He might be a larger-than-life TV personality and intelligent people know that his programme is manufactured for entertainment, but his apparent values and working practices are not appealing to young people. The premise of his television show is the antithesis of the way in which successful millennials like to work. Connected, collaborative and communicative; they find the aggression and “every man for himself” attitude of The Apprentice to be unappealing. At Falmouth University Business School, our Business Entrepreneurship BA is taught using the Team Academy model – students are placed in teams that set up, run and sustain real businesses. We use the model because we know that successful businesses need people that understand teams. Over three years, our students develop an understanding of the need for a diverse team; gain an appreciation of the fact that teams can often be messy, experience the pleasure and pain of building a team from scratch and discover that a good team is greater than the sum of its parts. As they run their businesses, our students learn how to function as part of a team; how to manage their colleagues’ strengths and weaknesses, how to negotiate internal conflict, how to harness disagreement for positive purposes – vital skills whether they graduate and go on to establish a future FTSE 100 company, or join an established enterprise as an employee. The American business writer Stephen Shapiro says that the person you like the least is the person you need the most, and there’s a lot of truth in that. Strong teams (and therefore strong businesses) are diverse and full of people with different skills and strengths, but they’re also supportive and empathetic environments. Our students are partly assessed on how they help others learn, but they also spend a lot of time learning about themselves and what makes them tick. In order to become a team player, they need to understand what they bring to the group. They are encouraged to be reflective and self-critical, but they also receive feedback from their colleagues.
However, unlike in Sugar’s boardroom, there’s no finger pointing and blame apportioning; the feedback is constructive and purposeful. Through this process, our students become resilient and receptive to feedback; a vital capacity in any successful business person.
Sugar believes that entrepreneurs are born, not made and that in itself I disagree is clearly wrong. As well as accepting and acting on criticism, experience and the learnings that come with making mistakes all help shape and inform an entrepreneur. It’s only by trying and experimenting and failing that people with aspirations for their own business can discover the realities of the business world. That’s why investors like serial entrepreneurs – even those that haven’t established market-leading successes every time – because they’re constantly honing their methods and developing their ideas. There are also key entrepreneurial behaviours that can be taught and learned. “There’s nothing more practical than a good theory” is right and, at a business school like ours, students can blend academic study and practical experience in an environment that’s set up for them to experiment in safely. It’s right that the government is taking steps to encourage and support entrepreneurship, but it can do better than appointing an outdated business icon of the 80s as an ambassador for enterprise. Better to take a fresh look at the successful young British businesses of 2016, listen to younger voices and to provide more support for startups. Jeremy Richards is MBA director at Falmouth University
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.