Changing the way we think necessary for success

Everyone will not be an entrepreneur; however, it is important that everyone has an entrepreneurial spirit.

This is the view of Andrea Taylor, Programme Manager of the Small Business Association (SBA).

On the sidelines of the Youth Forum and Showcase that took place at the Savannah Hotel yesterday morning, Taylor told media that it was against this backdrop that the SBA designed programmes to grow this entrepreneurial spirit in youth.

“What we want to inculcate is that you have the entrepreneurial spirit, the behaviour and the mindset so that you can operate wherever you go, and if there is a creative element there in your own business, you can shape that, go to your boss and say, ‘Well this is something we can do differently.’ We just need to have that mindset. If we have that mindset, we can take Barbados forward; we just need to have a change of mindset,” she said.

Because technology plays a driving factor in the world today, Taylor noted that the Association decided to focus on technology this week, and teach the children how to use technology to their advantage.

She highlighted the view of the SBA was that since every child owned some kind of technological gadget and the Internet was their world, it was important for them to understand how to use the technology and how to filter the information that they receive online.

“What they need to understand is where they need to go and filter information and where they need to go and harvest ideas that would work and are innovative. And today we made a conscious decision on our theme to engage in a technological forum with our students, to drive them towards being innovative,” she said.

“What we need to do is change the way that we educate our children. There is no more sitting in a classroom and operating on a premise where you have an open book exercise; practical approaches are what will stimulate children here in Barbados.

We need to change the whole way of how we teach and incorporate the things that we have at our fingertips.” (CLF)