Are your kids bored in school or failing their exams? Far from being a cause for alarm, these may be early indicators of entrepreneurial traits. Cameron Herold makes the case for parenting and education that helps would-be entrepreneurs flourish and to see entrepreneurship as a career they could aspire to – in the same way they may aspire to be lawyers, doctors, dentists, teachers, writers, actors or whatever.
An interesting talk. And I’m all for showing kids how they can make the very best of their creative and entrepreneurial traits.
But I was particularly fascinated by the correlations Mr Herold draws between entrepreneurship and conditions such as ADD and bipolar. He suggests that we shouldn’t medicate kids for ADD, bipolar or depression unless it’s really bad. He said that bipolar is nicknamed the CEO Disease, and a lot of great things can come out of a different way of thinking.
Hyperactivity followed by prolonged depression appears to be more prevalent in highly creative people. Some of the most creative minds in the business world like Ted Turner, Bill Liechtenstein and all three of the founders of Netscape are likely to have bipolar disorder.
And Richard Branson is almost a textbook case of an ADD entrepreneur. His rule breaking behaviour as a youth served him well as an adult entrepreneur who is unafraid of breaking conventions to reinvent his businesses in a highly creative and radical new way. Even today his office is described in his biography as “cluttered” and his desk “virtually invisible under a sea of papers” – a common state for many adults with ADD!
Other creative thinkers and entrepreneurs whose likely ADD traits have proven an advantage include Bill Gates, Henry Ford and Albert Einstein.
And the symptoms of bipolar disorder are common among successful CEOs – perhaps because mania helps them to be passionate about their ideas, almost to the point of being zealots. That mania is often what draws those around them to follow; they want that passion and that fire.
An interesting concept – and one well worth thinking about if your child is bored in school, highly impulsive, unable to focus, manic or diagnosed with ADD.
I’ve been saying for years that these conditions can be caused by the frenzied, callous indoctrination habits pushed on us by modern society—with the expressed purpose of drumming up more revenue for big pharma companies. Entrepreneurialism by delinquent or “poorly-behaved” kids is not really an angle I would push, but some of these kids are geniuses who can’t handle the slow paced learning of the school system, or else they have more creative temperaments, or else maybe they are gifted atheletes who’ll never have the aptitude for a PHD. Ultimately, we’re all unique so another look at the expectations we place on young children is timely—also their diets and environment, can be a factor as well as intergeneratinal genetic degredation due to poor diets or substance abuse in parental culture. It’s time to take a long, hard look at who is behind this system and what their motives are in trying to cram all the kids into the same mold at the expense of everyone’s wellbeing but the most mediocre and malliable among us!
A thought provoking post. I have forwarded this link on to others who will be interested in this. Thank you, keep up the good work. Regards Rose Harrison.
There is a high correlation between adversity in childhood and entrepreneurial flair in adulthood. If you want your child to be an entrepreneur, increase their chances by not making their childhood too happy! Tongue in cheek with that comment of course.
Very inspiring – thanks Fraser