Want entrepreneurs? Don’t be afraid to fail

Mr Richard Hartung’s commentary “Going beyond teaching business skills to groom entrepreneurs” (June 18) resonated with me.

While our Government has recognised the importance of instilling entrepreneurial skills in the young in recent years, much must be done to put our youth on par with those in the West.

For generations, our educational system has over-emphasised academic achievement, resulting in parents pressuring their children to perform well in school to find a good job, leaving little time for innovative thinking and cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset.

To groom entrepreneurs, mindsets must change. Our youth must be taught the importance of embracing adversity, risk-taking and getting out of their comfort zones to experience the world at appropriate times. Parents play an important role in this.

My observation is that many Singaporean parents hand-hold their children during every milestone in their lives. They are overprotective and go all out to create an ideal environment to minimise the risk of their children suffering setbacks.

Fear of failure stifles innovation and stops one from thinking out of the box, let alone exploring entrepreneurial opportunities. If Mr Bill Gates had been afraid to fail, if Steve Jobs could not handle adversity, there would be no Microsoft and Apple today.

In schools, there could perhaps be more design-thinking programmes to inculcate innovative mindsets. These could start as early as pre-school. With the Education Ministry gearing towards a more holistic curriculum, it could consider a compulsory entrepreneurship module.

Our tertiary institutions have excellent courses in business administration and management, but having these qualifications does not make one a good entrepreneur.

I was raised in a traditional family, which viewed business set-ups as high-risk activities to be discouraged. But I recognise times have changed and encourage my two school-going children to innovate by exploring ways of doing things.

I tell them it is okay to fail and learn from their mistakes. They are passionate crafters and we spend quality time on this. During the process, I encourage them to generate creative new projects. Seeing their ideas develop into the final creations always boosts their self-esteem.