We need the kids in the room
Seriously. Childlike thinking can change the world.
What you will get from this post:
A reflection on how the world batters us into limiting beliefs
A celebration of the amazing talent that is sat within future generations
Some tips to help you take off your blinkers and embrace your inner child
Wow. Simply wow.
Countries with a dubious child labour culture have got it *all* wrong!
Recently I was blessed to be able to attend the Moneymatix Youth Money Camp, hosted at the University of Edinburgh Business School. I was invited to be the special guest speaker, and to spend a bit of time helping the kids learn a little more about business and then ultimately, judge their entries into the final competition.
I thought I’d be wading through flawed ideas with no ambition. Sweetshops run on a shoestring. Car washing in the local street. But no…
What I experienced was completely mind blowing.
It wasn’t just inspiring. It was a paradigm shift for me.
A paradigm shift that was worth every single minute that I spent on this event.
Now, anyone who does charitable work will know that there is always a small element of self interest. I’m not talking about the scumbags who steal money - nor in fact, those who do it just to shout about it. Instead, I’m talking about the feel good factor that comes from doing good. It’s a warm fuzzy feeling whenever you (or your business, if you are an entrepreneur) do something charitable which aligns with your goals.
I’m comfortable with that side benefit of charitable work. But at this event, I got something so much more valuable.
I got a business lesson that I sorely needed.
Here’s the thing. Every single idea, plan, and action in my business that I undertake is shrouded by rubbish. Rubbish from my education, rubbish from my experience, and rubbish from my fears.
What if it goes wrong?
What’s the downside risk?
What if I spearhead an embarrassing failure?
And probably the worst - “this is not realistic”.
One of my favourite concepts is one from Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal. In his book Zero to One*, he explores what is needed for a startup to change the world. He talks about the need for businesses to create the new, rather than improve the existing. And he challenges us to massively question our limiting beliefs. Why can’t things be done in a much smaller timescale?
If you haven’t read it, you can buy it here
On reflection, it’s actually quite shocking to me that as “entrepreneurs” we have to be told this stuff. Eight year olds get it!
I probably should elaborate and provide more context before evangelising about the power of the childhood mind.
I heard five pitches:
a contactless card with inbuilt fingerprint biometrics, to reduce contactless fraud (a huge sum of money)
A water bottle made from the roots of mushrooms
A phone app which monitors inbound and outbound communications from phones so that the one in five (!!) kids who have approaches from online predators can be protected, without risking their confidentiality or parents having to snoop
A ship that can suck plastics from the sea, rather than using a net, and resell the plastics to build the circular economy; and
A wearable device for those with addictions to identify drug or alcohol usage
Now, ask any adult to come up with a business idea, and I can guarantee that at best it’s “Google but a bit quicker”. More often than not, it’s “open a shop or restaurant in my local town.
Let’s take this a step further.
When we start planning a business, we focus on the art of now. Reality is reality. For our restaurant, we will go to the town centre and click a clicker to work out today’s footfall. We look at kitchen equipment just like the ones we’ve used or seen. And where do we open? In the buildings that are vacant.
Soooo creative… (I’d better point out the sarcasm seeing it doesn’t always land with the written word!)
If we are particularly sophisticated, we might run a focus group. Full of people in our target demographic, full of people with the same limitations.
I can save you the hassle. They want a fiver off their meal and good service.
It reminds me of the Henry Ford story. I’m not old enough to have heard it, so I don’t know if it’s true. But allegedly he said of the motorcar that if he asked people what they wanted, they’d say faster horses.
Childish thinking at its best.
People are often shut down due to childish thinking.
But why?
We’ve got it all wrong. Instead of adults thinking and working out what the kids should do (hopefully, in compliance with child labour laws); why aren’t the kids thinking and the adults doing?!
Now, I know this is radical. It won’t happen. So instead, let’s think about what we can do to help fire that creativity:
Assume that everything you know is wrong. Next time you need to brainstorm, brainstorm with a blank canvas.
Challenge everything. What stories have you told yourself about your customers, your market, and your industry?
What is it that makes you think “I can’t do that”? Hit that delete button in your head.
Embrace your inner child. Think bigger, then think bigger again. Why just flying cars? Can it be a submarine as well?
If you have a 10 year plan, ask yourself why it can’t be done in 1 year. Then bridge that gap. Work out the limiting factors, and reapply that creativity!
It took a book from Peter Thiel for people to read this argument, and still very few who read it will act on it. Today, I learned that kids get it.
(PS. The youngest attendee was 7, not 8)
Carl Reader is a WH Smith Bestselling Author and international keynote speaker with a real passion for helping people do better. There are two ways to learn more about Carl! You can either follow him on Social Media if you’re just curious (@carlreader on most platforms), or if you’d like to learn a little more about what he does on stage, through content and in the media from a commercial perspective, you can visit his website.
You can buy a copy of his last book BOSS IT here, wherever you are in the world. And of course, I’d love you to subscribe to this community to be the first to see everything I have to share - just click the button below. It’s free of charge!
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