Council Post: Three Recommendations For Business Leaders On Building A Better Future

Looking back over the past few months, I, along with millions of others, have been observing the impact of the coronavirus in America. Many problems have started to crack all at once, from lacking the needed supply of personal protective equipment to the IRS’s “antiquated technology” that’s been used to distribute benefits and tax refunds.

As of August 18, the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in America has exceeded 5.4 million, with more than 170,000 deaths. In May, the U.S. government estimated that the unemployment rate was as high as 16%, the worst since the Great Depression.

While there’s a lot of blame going around, I believe the truth is that very few of us ever saw this coming, and even fewer had come up with preventative care and solutions. But despite the uncertainty we are all facing, I believe there are three areas business leaders and entrepreneurs can work to improve in order to build a better America: education, wealth and how we envision the future. Without prioritizing these areas, from my perspective, we won’t be able to move forward. Here’s why:

• The education system: I had the privilege of growing up in two different countries, America and Taiwan. Taiwan’s education system, in my experience, promoted positive competitions and taught children how to adapt and innovate. In America, my experience was different; the focus was more on inclusivity (which is not the same as diversity), and competitions were discouraged.

But to me, no matter where you live, competition leads to curiosity; curiosity leads to innovation; innovation leads to the future. With this in mind, I’m wondering: Once we’ve gone through the traditional education system, do we stop learning? At the end of the day, we must not forget that our education system’s goal is to prepare us to compete in the global environment.

Education comes in many different forms, and if you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, I recommend exploring many options for increasing your business and industry expertise. You can take courses online on almost any subject without paying a dime.

Consider looking into MIT courses on MIT OpenCourseWare, or learning about computer programming at Lambda School without hefty tuition upfront. I believe getting an education and succeeding in the business world shouldn’t be all about having a diploma from an elite college hanging on your wall. As an entrepreneur, don’t simply chase the status quo. Evaluate all your decisions based on ROI.

• Building long-term wealth: From my perspective, we should focus on building long-term wealth that contributes to innovation moving forward, instead of focusing on accruing as much individual money and status as possible. This is because status is a zero-sum game. In the game of status, you have to put someone down to rank up in the system. Politics is a perfect example of why status is a zero-sum game. On the contrary, wealth can be a positive-sum game. If I’m building my business or my future, that does not stop other people from building their own, nor will it take away their ability to accumulate wealth.

But building wealth is not an easy task — it requires taking on a certain level of risk. As business leaders, we need to encourage our employees to push the boundaries and innovate rather than just focusing on short-term profit. I also believe we should advocate for the government to fully support such initiatives and lower entry barriers by cutting red tape and welcoming smaller players to compete with incumbents.

• Reimagining the future: Entrepreneurship might be considered “sexy” by some, but I disagree. I think it’s simply the best way to sustain and scale up our society. Great entrepreneurship requires constant reimagination. Without it, the build-measure-learn feedback loop is incomplete.

After the last step in the feedback loop, learning, we have to translate what we learn into curiosity and further fuel reimagination. Reimagination is the connector between each feedback loop and the ingredient that feeds the growth flying wheel of our country. I’ve found that a lack of reimagination can be attributed to a lack of creativity. We must recognize creativity as our superpower and start using it in every aspect of our life.

I have worked as an intern, entrepreneur and investor throughout my career. What all of those job titles have in common is that you need creativity, initiative and a willingness to learn to be good at what you do — no exceptions.

The Key Takeaway

As an intern or employee, you need to learn through your job, research your job and innovate in your job, no matter what it is. As an entrepreneur, your only job is to use your creativity and build a transcended product that works. As an investor, your job is to equip yourself with knowledge and curiosity and invest in the future financially and socially.

The future of this country lies in everyone’s hands, not just politicians’. It’s our duty as individuals to exercise curiosity; it’s our duty as capitalists to invest in the future; it’s our duty as a country to embrace diversity and recognize the importance of being able to compete and sustain.

Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?