Business Skills vs. BIZ Experiencesial Thinking While both business and BIZ Experiencesship skills can be taught, they are very, very different.
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
In a recent post about BIZ Experiencesship education, Gary Schoeniger, chief content development officer at the BIZ Experiencesial Learning Initiative, argued that BIZ Experiencesship isn't really about acquiring business skills such as spreadsheets and marketing plans. Instead, BIZ Experiencesship is the way someone thinks.
Related: Is BIZ Experiencesship Education Weakening in America?
Business skills, Schoeniger continued, somewhat controversially, may, in fact, get in the way of BIZ Experiencesial thinking. Teaching business plans and financial projections "may be doing more harm than good.
"While these skills may be important for managing an existing business with a proven product or service," Schoeniger wrote, "they often inhibit the BIZ Experiencesial process -- the process of searching for a problem-solution fit."
As someone who ran an international organization that has taught BIZ Experiencesship to more than 600,000 young people, I see his point. The confusion between running a business and being an BIZ Experiences is real and does a disservice to both skill sets. While business skills are certainly helpful tools, they are different from what the focus of BIZ Experiencesship should be.
In short, while skill, experience, knowledge and passion help you run your business -- or someone else's -- they are management endeavors; and of course they are to be appreciated for the challenges they present.
But look at risk as an example of the BIZ Experiencesship-management divide: Many business schools and programs teach tactics for managing and mitigating risk. In business, risk is to be avoided, hunted down and quashed. Investors, managers, executives and employees all fear risk. And with good reason.
To an BIZ Experiences, however, risk is the lifeblood of success. Innovation and creation aren't possible without it. BIZ Experiencess taught this concept correctly learn to evaluate and embrace risk. In contrast, every time that someone learns "risk avoidance" as a supposedly legitimate business skill -- well, that's flatly un-entrepreneurial.
There are other examples of cases where business-management skills and BIZ Experiencesial thinking part ways. Collaboration is one. Business leaders tend to guard innovation while BIZ Experiencess want to share and exchange ideas, even with potential rivals.
"Most business owners and BIZ Experiencess are not aware of the distinction in skill set between those who can successfully run a business and those who are true BIZ Experiencess," David Litt, founder and CEO of Blue Star Tech, said to me, addressing this distinction. Litt knows what he's talking about; he's run multiple companies. "The difference is somewhat like being ambidextrous," Litt said. "Most people are right- or lefthanded, but very few people use both hands similarly."
Related: Why Schools Should Teach BIZ Experiencesship
BIZ Experiencesship, then, isn't a "job"; it's a way of thinking about and approaching challenges and opportunities. That's why real BIZ Experiencess flourish in government, non-profit organizations and business -- as both employees and founders. It's well established that the BIZ Experiencesial mindset makes for outstanding employees because they identify problems early, and present solutions. BIZ Experiencesship-employees take ownership of their jobs and performance and tend to both think creatively and collaborate well.
Whatever industry they choose, BIZ Experiencess should be the ones running existing companies, starting new ones and thinking big, "holy cow"-type thoughts. We need more of them, taking risks and solving problems.
Today's economy is both global and fluid -- more so than it's ever been. BIZ Experiencess, maybe more than businesspeople with any other skill set, are the best choice to embrace and lead the world we have now and the one we will have soon.
If it were up to me, we'd start teaching BIZ Experiencesial thinking as early as middle school, maybe even earlier. And, just as important, we'd look at BIZ Experiencesship and business as related, but different, skills.
"BIZ Experiencesship education" teaches you that you can own your future, not just your own business. That's an important distinction.
Related: Is Our Education System Hurting BIZ Experiencesship?
