This is a wonderful blog post and one that is near and dear to my heart. We are all taught from first grade — yes, first grade — to be a member of a compliant work force. We believe that this mitigates risk. But I think is it extremely risky because it leaves us very vulnerable when there are big shifts in the economy like what we are experiencing now, and we don't have the skills to follow them. We sit at a desk and listen to an authority who stands up in front of us. We go from desk in grammar school to desk in high school to desk in college to desk in company. Early industrialists supported this form of education with open arms back before the civil war. They not only had an educated work force they could rely on, they had one that would not question their authority. This has not changed for over 150 years.

The problem is, contrary to what most people believe, companies are not in the business of providing jobs. It is only serendipitous that they do. In fact, the two things that most companies do not want are customers…and employees. I say customers because they always want better service and better quanlity than a company can ever afford to provide. But, companies really do not want employees. Yes, they need them, but they just as soon get rid of them if they could. And they are doing that in this country in droves.

I come from the IT business and my job that made over six figures and gave me a good life is now being done by someone making $10,000 a year. I saw this happening ten years ago and planned for it.

But, everyone else is still in the mindset of get a good education and get a good job. Well, it is going to be harder and harder as more of the third world becomes educated and competes with us. There is nothing that we or any government can do about it. In fact we shouldn't want anyone to do something about it. This is because the other side of the world does compliance so much better than we do. It is miserable to work in a job where you absolutely have to do what you are told and have no autonomy or respect. And that is what most companies are going to become. Compliancy is so much easier to manage than messy creative adults who think for themselves. But high levels of compliancy produce a type of stress that is deadly. There is no wonder there is high levels of obesity and other stress related diseases in this country as jobs have been draining out. Let the rest of the world experience it. We have had enough of it.

But part of the legacy of what most of us has experienced in our lives is the fallout from this compliancy education. We actually believe the messages we are told as part of our education as if they are gospel or part of our DNA. For example we are told sales people are bad… we all read Death of a Salesman. Who would want to be a loser like that. Yet a good sales person is usually a pretty nice guy. Yes, there are slimy ones, but there are slimy teachers, and slimy doctors. We are just told that all salespeople are slimy because if we were to find out the power of knowing how to sell we would no longer want to be a compliant worker, we would create companies that are in competition with those out there already. Even the very word “Entrepreneur” has been hijacked. There are so many aspects of our culture that strip us of our ability to conceive of working for ourselves. Did you know at the turn of the last century it was considered a failure to work for someone else?

As long as money, and how to make it kept taboo and off limits for “polite society” only those people who know how to make money will control it and us. Who are the majority funders out there for schools and universities. You got it! Big Business.

So, I think the answer to your question is not knowing more about Entrepreneurship is more risky than not having the skills to be an entrepreneur. If you start a company in grade school, well, selling lemonade, and fail you still have a home. You learn, you fail, you learn, and by the time you are out on your own in your twenties, it is not risky for you to be an Entrepreneur. You know how to do it.

I believe the very fabric of this experiment we call democracy requires that everyone learns about Entrepreneurship too.. Firstly because their might not be enough jobs to go around to maintain our miraculous lifestyle. Secondly, to compete with what is going on in the third world we are not going to be able to compete with compliancy. They do that totally better than us and let them. In the meantime us messy creative singular entrepreneurs will bite at their ankles like fleas and create a more powerful new world for empowered people to flourish. That is the gift that our democracy gives us. It is also the gift that the Internet provides for us as well.

That is why I do business shyness. I take people who do not realize that they have been practicing shyness for decades to the point they will not question authority even if it is ultimately detrimental to them. Business shyness is about overcoming fear of aksing for money, selling, public speaking, networking, etc. I think you will find this video gives you a rather interesting view of the subject.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7aL4LJiPJo

I would also be interested your thoughts as well. Great to connect with you on Twitter.

Best,
Nancy Knettell
The Shyness Queen
America's Foremost Business Shyness Expert
CEO and Founder of iWoman Network International
International Speaker
Radio Host of Entrepreneur Energy Radio

Ann – I do not like being in the “leader” role directly. (If I lead, I'd rather do it with my words than with my authority or the influence of my person.) My desire to be an entrepreneur is actually connected to this desire to live the way my introversion demands – by designing and putting in place a system that doesn't require so much of my social energy, that can be activated while I sit by myself in a private room.

Ann Evanston
The Warrior is Within You
http://Warrior-Prenuer.com