Few years back, while at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos, I (Utkarsh) met the organizational psychologist Adam Grant on top of the Rinnerhorn Mountain. His book, Give and Take had helped shape critical aspects of Network Capital, and I was eager to learn more about his upcoming projects. As luck would have it, we happened to share the last cable car back to the meeting.Floating down through the clouds, Adam shared three key insights with me about nurturing original thinking and entrepreneurship.

Adam’s Key Insights

First, innovation and economic growth rates of entire countries can be traced back to the books children read. Second, finding the right mentors is hard but we can locate relatable role models in stories of great originals in history and fiction.Third, the logic of consequence and the fear of failure are huge barriers to innovation in classrooms and even boardrooms.Adam’s insights, when placed in the Indian context, help to explain why the education system there has consistently failed to inspire students to learn and innovate.

Tiny History Lesson

To get the complete picture, one has to go back to 1835 when the British historian T.B. Macaulay, writing in his notorious 1835 Minute on Education, said:“We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern, a class of persons Indian in blood and color, but English in tastes, in opinions, in morals and in intellect.”

In simple words, Macaulay’s vision was to create a nation of obedient, efficient and polite clerks - and his hangover has lingered long after his death. Even after independence, the new Indian Government’s first five-year plan grossly ignored the importance of school education by allocating less than $2 million for the entire duration. Macaulay’s hangover was so profound that even as recently as a few years ago, around half the questions in school examinations required students to commit facts to memory. "What is the speed of light to eight significant figures?”

I am not sure what such a question is meant to accomplish but it surely isn’t innovation, originality or entrepreneurship.I have been thinking about this ever since I was in school. You can take a look at my TED talk if you wish to explore this further.

YouthINK with Network Capital Summer School

After deep reflection on the educational crisis in countries like India, INK Talks & Network Capital has decided to set up a chain of schools on the cloud. We will admit 50 students in our summer school.

My mission is to make YouthINK with Network Capital the most meaningful learning experience you have ever had. We will of course learn deep-reading, critical thinking, public speaking and writing but we will partake of all assignments and micro-experiments keeping self and community care in mind.

We want to ensure personal attention for each student so we will stop enrolments when the class size reaches 50.

Classes start May 28, 2022 | Limited spots available.