Instigator Blog

What are kids learning these days? Is it the same stuff we were learning back in highschool? Does that make much sense any more?

Certainly, the basics should always be taught, and there’ll be some things that barely change, but the pace at which things happen in today’s world technologically, politically and socially show us that highschool curriculums need to evolve as well.

Chris Brogan ponders this very question (interestingly enough through Twitter) and here’s my answer. This is important for all of us because we’re the ones changing the face of the planet. And we should do a better job equipping those that come after us in handling that change and benefiting from it.

1. Entrepreneurship. Not every student will become an entrepreneur, but teaching entrepreneurship would be a great way to instill passion, creativity, critical thinking and interest in a lot of students. Plenty of students are disengaged in school because they’re dreaming of something bigger and better; teaching entrepreneurship can help challenge those interests.
2. Journalism. It’s a safe bet that every kid out there will blog, or publish their ideas, news, insights, feedback, etc. in some form or other online. With that in mind, highschools should teach formal journalism to help students improve their structured writing. Journalism also covers areas of interviewing, communication, critical thinking, judgment, balanced reporting, ethics and more.
3. Economics. I had to wait until university to take economics courses, unless you count basic accounting. Basic accounting is so boring it will put anyone off from caring about economics. Students should understand the fundamentals of macro and micro economics. Tie it easily with entrepreneurship: angel investing, venture capital, etc. Tie it easily with today’s realities: the stock market, dot com crash, and so on. This shouldn’t start with accounting, it should start with a greater understanding of how money is made and managed.
4. Personal Finances & Investing. Having a world view of how money works is great, but at the end of the day it comes down to what’s in your pocket and what you do with it. Kids have a hard time looking long term into the future, but they need a better handle on managing their own money and understanding the basics of investing. Show kids how they can put a couple bucks per month into an RRSP at an early age and it’ll be worth millions when they retire and you’ll spark some interest.
5. Ethics. This was suggested by Whitney Hoffman of LD Podcast and it’s a great idea. Some highschool classes will tackle issues around ethics, but I think kids would be very interested in getting to the meat of this wide ranging subject. Let them grapple with complex issues, debate, exchange ideas and push themselves to think beyond their cozy boxes. And ethics ties so easily with a host of other subjects: entrepreneurship, journalism, economics, etc.
6. Technology & Social Media. Most highschool students will be familiar with MySpace, Facebook, blogging and so on, but why not get a class going on these very subjects and how they’re changing the world we live in? Maybe there aren’t any highschool teachers capable of handling this, which would be a shame. What many of us live and breathe daily is being picked up by younger generations haphazardly, and there’s some fun and advantage to that, but it should be put in context of greater world issues - security, privacy, technological advancement, globalization, entertainment…
7. Personal Brand Development. Highschool students are going through an incredible time of self-discovery and understanding of how they want to fit into the world around them. Understanding the concepts of personal branding (and ancillary to that marketing, sales, networking, communication) would be an interesting way to help students understand the importance of how they get their message across, how they’re perceived, and what they can do to further develop themselves as individuals. There are many life lessons to be learned in the concepts of personal branding.
8. Psychology. I don’t think we give highschool students enough credit. And that’s one of our biggest mistakes. Teaching elements of psychology - developmental (again, suggested by Whitney!), perceptual, cultural - would be an amazing eye opener for a lot of kids. Highschools often lament the lack of physical education they’re providing (resulting in fat, unhealthy kids) but we seem to completely ignore healthy minds.
9. Politics & Conflict Resolution. There are some classes related to politics and world issues in highschool, but they’re lacking. Politics isn’t about the structure of a political system (How many seats are there in the Senate? Name every President or Prime Minister and the years they were in power.) Politics (love it or hate it) is a fundamental force in the world. Combined with teaching conflict resolution and mediation, we can raise kids with a bigger awareness of the world’s complexity, but with an eye to helping and fixing problems. Too many people (let alone highschool students) have an “It’s not my problem, it’s someone else’s problem” attitude. Um…
10. Religion & Faith. Controversial for sure, but I’m not suggesting we teach kids one specific religion or faith. Teach all of them. Give kids an understanding of how other religions and faiths work, how they originated, how they differ. A few lightbulbs will go off in those classes and kids will realize that most faiths and religions are almost identical. You mean, we’re all kinda, like, the same?

I’d also love to see more pure technology training in highschool - programming classes and the such that don’t involve COBOL or other ancient languages. Isn’t there a way we could teach kids how to code in Ruby, or design websites and blogs using CSS?

There are plenty of big problems with our educational systems - often under-funded, under-appreciated, railed on, etc. But there’s also a clear lack of innovation in many places and a difficulty with locked-in, old school curriculums that don’t (or can’t?) adapt to the changing world fast enough.

What do you think should be taught in highschool?

There are so many different types of businesses, it’s hard to give blanket advice to everyone starting up. What works best for a single person, home-based biz won’t be completely the same as a tech company developing a new software product.

When I wrote 5 Things You Shouldn’t Spend Money On When Starting a Business it was geared to software and web-related companies because that’s my business. Many people agreed. Others did not, arguing that my advice wasn’t helpful for one type of business or another. The discussions was worth it.

Some things are ubiquitous when it comes to starting a business, no matter the type or structure. Hard work and execution come to mind. Passion for your idea. A willingness to explore opportunities.

But what about things that people don’t need when starting a business?

Dane Carlson expresses some strong opinions in his post 20 Things Not To Do Before Starting A Business. Dane’s getting lots of feedback, much of it polarized (some of it stupid and rude, which is a shame.) I expect Dane wrote the post to stir the pot!

Dane’s advice is well-suited for a single person starting an at-home business. There are plenty of successful entrepreneurs that fall into the “home-based business” category, but go beyond that and his advice breaks down substantially.

1. Don’t incorporate. There are a number of clear advantages to incorporating a business, most often related to paying taxes and legal liability. Incorporating isn’t very expensive. It might not be the first thing you do, but I would strongly recommend you look at it closely; especially if there are partners involved.
2. Don’t try and find a partner. Dane misses the boat on this one big time. He asks, “Why would you need a partner? For money? Don’t take loans. For sales? If you can’t sell your own product, no one will be able to.” On the latter point, Dane’s hitting on something important. But on the value of partners, he’s wrong.

   Someone once told me that the best number of partners for starting a business is three. It makes sense. For starters, in a deadlock of opinions between two of the partners, the third one swings the vote. But it’s also a good number of people who can bring diverse skill sets to the table. No one can do everything. Nor does it make sense for one person to do everything. If you don’t need partners, great, but don’t shy away from finding people who can help.

3. Don’t get a bank account. This follows along with Dane’s advice not to incorporate. He’s trying to minimize all of the setup you might spend time on before getting out there. In principal that’s not bad advice, but at the same time there are some basics - like setting up a bank account - that make sense. Even if you do it as a means of helping to organize your money, so personal and professional money, expenses, etc. don’t get overly mingled.
4. Don’t hire an attorney or accountant. “Hire” is a big word. My suggestion is that you seek out the advice of an attorney and accountant when starting a new business. This is why it’s so important to network when you don’t actually need the connections. Attorneys and accountants can provide valuable advice and help. As well, you don’t want to be focused on the legal and financial issues of setting up and running your business; you want to be doing your business. That’s a big part of Dane’s advice in the first place - don’t waste time, get out there and make business happen - so his suggestion is counter to his own advice (although he also recommends outsourcing, which I strongly agree with.)

   My recommendation is this: Seek out the advice of an attorney and accountant. Hopefully you have the contacts already. Then use the services of an attorney and accountant on an outsourced basis.

5. Don’t get a loan. Better advice is this: “If you need money, figure out the least possible amount to succeed and get that.” Lots of businesses need some money to get started. And cash flow is always one of a startup’s biggest challenges, so a small float never hurt. But don’t overdo it. Getting money isn’t easy, and self-financing is always a great way to go if you can pull it off. But don’t be afraid to look for money, and remember there are lots of ways to do it.
6. Don’t pick a business name or design a logo. Dane specifically refers to sole proprietorships here, so we know who his audience is. Even still, there are lots of advantages to picking a business name and designing a logo. Developing a corporate brand tied to your personal brand can be more effective than using just your personal brand. A corporate brand can look more professional, bigger, more “real” and give early customers confidence. It also gives you a bigger vision for what your business could become. Instead of being a 1-person company with your name, it’s got an identity onto itself that will grow, mature and evolve. Your business name and logo - they’re extensions of your identity, and they give you the chance to set the tone for your company.
7. Don’t write a business plan. Very few early companies need an extensive, polished business plan. Even if you’re seeking financing you might not need one. But you do need something. Even someone starting a business out of their basement as a side project can benefit from putting their ideas on paper and structuring them; tackling key issues such as: mission, target market, money , marketing plan, etc. To ignore any form of planning is a surefire way to make unnecessary mistakes. And the act of planning and putting that plan on paper will give you the chance to refine and improve upon everything you were thinking about doing.
8. Don’t get a business phone or mailing address. Not overly concerning one way or the other but it’s not a bad idea to create some separation between you and your business. Setting up a PO Box is easy and inexpensive. Getting a business cellphone is also pretty cheap. Before you start giving away personal information, think about who you’re giving it to, and think about the simple things you can setup to avoid any problems in the future.

Dane wants you out there selling fast to validate your idea.

That’s great advice. But it doesn’t preclude you from doing other things to help yourself, and create a structure around yourself to improve your chances. Your business won’t succeed without sales, but there are plenty of other pitfalls along the way too. One of those is handling and managing operational / setup issues, many of which Dane recommends you ignore.

What do you think?

What don’t you need to start a business?

Are you a leader?

Truth be told, not everyone is a leader. It’s just not meant for everyone. And that’s OK.

But more people are leaders than they realize. Leadership takes on many different faces; it’s just a question of understanding how you lead and why.

Here are 10 key business leadership skills you’ll need to succeed as a leader:

1. Lead By Example. You can’t be an aloof leader, someone that’s never around and incapable of getting your hands dirty. One of the best ways to lead is by example - pitching in where needed, lending a helping hand, and making sure that the work you do is clearly understood by your team.
2. Passion. A leader without passion isn’t a leader. He’s a paper pusher. Or a taskmaster. Or a government employee… Passion drives a lot, and you can inspire so much in others through your own passion and enthusiasm. That doesn’t mean you have to be constantly cheery, it means you’ve got to believe in what you’re doing and what your company is doing.
3. Be Organized. A disorganized leader isn’t leading, he’s chasing his own tail. Disorganization breeds nothing but more disorganization. If you’re frazzled and messy, your team will be too. When you’re organized you’ll be much more productive and so will everyone else.
4. Delegate. You can’t do everything. A great leader needs to be able to delegate effectively. The key to delegating successfully is giving employees ownership of the work you assign them. They can’t just feel like they own the work, they really have to.
5. Take Ownership and Responsibility. Although you’ve just delegated work and truly given your team ownership, you also have to take ownership and responsibility at all times. Your team has to know you’ll be there for them through the good and the bad times. That doesn’t mean you absolve people from making mistakes or ignore crappy work/effort, but it does mean you take responsibility for the big picture.
6. Communicate Effectively. Duh. Everyone knows great leaders have to be great communicators. But there are certain points of communication that many people forget. For example, it’s critical that you communicate to employees how their work matters in the bigger picture. Are they a cog, or does their work truly make a difference?

   Communicating success is also something leaders forget to do. People need affirmation. They want to know they did a good job. You just have to tell them.

And be precise. Insecure leaders will often ramble; uninterested leaders cut things off to quickly. Whether you’re giving praise, providing constructive criticism, or defining goals and to-dos, you have to figure out how much to say and in what order. Be precise, specific and concise. Get to the point.

7. Be Brave and Honest. Cowardly leaders will shy away from any number of situations that crop up regularly when running a team. The project your team has worked on for 6 months just got shelved. Now what? Or you have to talk to someone about their lack of effort recently. Do you ignore the problem? Or maybe it’s time to take your product into a new market. Do you hobble forward, scared and nervous, or do you grab the market by the throat?

   Leaders are brave.

   And honest. Tell it like it is. Don’t sugarcoat, don’t obfuscate. Don’t be a jerk either. You have to learn how to present things to your team in an honest but balanced manner.

8. Great Listener. A huge part of being a great communicator is being a great listener. If all you want to do is talk, you’re not a leader. Keeping people motivated means listening to them, asking them questions, understanding their issues. When you listen more, you can respond more effectively and get to the heart of things much faster.
9. Know Your People. You have to know your people. You don’t have to be best friends or even socialize outside work, but you do have to know what makes them tick. You need to know something about their personal lives because their lives outside work matter. Their lives outside work drive a great deal of their success (or lack of) at work. Keep track of simple things: birthdays, marriages, children, etc. The more you know your people the more common ground you’re likely to find, the more you’ll be able to connect.
10. Be a Follower. Benjamin Disraeli said, “I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?” That sums up many of the other points so beautifully. Great leaders are followers too. If you’re a leader without following, you’re a dictator. And as fun as that sounds… Being a leader-follower means finding value in your team, getting inspired by your team, encouraging your team to communicate, brainstorm and be open.

Very few people are great leaders overnight. It takes time and practice. As long as you’re open about learning along the way and working with your team on leadership versus dictating to them, most people will be happy to go on the journey with you.

And without getting too mushy, here are some great quotes on leadership:

“Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.” - George S. Patton

“Delegating work works, provided the one delegating works, too.” - Robert Half

“The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet.” - Theodore M. Hesburgh

Last week’s Montreal Tech Entrepreneur Breakfast was a lot of fun. It seems the consensus was that the location - Bistro, Etc. - was better than where we were holding it before.

So, unless someone has a better idea, we’ll go back to Bistro, Etc. in May.

The next Montreal Tech Entrepreneur Breakfast is on May 8th at 9am.

NOTE: I’m keeping the time at 9am for now, but if people would prefer to start at 8am please let me know. There’s really no reason we can’t start earlier; and people come in whenever they please.

I’ve added an event into Upcoming.org — Montreal Tech Entrepreneur Breakfast so you can sign-up if you like.

It was great to see old and new faces alike last week, and hopefully the breakfasts are proving valuable to people.

I hope to see you there on May 8th…

Turns out we’ve got a movement on our hands.

I wrote about removing NoFollow from your blog just about a month ago. Since then more and more people have followed suit. I didn’t start the movement, but it’s nice to be a part of it and push it along.

For those catching up, NoFollow is a tag added automatically to URLs input into comments so that those URLs don’t gain any link love / Google juice from you. It was a means to deter spammers from posting comments to try and boost their URLs search rankings. Of course it didn’t deter spammers at all. And people who comment properly and regularly on your blog weren’t getting as much value as they could from doing so.

Removing NoFollow is extremely easy and there are numerous WordPress plugins for doing so.

What’s particularly interesting about this whole thing is the true movement of people making the switch to DoFollow - inspired by others.

Randa Clay has made the move, and on top of that she’s created a cool little icon you can put in your sidebar to let people know that you’ve setup DoFollow.

It’s a nice way for bloggers to show they care about the people who comment regularly and add real value. Plus, it’s a great move on Randa’s part to do a little marketing of her own…nice work Randa!

If you haven’t setup DoFollow yet, go for it. Don’t be shy. You won’t get more spam. You won’t have more work to do. At minimum you’ll be helping others. You may also start to see more comments and interesting discussion take place on your blog, which is what it’s all about.

Added Note: Andy Beard just informed me of his No NoFollow I Follow DoFollow Community setup through BUMPzee. I’ve just signed up to show my support for the cause.