Do you know what Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Coco Chanel, Michael Dell, Walt Disney, Mary Kay Ash and Henry Ford all have in common?
Not one of them has a tertiary education.
My Google has been running hot while I have been searching for a hint of what makes these people tick. The only thing that I have found is that they have each challenged the conventional. They did not say, “there is no precedent so this cannot be done.”
They were daring enough to dream, yet dreamy enough not to recognise conventional boundaries.
One article I found speaks about universities offering courses in entrepreneurialism.
What skills could be taught to turn you into an entrepreneur? Can you teach someone to dream, believe in their dream and never let anyone tell you it will never work?
I was once told by the founder of a very successful company, “I don’t know how to do anything here. I employ people to turn my ideas into a product. In a way, everyone that works for me is smarter than me… but I am richer than them.”
I tend to think that an academic background may have discouraged the willingness to take risks for these people, whereas a strong mentor would have been able to help them get things done, leaving them free to dream.