create a support system for themselves but opportunities for others as well.
I invite ideas and suggestions to make “Anirudha” a reality.
