Why are we still producing only employees and not employers?

In India, if 18 or 21 year old students or graduates tell their parents, relatives, teachers or anyone around them, that they have a great business idea and would like to start working on it, they would be laughed at and their idea will be dismissed as a joke. They will have more chance at convincing their elders that the earth revolves around the moon; than that they can build a successful company. Mark Zuckerberg was barely 20 when he started facebook; had people around him dismissed his idea as a youngster's stupidity, we would still be sending emails and SMS to our friends. Forget about Facebook, Paul Allen was 22 and Bill Gates 20, when they started Microsoft. Think of all the good things we would have missed if they were stopped. Why are we still producing only employees and not employers? 

There are several reasons for this. Our society seems to dawdle with the idea that business is passed on in genes and only a businessman's offspring would possess the ability to start and run a successful business. Our educational structure is more interested in theory than the practical approach; our middle class and upper middle classes mostly stay away from businesses. Our society thinks that youngsters don't have enough real life experience, to make the right choice; and above all, we have failed to accept failure. The truth is that, the society itself is restricting the number of innovators and genius business men it could have produced.

It is said that a child is born agnostic. Our society instills all of its traits and characters into them, and along with these traits, is the idea that business is not for us. Parents and elders seem to have pledged to make their child an engineer or a doctor and show zero interest in what their child really cares about, or wants to be. The bollywood movie '3 Idiots' brilliantly portrayed this aspect of the Indian society; we seem to have come to the conclusion that the purpose of life, is to take lesser risks and choose a path that offers an assured job and a lot of money. Interest and aptitude seem to have taken a back seat in the society; and in such a society there is no room for a Zuckerberg, or a Gates, or a Jobs.

An education structure, which is crafted according to the attitude of our society, cares little about anything, other than theory. The structure enables the students to get good grades and marks. But most of the students who graduate from Indian universities, have little or no real world practical knowledge. Companies are put in a difficult position when they hire these grads, as they will have to give them extensive training, to make them efficient. Nowadays, the companies also seem to have come into terms with this reality; we are literally manufacturing engineers, when what we could use more are scientists. Like in the U.S. or the UK, we need to weave in entrepreneurship to the very fabric of our society, so that the future generation will have the mentality to try something new and create a difference in this world. This can only be done through a total restructuring of education; our education needs to have more real world projects and assignment that would help students gain a practical perspective of businesses. We should move ahead from providing services and should concentrate more on research; then we will see more and more employers popping up in the country.

Parents in the country have to realize that they are training their child to be a part of someone else's works force, rather than becoming someone who employees the workforce. This idea of not thinking beyond working for someone else might have its root in our long history of being ruled by foreign powers, but that time has passed and we need to move ahead. A good majority of the people who made it big in this world, started trotting on that path early on; your motto should be, 'let them be all they can be.'

"It ain't about how hard you hit, it's about how you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward," a famous quote from Sylvester Stallone's 2006 movie 'Rocky Balboa', captures the essence of winning completely. It is always about accepting failure, recovering from it and moving forward. Winston Churchill once said, "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." Recently in NASSCOM Product Conclave, Vinod Khosla said that "I don't mind failing, but when I succeed it better be worth succeeding." It is attitude like this that needed to be instilled in the youngsters and not a fear of failure. We need to learn to accept failure and move forward.

My Take:

What about us, are we still producing employees or moved to produce employers? Does the system of our education gives spaces for creative minds like Zuckerber, Gates, or Jobs? We have been witnessing lots of dramas when its time for our students to got for field, is this a healthy situation for our future? May its about time now to ask ourselves the above question.   

Source Silicon India

Lesson from Steve Jobs of Apple!

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” SJ

Yawezekana ulipofungua ama kuingia kwenye mtandao kufanya lolote lile uliilotaka kufanya leo hii ukakutana na taarifa za kifo cha Steve Jobs, na kama wewe ni mtumiaji wa kompyuta za Apple ama brauza ya safari utakuwa ulikutana na picha ya Bwana huyu ikieleza umri kuzaliwa na kufa kwake.
 

Inawezekana kabisa si wengi wanamfahamu au waliwai kusikia juu ya mtu huyu ambaye leo vyombo vyote vya habari (vya nje) na mitandao vinaanikiza juu ya kifo cha Mbunifu huyu mwenye kuheshimika duniani.

 Bila shaka kama ulikuwa humjui au hukumfahamu hapo kabla leo utakuwa umemfahamu  japo kidogo kupitia kifo chake, sina nia ya kukujuza juu ya msiba huu au umetokeaje na vitu kama hivyo, hapana, nia yangu ni kutaka tujifunze kwa pamoja sisi kama wajasiriamali juu ya mjasiliamali huyu asiyekata tama kirahisi. Jeni funzo gani tunapata kupitia historia ya maisha yake?

 Kama umepata muda kupitia historia yake utakuwa umegundua kuwa haina chochote cha kufanya na mafanikio yake, kwanza hakulelewa na wazazi wake, kwani baada ya kumzaa walimasili (adopted) kwa wazazi wengine, pili, ubunifu wake hauna uhusiano wowote na elimu yake, kwani aliweza kukaa chuo cha ufundi cha gharama wakati huo miezi sita tu ama muhula Mmoja, hakumaliza chuo, aliishi maisha ya kutangatanga na kuvutiwa zaidi na kazi za mafundi umeme wa magari ambayo ndio ilikuwa kazi ya baba yake (sio mzazi).
 

In this rare photograph, you can see how Steve Jobs looked at the lowest point of his career.

It was taken for Andy Hertzfeld’s birthday in April 1993.

From left to right: Mac programmer Andy Hertzfeld, Lisa and Mac programmer Bill Atkinson, Mac programmer and NeXT co-founder Bud Tribble, and Steve

Tunachokiona ni kuwa toka akiwa mdogo alivutiwa na kutamani kujua zaidi juu ya mambo ya vufaa vya umeme, hapa ndipo alipojenga ukaribu na jamaa Mmoja aliyekuwa akifanya kazi kiwanda cha kompyuta HP Wakati huo, Woz akajenga mazoea kwenda kujifunza nyumbani kwa Woz, akajiunga naye na hatimaye  akamua kununua sehemu ya mradi wa Woz wa Apple, akiwa na nia ya kutengeneza kompyuta bora kabisa duniani akiwa na umri wa miaka 20 tu, wawili hao wakiwa na kamtaji kadogo sana, lakini wakiwa ndoto kuuubwa ya kuubadili ulimwengu kiteknolojia walianza ubunifu kufikia ndoto zao. 

“Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.” SJ

Steve alianza kutengeza Apple nyumbani kwake na kuzitembeza madukani, waliweza kuuza japo kwa taabu kidogo kwani yao ilikuwa bodhaa mpya na soko limeshikiliwa na IBM, waliamua kuziongezea ubora kwa kuweka program zaidi na hatimaye baada ya muda walifanikiwa kukamata soko na hivyo miaka mine tangu kuanzishwa ikawa ni kampuni kubwa kiasi cha kuingia soko la hisa, mwaka wa tano walitengeneza faida kubwa kufikia Dola million 200, hivyo kuwa Millionea akiwa na miaka 25 tu.

 Haya yalikuwa mafanikio makubwa sana kwa Steve, lakini pia yalikuja yakiwa yameambatana na majaribu yake, kwani kampuni ilianza kufanya vibaya kiasi cha kufikia kufukuzwa katika kampuni aliyoianzisha na kuamua kuuza hisa zake zote na kuendelea na maisha yake, lakini hakuuza maono wala ndoto zake.

 “I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.” SJ

 Hii ilikuwa ni mwaka 1985, steve aliamua kuendeleza ubunifu wake kwa kuanzisha kampuni mbali mbali za kutengezea programu mbali mbali za kompyuta, hata hivyo hazikuweza kufanya vizuri katika soko, miaka takrina tisa ilikuwa migumu kwake, ilifika mahali akakaribia kukata tamaa, hii ilikuwa mwaka 1993, kwa maneno yake anasema “ankle dip shit”.

 Huko msemo usemao “It is always dark before dawn” au ukiona kiza kimezidi kumekaribia kucha, pengine ndio unaoweza elezea mazingira ya kuibuka tena upya  kwa Steve na hatimaye kufikia mafanikio aliyoyoacha nyuma yake.

 Mwishoni mwa mwaka 1993 akiwa bado ana maono yake na ndoto zake zikiwa hazijaathiriwa na mawimbi ya mkwamo wa kibiashara alianza upya kuboresha bidhaa zake na hivyo kujaribu kuziuza upya kwa makampuni na vyuo, aliamua pia kutengeneza programu ya mwanasesere, alijaribu kutaka kuiingiza katika soko la hisa, akawaona wataalamu wa masoko na wachambuzi, walimcheka sana, walimwona kama anayeota ndoto ya mchana, kampuni yake ilikuwa ikifanya vibaya kwa kipindi cha miaka tisa mfululizo.

“I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.” SJ

 Hakukata tamaa, alikuwa na maono ya mbali na zaidi aliamini kuwa INAWEZEKANA, kutokana na kutokata tama kwake kwa jambo analoamini kuwa linawezekana, miaka miwili baadaye 1995 alipata mafanikio makubwa kupitia programu yake iliyokataliwa kwanza na wataaalumu na hivyo kumuingizia Dola Billioni 1.5, ikiwa ni mara tano zaidi ya alizowai kuingiza akiwa na Apple, huo ulikuwa mwanzo wa mafanikio na hatimaye kurudi tena Apple Macntoshi na kuendeleza ndoto yake ya kubadili ulimwengu kupitia teknologia. 

 “You know, I’ve got a plan that could rescue Apple. I can’t say any more than that it’s the perfect product and the perfect strategy for Apple. But nobody there will listen to me.” SJ



Kutokana historia yake nimejifunza mambo mengi sana, hapa chini ni machache tu:-

• Kufanikiwa katika jambo lolote maishani  hakuna uhusiano na historia yako au hali ya uchumi ya wazazi wako.
• Kufanikiwa kwako hakuna uhusiano wa moja kwa moja na elimu yako au wazazi wako. 
• Kufanikiwa hakuna uhusiano na kazi unayofanya bali fikira na ndoto ulizonazo.
•  Kufukuzwa kazi si mwisho bali ni mwanzo wa kunoa akili na kutumia ubunifu wako kufikia ndoto zako. 
• Kushindwa (Failure) ni mwalimu mzuri sana maishani. 
• Kutokutaka tamaa, kung'ang'ania kile unachokiamini pasipo kujali wengine wanasema nini juu yake ndio msingi mkuu wa kutimiza ndoto zako. NK.  

Winners Boulevard 0784 475576, 0716927070.  For comment or ideas