3D Juggling 522: No Place at Uni?
Jane writes: "Simon Dolan is worth £70m. He was a bright child, but couldn’t see the point of most of the subjects he had to study and was asked to leave school at 15. He says that there’s a big lie going round, the one that says you stand a better chance of getting a good job if you have a degree. Of course there are some professions that absolutely require years at university, but there are many that do not, and many ways to gain professional qualifications and credibility whilst working.
Our experience of working with people who don’t know what they want to do next fits well with some of Simon’s tips:
1. Think niche (for Simon doing VAT returns wasn’t niche, doing it just for IT contractors was)
2. Talk to interesting people who are doing interesting stuff
3. Don’t spend weeks on a detailed business plan
4. Don’t borrow lots of money
5. If you’re the parent of a young person with an idea for a business – get behind it
Think about it..."
We work with young people seeking their way in life, people who have got ‘stuck’ in roles or organisations that just don’t suit them anymore, people who find themselves without work, and others who just don’t know what they want to do. All our ideas are available free on the website or come to one of our workshops.
© 2011 3D Coaching Ltd
May be distributed freely. Please retain contact details: www.3dcoaching.com and send a copy/ link to info@3dcoaching.com
Showing posts with label entrepreneurship; possibility. Show all posts
Showing posts with label entrepreneurship; possibility. Show all posts
Monday, April 04, 2011
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
3D Juggling 517: Entrepreneur-ship
Jane and Claire write: 'With the arrival of Hilary Devey as the new Dragon for the 2011 series of Dragon's Den, entrepreneurs are in the headlines again this week. Entrepreneurs are not just millionaires who have spare money to invest as business angels. We regularly meet people in public sector roles and in the church who also share many of these entrepreneurial skills - just not the money to match!
Arthur Ransome's 'Swallows and Amazons' is a story of entrepreneurs. When assessing how risky it was to let her children out on a lake on their own, the mother's response is 'Better drowned than duffers. If not duffers will not drown.' She had confidence in them and that what they had learned in a safer environment would serve them well in their next adventure.
Many of the people we meet are being encouraged to behave like an entrepreneur and to develop new business opportunities. Some don’t really understand what this means or see it as an adventure too far where there is a real risk of drowning. We think that being an entrepreneur - even when someone else is paying your wages - is about using the skills, knowledge and experience which you have already gained to create something new. This might be be:
• spotting opportunities and connections (and investment!)
• developing a new response to a familiar situation or need
• adapting a familiar response to a new situation or need
• a new response to a new situation or need
The last of these is the one that most people find scary. Entrepreneurial practice is learned from experience. The children in Swallows and Amazons took a risk. So did their parents! And it paid off.
Could you be an entrepreneur where you are? Or are you one already - if only you could recognise it? Think about it... '
The theory:
Way back in 1934 Schumpeter stated that ‘learning in the natural and social world’ is important for entrepreneurs. In 1985 Drucker proposed that ‘recognising and acting on opportunities is an important aspect of entrepreneurial behaviour, which is going beyond the boundaries of what is known and expected, rather than simply replicating something which already exists’.
Entrepreneurial practice is learned from experience. Learning from your experience is an outcome of coaching. Action Learning Sets are an even more cost-effective way to enable learning from and with others. As a coaches and as facilitators of Action Learning we can bring theories and models and stories that will challenge your thinking even further as you develop your skills.
We’re entrepreneurs. Talk to us.
Jane and Claire write: 'With the arrival of Hilary Devey as the new Dragon for the 2011 series of Dragon's Den, entrepreneurs are in the headlines again this week. Entrepreneurs are not just millionaires who have spare money to invest as business angels. We regularly meet people in public sector roles and in the church who also share many of these entrepreneurial skills - just not the money to match!
Arthur Ransome's 'Swallows and Amazons' is a story of entrepreneurs. When assessing how risky it was to let her children out on a lake on their own, the mother's response is 'Better drowned than duffers. If not duffers will not drown.' She had confidence in them and that what they had learned in a safer environment would serve them well in their next adventure.
Many of the people we meet are being encouraged to behave like an entrepreneur and to develop new business opportunities. Some don’t really understand what this means or see it as an adventure too far where there is a real risk of drowning. We think that being an entrepreneur - even when someone else is paying your wages - is about using the skills, knowledge and experience which you have already gained to create something new. This might be be:
• spotting opportunities and connections (and investment!)
• developing a new response to a familiar situation or need
• adapting a familiar response to a new situation or need
• a new response to a new situation or need
The last of these is the one that most people find scary. Entrepreneurial practice is learned from experience. The children in Swallows and Amazons took a risk. So did their parents! And it paid off.
Could you be an entrepreneur where you are? Or are you one already - if only you could recognise it? Think about it... '
The theory:
Way back in 1934 Schumpeter stated that ‘learning in the natural and social world’ is important for entrepreneurs. In 1985 Drucker proposed that ‘recognising and acting on opportunities is an important aspect of entrepreneurial behaviour, which is going beyond the boundaries of what is known and expected, rather than simply replicating something which already exists’.
Entrepreneurial practice is learned from experience. Learning from your experience is an outcome of coaching. Action Learning Sets are an even more cost-effective way to enable learning from and with others. As a coaches and as facilitators of Action Learning we can bring theories and models and stories that will challenge your thinking even further as you develop your skills.
We’re entrepreneurs. Talk to us.
Monday, December 06, 2010
3D Juggling 506: The great lie
Jane writes: "According to a leading business expert speaking this week ‘Britain would flourish as an international trading nation outside the economic shackles of the European Union’*. This view contradicts the key argument posed by some that leaving the EU would wreck the UK’s trade prospects.
Take a step back. Think about some of the things the current government is aiming to do to achieve the level of savings it has committed to find, and to put customers’ at the heart of decision making about how services are delivered. If you are involved in the design and delivery of services that have been provided by the public sector for many years, how does this feel?
What are you doing to ensure that your service, assuming it is of value, continues to be available when there’s no money to deliver it from within your current organisation? Are you waiting to see what happens while you worry about the impact that leaving the ‘safety’ of the public sector may have on you? Or are you talking with the other people and organisations that are, or could, be interested in what you do, with the intention of finding new and sustainable ways of doing it?
Received wisdom may be that there’s a need for your service, that you know best how to deliver it, and that customers want it to be delivered by you – that’s there’s no better alternative. That may be a great lie. Your service may be able to flourish independently. You probably know how to make this happen, although you may need some help to work out how. And if you're in the church or voluntary sector, who do you need to be talking to now?
We have worked with many individuals and teams to help them develop alternative futures. How could we help you?
*Quote from Ruth Lea, Economist and Director of Global Vision.
If it would be useful to talk this through, call us to talk more. And if you have a 3D Juggling idea, we'd love to hear from you.
Discuss this week's juggling at http://www.3dcoaching.blogspot.com/
© 2010 3D Coaching Ltd
May be distributed freely. Please retain contact details: www.3dcoaching.com and send a copy/ link to info@3dcoaching.com
Jane writes: "According to a leading business expert speaking this week ‘Britain would flourish as an international trading nation outside the economic shackles of the European Union’*. This view contradicts the key argument posed by some that leaving the EU would wreck the UK’s trade prospects.
Take a step back. Think about some of the things the current government is aiming to do to achieve the level of savings it has committed to find, and to put customers’ at the heart of decision making about how services are delivered. If you are involved in the design and delivery of services that have been provided by the public sector for many years, how does this feel?
What are you doing to ensure that your service, assuming it is of value, continues to be available when there’s no money to deliver it from within your current organisation? Are you waiting to see what happens while you worry about the impact that leaving the ‘safety’ of the public sector may have on you? Or are you talking with the other people and organisations that are, or could, be interested in what you do, with the intention of finding new and sustainable ways of doing it?
Received wisdom may be that there’s a need for your service, that you know best how to deliver it, and that customers want it to be delivered by you – that’s there’s no better alternative. That may be a great lie. Your service may be able to flourish independently. You probably know how to make this happen, although you may need some help to work out how. And if you're in the church or voluntary sector, who do you need to be talking to now?
We have worked with many individuals and teams to help them develop alternative futures. How could we help you?
*Quote from Ruth Lea, Economist and Director of Global Vision.
If it would be useful to talk this through, call us to talk more. And if you have a 3D Juggling idea, we'd love to hear from you.
Discuss this week's juggling at http://www.3dcoaching.blogspot.com/
© 2010 3D Coaching Ltd
May be distributed freely. Please retain contact details: www.3dcoaching.com and send a copy/ link to info@3dcoaching.com
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