How Open Innovation can Save Lives and Improve Education
I just did an interview for Brainrack.com, where I participated in one of their challenge cases. I like the interview, but it got me thinking crazily again. So I had to expand on it, and this post is just that. If you want to see the kernel from which it sprung, you can read my interview about Brainrack, Education, and Entrepreneurship
In my constant state of feverish, borderline-obsessive need to create value, I recently participated in a Case Challenge on Brainrack.com (full disclosure - founded by a friend of mine). It also didn't hurt that there was a $5,000 prize pool. Thinking through this, how could I not love it? My goal is to make $47,000 pre-graduation, so of course there is the money, but this concept holds another, much more important place in my heart.
Ready? It MATTERS. It actually effing matters. These cases aren't just made up by TA's, graded and stuffed in a drawer at the end of the semester. These problems are experienced by real companies, big ones, from all over the world. They come to Brainrack hoping that young, ahead of the curve students can come up with something new, something different, something incredible that will change the way they run their companies. There is something about working to solve a problem, rather than just working for a grade that shifts thinking. People become result-focused, creative, willing to experiment, more determined. People think in terms of real-world, culture, environment, competition, not just limited to the parameters of the project brief.
It was incredibly fulfilling to read a case about a company, read their stated problem, and truly believe that I had a solution. It was empowering. I set about stating my case, supporting it, researching best practices, branching out other possibilities, and generally kicking that problem's ass with a fervor that I have never had for schoolwork. Now that may just be my particular pathology, and tendency to grade-agnosticism but I believe that many more people would respond well to being confronted with real problems; with tangible feedback and rewards.
Or, a better question: Why not? Even if it is only beneficial for 5% of students, isn't that enough to give it a try? It certainly won't hinder those that are already motivated and engaged. Think about this: There are almost 20 Million students enrolled in higher ed across the country. That is a lot of mental horsepower doing repetitive, rote work, and often duplicating a product of the mind hundreds of times. A mind is a terrible thing to waste.
Let's get those brains working on some of the coming challenges. It's not like there is a shortage of problems. We never know what kind of brilliance could come from such a wide array of minds. We may solve some great unknown; we may not. But what is there to lose by trying?
Example: Stanford has a class called "Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability". The goal is to develop products the provide service to some of the poorest nations on earth. The students in that class have accomplished incredible things. They have brought light to darkness, literally. They have launched projects that will save millions of babies' lives. Yes, it's Stanford. Yes, they are brilliant human beings. But with 20 million students in Universities all over the country, I am confident that there is a massive amount of value that could be gleaned from halls of bright, hungry students eager to solve the world's problems.
Give us problems, give us challenges. Assign us the great difficulties of the next generation for homework. After all, isn't that what education is for? Aren't we being prepared to tackle the (formidable) challenges of the pivotal next 60 years of planet Earth? Let's start now. We're ready.
As always, more to come...
Note: I understand that there are basic building blocks of education that are irreplaceable, and that must precede this sort of challenge. My point is that these opportunities can and should be worked into the classroom, into the mainstream of education, rather than extracurriculars and after-school contests.
Another Note: I placed 5th in my first Brainrack Challenge, netting me a nice but dainty $250. You can read the challenge brief here and read a (slightly modified) version of my submission here De Alliantie Challenge
October 18th, 2011 - 15:17
I definitely agree that students should be able to contribute to the world around them, especially at the top universities in the country. For example, at Columbia, there’s a class called “Gateway” for first year engineers were they design a simple product (such as a flashlight) that can be made for a country in need. This year, I think their area of interest was Haiti, post-storm.
Even in other areas, financial firms will hire psychology majors and sociology majors because nothing that the Financial students learn in class really prepares them for school. This is why JP Morgan has a 2 month training program for their I-Banking Analysts.
So I completely agree! The way students nowadays are supplementing their education to fill this gap is internships. But if this could be incorporated into education in a practical way, I’d be all for it.