The world is changing every day. Jobs and opportunities that were popular a decade ago may have lost their luster. We cannot predict the need or demand a decade hence, also there is an ever increasing problem of unemployment and layoffs circling today’s youth.The need of the hour is to bring into existence a system that prepares this generation to generate employment and thus solve the problem posed by the transition from education to employment. There seem to be promising initiatives under way to develop entrepreneurial mindsets and behaviors, but how they are best taught is still under debate.

The debate between causal thinking and effectual thinking is perennial. The great generals of the past were causal thinkers seeking to conquer fertile lands, while their contemporary effectual thinkers were explorers setting out on voyages into uncharted waters. People who use effectual reasoning start with a given set of means and allow goals to emerge and change over time. Google, for instance, didn’t begin as a brilliant vision or ingenious idea, but as a project to improve library searches. It sparked a series of small discoveries that eventually unlocked a revolutionary business model.

A large part of this pull towards causal thinking comes down to our schooling. Many traditional education systems have been designed to train us to follow instructions. There is a reliance on standards or a prescribed curriculum. Schools - and this is just as true for many organizations - tend to reward people for being able to perform consistently and reliably, for being able to “color within the lines”.The system must allow the molding of the educational curriculum in a way that is best suited for creating students with innovative minds. The onus of this development lies with the educators’ communities that hold the rights to bring about a growth oriented change in this industry.

There are 3 steps that could be implemented towards developing creative and entrepreneurial minds and producing employment opportunities.

The first step towards confronting the issue of unemployment would be to develop the mindset of ‘acceptance’in schools, to support a student’s endeavor of creating something new. A young mind is home to a plethora of ideas which,if given appropriate

guidance and direction, can transpire into some thing unique. When ideas are acknowledged by teachers, the student gets the motivation to think about implementing it on the next level. This next level could be to present it in in-house school exhibitions, but these are just some ways to promote entrepreneurial skills in the infrastructure already present in the school. The main struggle is to introduce systems and resources to support these endeavors that are usually not given much importance. Entrepreneurship is the ability to not only start ventures but also to think innovatively. Through an exposure of this kind, they will be able to nurture their capabilities and sharpen the skills essential in the long run.

A young mind is home to a plethora of ideas which, if given appropriate guidance and direction, can transpire into something unique

The second step is to have tools and resources in place to support the entrepreneurial mindset. One of the resources could be a dedicated incubation center or learning center to promote ideation and address issues of the students. This will ensure a determined and constant support to the flow of ideas by students. The incubation center can host facilities like affiliations with venture capitalists or fund providers, to assist children in the next step of giving a structure to their idea and provide funding. Another example of building resources to support this mindset is by collaborating with an organization that provides assistance to budding entrepreneurs. The courses are specially designed to develop significant life skills of risk taking, leadership, creative thinking, problem solving and managing failure, combined with the current day knowledge requirement of digital and social media. These kinds of programs ensure learning through games, workshops and interactive videos that help the students to grasp concepts and perform better not just in the said program but also academically and holistically.

The third and the final step of entrepreneurship inculcation is the amalgamation of the resources with the mindsets. Successful implementation of this phase will mean schools will be ready to deliver entrepreneurship lessons that are not just theoretical but also provide practical, hands-on experiences to students. If the two phases exist as standalone activities, it is quite likely that the whole plan wouldn’t work out and reap as many benefits as are desired. The dual effect of the first two phases needs to be catalyzed by a strong foundation in theory and practical that will complete the cycle and ensure desirable results.

Another parallel process that needs to be implemented is the teachers’ training. The educators need to be in a position to guide and help their students and be flexible with the changing technology and pedagogies. They need to understand the risks involved and pay attention to every small detail to ensure the very best result is yielded for every individual child. These risks later allow children to undertake sensible risks themselves while making wise decisions based on rationale and logic. The education system is in dire need of an over-haul of the grading pattern. Currently, theory and rote learning have a higher weight age than practical skills, logical thinking, critical and creative thinking,reasoning exercises, risk-taking initiatives and soft skills.

The lack of this has created a generation of literate individuals who are not employment ready. According to English philosopher Ken Robinson,“We learn to be innovative and entrepreneurial by exploring, questioning assumptions, using imagination and synthesizing information.” Robinson asserts that traditional education emphasizes on conformity, compliance and a linear path stifles this.Creativity skills are learned, not from sitting in a classroom, but by experiencing and applying creative thinking processes in a real life setting.