The time when most people find out whether they are going to be good in business is when they are in school.  No, not college or even high school, but in elementary school.  That is when all the bad habits form and when the true nature of the entrepreneur rises.  In school you were taught to wait and follow the rules.  Line up, sit down, eat now, do this, go here or there.  All independent thought is squeezed out of you. 

The worst thing you could do in school was to look at the teacher because you may be called on to answer a question and being laughed at by your peers if you answer incorrectly - what a horrible thought.  So, you were taught to keep your head down, follow along, and do not speak up or question things.  Keep your head down and just follow the rules was your new mantra.

The true entrepreneur is that kid who asks too many questions. He finds ways to make things go more quickly and more efficiently, and is always, always in trouble for thinking for himself.  School, from elementary school to college, is NOT the place to ask questions or offer new opinions.  It is a place where real ideas go to die.

Can you tell I resent the waste of time I spent in those halls of supposed learning?

I tell my son, and I mean it with all my heart and soul, “Smart is what you do!”  Intelligence isn’t in a book even though you do need to know things from books to do a job well.  It also isn’t with a teacher who just rambles on about a subject, although there is something of value in those lectures (if you listen).  Intelligence is when you take something you learned and do something new with it to make your world better.  Entrepreneurs understand that from the day they are born. If more schools got kids out of their chairs and asked them to prove theories and create things the world would change overnight.

I have been supportive of my son who is a real entrepreneur.  I encourage his new ideas, his inventions (no matter how outlandish they are), and his experimentation (although I draw the line at what he wants to do to my car).  He is great with numbers, an outgoing person, and can see things that I do not.  I listen and let him tell me a story about what he wants to see happen.  At the age of three he came up with his own franchise. We are still working a few details out, but it will be great because in his mind he can see every detail. Can you imagine if you were given that kind of encouragement at a young age?

He gets in trouble at school for talking out of turn, for trying to do things he knows are right, and for doing things too quickly because he sees them as a time waster.  I know this is something he is not going to out grow, but rather something he is going to learn to deal with until his time is done there.  Smart kids figure out a way, don’t they?

Entrepreneurs drive people crazy (sorry teachers).  They can’t help it.  They think differently, act differently, and are not a ”follow the directions” kind of person.  We all know someone like this…some people just need to look in the mirror.  Entrepreneurs are the people who see past what is there to what we can do better.  Thank goodness for them.  I wouldn’t have the Business Bulldog brand if I had not seen how business could be run better.

I guess you would have to create a new sub-category for me and people like me, though.  I see how things are and spend my days working to help others create their own path to success.  Working with entrepreneurs is like herding cats sometimes and other times it is like running with the bulls.  Sometimes you are lucky to get one person on the right path and sometimes you are lucky to get out of the way while they are running down a path.

I am sure you have some people around you that drive you crazy with questions or ideas that may seem plucked from some science fiction book.  Do yourself a favor - shut up and listen.  Hire at least one person like this.  Encourage them to develop their ideas.  Encourage them to ask more questions.  Finally, encourage them to do something - Smart is what you do, right?!?

I want to encourage all of you to post a question on this site or even ask me a question directly.  I am at [1] bgriffin@businessbulldog.com.