Submitted By: Jeff Mohr

[Prof. Carr Note: This post by Jeff, and the below by Shasta (be sure to see her post below after this one) raise some common issues, so I load and post both of them at the same time.]

Creativity.

Failure.

More and more these two words are defining success for thousands of garage engineers turned BlackBerry addicts. Millions of educated and hard-working graduates flow out of school systems in India and China, some of which will be tomorrow’s business leaders—in our country. How does creativity happen? Is it spanked into you at birth? Or rather developed throughout the rigorous curriculum applied in the school system? And what about failure? How do some cultures come to accept failures, while others try to avoid them like the plague?

These are important questions to ask. Globalization is inevitable and many are struggling to maintain some kind of competitive advantage—in schools, for jobs, between companies. I believe strong creative ability and an ability to deal with failure are some of the most important aspects in being successful in today’s highly competitive world. Trying to be an entrepreneur? You have to expect failure—of your entire idea, part of your business, an aspect of your personal life. What about applying for a competitive job? There will certainly be road bumps along the way. If you let one “thank you but no” get you down, you won’t ever find the job you started looking for in the first place. In my own job search I had my fair share of “no”. If I let these so called failures prevent me from trying even harder, I never would have gotten my job that I set my sights on to begin with.

Ytivitaerc. This may be even more important—at least the factor that sets apart repeat failures from those working toward success. But the important question is how we instill these traits in ourselves, our children, and our country. What factors make India able to be so creative in IT? What edge will China be able to gain through their school system? Will Silicon Valley ever be matched?

My first task for you is to watch Sir Ken Robinson at his TED talk (trust me—it deals directly with this topic and he has the best delivery I have seen in a long time). Comment about what changes you think should be made to the school systems or culture of your country—then continue below.

India. From what we have heard it is one of the most diverse places in the world. I can’t wait to see it. I have pulled together a combination of articles on creativity in business, school and social circles.

Creativity and Innovation Driving Business – The Innovation Index

A Creative Laughter Club in Pune, India

Creative Attempts at Justifying Creativity in the Regular School Curriculum

The idea of Rasa from the third article rang true as what creativity truly is. This quote especially…

“Rasa is beyond religion, culture, language, and economic status, rasa teaches one to experience the meanings of the words ‘love’, or ‘compassion’, ‘justice’ – all human concepts that need to be lived, not mimed or manipulated. Should not our children learn to access this energy buried deep inside that would help them to grow into healthy, happy, well balanced individuals, supporting them in a world that is increasingly cruel, intolerant and filled with conflict?”

How true and how powerful if we can find a way for children to grow up with these values instilled in them. Again comment as you see fit on these three articles.

CHINA. This manufacturing powerhouse has been known more for its social justice than for creativity in recent years. As Harry Shum described, “A Chinese journalist once asked me, ‘…what is the difference between China and the U.S.?…’ I joked, ‘… the difference between China high-tech and American high-tech is only three months - if you don’t count creativity.’”

This is all changing. The article below gives an excellent account of what new strategies businesses in China are using and how the world’s view of China as being mere copycats is unwarranted. Click here.

Take a look at this Adidas for both a sense of the pride behind the Olympics and the creativity in marketing.

And finally, the new CCTV building.

Creativity is obviously alive and well in both China and India. Under the criteria listed above, the only separating factor left is the perception of failure. At a speech at Cal Poly, Ashok Bardhan described that one of the advantages the US culture holds is its acceptance of failure. This is one of the elements in the “perfect storm” that permits an area like Silicon Valley to thrive. But as India and China both continue to produce greater numbers of entrepreneurs, I doubt how long this advantage will remain ours.

Submitted By: Shasta Palmer

Education is a hot topic amongst the nations. Who has the best, who will become the best, and where should parents send their children? The article Losing an Edge, Japanese Envy India’s Schools states that the Japanese are worried about their educational system, and are trying to put their children in Indian schools. The idea is that Indian schools teach the children more at a younger age.

Japan sees India as an emerging country to, “Beat in a more benign rivalry over education”. Tokyo, which has the two largest Indian schools, is receiving large quantities of inquiries from Japanese parents about admitting their children. According to the article, “Japan once turned out students who consistently ranked top of international tests, but that is no longer the case.” This just goes to show that things can change quickly. Just because a nation is the best at one point, doesn’t mean it will always be the best. This is something we should consider with the schools in the United States.

The article Study: Foreign Students Added to the Economy states that 14.5 billion came from international students home countries to fund tuition housing etc in 2006. Overall, the students spent 20 billion dollars here in the U.S. (including the 14.5 billion from their own countries). Indian and Chinese students account for a quarter of all 2006 international enrollments; however, Japanese students declined by 9%. Americans can brag about having the “best” school system, but how long will it last? Far more money is being put into the military than into our education system, yet these systems seem to been one the things we do well here in the U.S.

Lastly, something I have noticed reading these articles, and watching the blog video The William Jefferson Clinton Science & Technology Center, is the attitude of students abroad vs. here in the U.S. The video mentioned above shows Indian children who want to go to school. They feel lucky to be in school and are willing to try hard. They see it as a privilege, but here in the U.S. I think this is taken for granted. How many college students do you know that are in school because they want to be? I’ve met a lot who are there because they think they have to be, not because they want to be. True, most students agree college will benefit them, but the same privileged outlook doesn’t seem to be as predominate here in the U.S. as overseas.

These articles bring up interesting questions.

Who is the new leader in education?
Who will be the next leader, and why?