The Importance of Practical Communities for Entrepreneurship

"If entrepreneurs visited schools as role models, the number of people aiming to start a business would increase dramatically."

That sounds right, but

"If practitioners of traditional performing arts visited schools as role models, the number of people aiming to enter traditional performing arts would increase dramatically."

does not sound right.

However, if we replace traditional performing arts with baseball,

"If professional baseball players visited schools as role models, the number of people aiming to become professional baseball players would increase dramatically."

it starts to sound at least somewhat right.

So what is the difference between traditional performing arts and baseball? I think it is whether there is a community nearby where you can practice together with others.

The Importance of Community

Take baseball, for example. After a talk by a professional baseball player, students try playing in class, then play pickup baseball after school and find it fun, then join the school baseball club or a youth league, and in high school aim for Koshien... Through several stages like these, they practice and accumulate successes and failures, and I think a career gradually comes into view: "I want to become a professional baseball player," "Maybe I could become one," or "I'm not suited for this."

Many traditional performing arts, however, have no such steps, and a major difference is that things end with listening to a guest lecture.

Let's think not only about baseball but also about people who became programmers. I suspect quite a few people started out playing video games, discovered programming at school and became interested, joined the computer club and learned to program, gained confidence from being praised for something they made, and gradually chose to walk the path of an IT engineer.

And isn't it the time spent in the computer club, rather than in classes, that mainly developed their abilities?

A Community That Involves Practice

These are not mere communities. They are communities that involve practice. Belonging to a community of baseball fans does not make you better at baseball.

For baseball and programming, a community involving practice exists right next to the classroom. I think that in many occupations, taking part in such a community has cultivated abilities and self-efficacy, and ultimately led to a professional career, or become an opportunity to learn whether one is suited to the work or not.

I think the main driving force behind the time people spend changing, developing their abilities, and choosing their careers is communities that involve this kind of practice.

Practical Communities at Various Levels

The same applies to entrepreneurship education: I think what matters is whether there are communities involving practice around the classes.

Today there is also the internet, so people who are truly motivated can join a community right away. But most people gradually build up motivation and gradually discover whether they are suited to something. That is why it matters to have communities that are easy to join near the school.

However, that does not mean it is enough to have students start businesses and form a community of those people. If we call it education, we need to provide scaffolding and aim to maximize learning effects. It would also be better to avoid anything that produces the opposite effect.

For example, if you suddenly had a student who has only a slight interest in baseball take on a professional baseball team in a game, they would very likely be crushed and lose their motivation. Some people might say, "They should grit their teeth and stand back up," or "If they give up there, they have no future," but I don't think that plays a good role as a teacher.

I think having students actually start businesses and run them to create a community carries a great possibility of that kind of backfiring.

Some people are already prepared to a certain degree, and actually starting a business would maximize their learning effects, while others are not. There are practices at various levels, and I think it is preferable to create multiple communities that can respond to each student's situation. This is all the more true in Japan, where few people aspire to start businesses.

The Example of The University of Tokyo

For example, The University of Tokyo officially operates a variety of practical programs that are also communities, such as Hongo Tech Garage, Todai to Texas, the 100 Program, the Entrepreneurship Challenge, and FoundX. Each has a different character and purpose, and I hope that people who suit each one will come.

In addition, many startups are based in the university's incubation facilities, and there are also many small startups around the campus, so it is relatively easy for students to find internship opportunities (although the university does not arrange internships at specific companies).

Interning at such startups is a community that people can join even if they are not yet that interested in starting a business but would like to try working if they are paid. Through such opportunities, by working alongside entrepreneurs, they will probably also find role models.

The Limits of Classes and Community

Classes are important, but there are limits to what they can do. Time is limited too, and it is hard to fully develop abilities. That is why I think it is better to position classes as merely a starting point.

For that very reason, isn't how well we can build communities that students can connect to after class actually more important than increasing the number of classes?

And I believe that how well we can prepare, around school education, communities and activities where students can engage in entrepreneurial practice that goes beyond business alone, matched to each student's stage of development, will become more important from here on.

I think society will change greatly when such communities come to exist on a scale comparable to sports clubs.

※ This article does not use the concept of Community of Practice, but refers to communities involving practice in a general sense, so I have not used the term "community of practice."