Published in the Independence Daily Reporter February 2020

Jim Correll, director Fab Lab ICC at Independence Community College, Independence Kansas

Socialism has not proven to be successful at making a better life for all. It never will. As human beings, our nature is to work hard in helping others by providing innovative solutions and being appropriately rewarded. The idea that everyone receives the same reward regardless of effort is a fallacy. Everyone should receive the same opportunity to work hard and be rewarded, not receive the reward regardless of the work.

Even New Harmony, Indiana, one of the first efforts at a socialistic utopian community in the new America by a Welsh industrialist, Robert Owen, failed after only two years. Further efforts around the world have failed, ranging from ineffectiveness to tyranny, corruption, and oppression of liberty and rights.

A Personal Experience With Socialism

I grew up in a different land called Southwest Kansas in a small town at a time when kids played outside, even after dark. There was a neighborhood “gang” of us kids, age range 7 – 13 years that engaged in activities. The most illegal activity I can remember is taking over a half-block of City Street and playing bicycle hockey. Many of our activities were entrepreneurial as we always were trying to figure out ways to acquire funds. As I look back, one activity on a crisp fall Saturday was an experiment, the results of which demonstrated my problem with socialism.

The gang of 6 – 8 of us decided to hire ourselves out to rake leaves and clean up yards for people in the neighborhood. I was about eight years old, so I didn’t really negotiate with our first customer, leaving that to one of the older ones, maybe 12 or 13. After our leader and the customer agreed to a price, we all went to work raking and cleaning. Everyone started out working hard, but eventually, some got tired and slowed down. Some of the younger ones didn’t do much at all. Eventually, the hardest workers finished the job and the leader took our payment from the customer. The proceeds were distributed evenly among all of us regardless of the fact that we had not all worked with the same vigor or quality. Most of us that worked harder than the others saw the inequity of a system for which everyone received the same pay even when all of us did not do the same amount of work.

A Call for Free Ice Cream

Thus, demonstrates the fundamental flaw in the concept. Socialism sounds good on the surface; everyone receives the same reward regardless of effort or ability. If I know I’m getting the same reward regardless of my effort, what incentive is there for me to innovate and figure out better ways to do the work? The flawed theory goes that the government can best run the centralized economy and figure out the best solutions.

Today we are starting to hear from some youth and even more political candidates, a call to implement socialism. While free ice cream for everyone sounds good, these people don’t understand that there is no incentive when the ice cream is free. Besides that, someone has to pay for the ice cream. These people must have never observed directly the flaw in the socialist model as I did when I was eight years old.

People Are Made to Create

The most successful economic systems acknowledge the innate ability and need of people to create solutions and innovate. Entrepreneurship and capitalism offer the best promise of economic prosperity for all people. This is not to say that our current system is perfect, far from it. The current system of capitalism in the United States and much of the industrialized world, for 150 years, has been built upon a system that emphasizes profit above all else. The emphasis should be on providing good products and services for customers while being good stewards of Earth’s resources and receiving ample compensation to reward those doing the work and those that made the investments in the institutions providing the goods and services. Had this been the emphasis over the last 150 years, there would be much less graft and corruption in the large corporations and our government.

Let’s Keep Capitalism but Emphasize Solutions

Throwing out the current system in exchange for one that does not encourage individual creativity and innovation but rather lends itself to greater graft and corruption, even tyranny is not the answer. Let’s change the message to youth, introducing entrepreneurship as a way of providing useful solutions to free markets while being amply compensated for our creativity and innovation. This is our best hope for a better economic future for everyone. Let’s fix inequality with opportunity, not free ice cream.

 

Jim Correll can be reached at (620) 252-5349, by email at jcorrell@indycc.edu or Twitter @jimcorrellks. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of Fab Lab ICC or Independence Community College. Archive columns and podcasts at jimcorrell.com.

 

Published in the Independence Daily Reporter February 2020

Jim Correll, director Fab Lab ICC at Independence Community College, Independence Kansas

Libraries are changing, working to stay relevant in a world much different than the one that existed when Andrew Carnegie financed so many libraries around the United States. Independence Public Library has been among the national leaders in this effort for years having won numerous awards for their innovative programs. Nancy Kishpaugh was the first to participate in the Entrepreneurial Mindset class, featuring the Ice House Entrepreneurship program. It affected her in a way that prompted her boss and two other library colleagues to participate in the following semester. The class added a bit of fuel to their innovation fire. Here is Nancy’s account of how this class and Jon Schallert’s Destination Boot Camp changed her personal and professional life.

Look Past All the Reasons Something Won’t Work

“I recommend this class to everyone! It can change your life if you let it. I didn’t know what an entrepreneur was until I took this class. I thought it meant you had to have lots of money, have wealthy friends, and that it took a long time to earn the title. What I learned in class is that being an entrepreneur is simply a way of thinking. It’s looking at things and seeing opportunities instead of obstacles. It is about freeing your brain from what you thought you knew and letting yourself think about the possibilities. Sometimes when people brainstorm a problem, they get hung up right away because they see all the reasons why they can’t do something instead of looking for ways in which they could. Figure out where you want to go and then the pieces will begin to fall into place.

Think About What’s Important

“When I took the class, about 2-3 weeks in, I noticed a shift in my thinking. I was looking for solutions and was not so bound up in the negatives of the problem, whatever it was. My boss said she noticed a change in me and so did my husband (who subsequently took the class). I have been much more positive in my thinking. I’ve gotten involved in community organizations, doors have opened to me, and I am pursuing my passions, and I am happier in general. I worry less about how I’m going to live my life and think more about what’s important to me.

“I got to go to Destination Bootcamp in Longmont, Colorado, where I met a number of people from my hometown of Atchison, Kansas. They are reenergizing Atchison through innovative thinking, in much the same way we are doing in Independence. I was a member of the 2019 class of Leadership Independence. I am a member of the Board of the Independence Historical Museum, the Imagination Library, and the Astra Festival. I helped plan Miss Able Days in Independence and am now a member of the team planning the Independence sesquicentennial (150 years) celebration. I am pursuing my love of photography and I’ve learned to paint as a member of the Eclectix artist’s coop.

Taking On Robust Projects

“My passion is a project to honor the 60 servicemen from Independence who were killed in WWII and Korea and were not returned home. These men gave their lives for us, they weren’t returned to their families back home, and they deserve more than a white wooden cross at Mount Hope Cemetery, that doesn’t even have their name on it. I am going to obtain permanent white marble markers for each man and I am going to put faces to the names with an exhibit here at the library. I volunteered to work at the Inge Festival for the first time this year (it was awesome!) and as a result, I am also looking for a playwright to take my research and give the lost men their voices back. A play is a powerful vehicle to do that!

“Ice House also changed the way I work in my full-time day job at the Independence Public Library. I always had ideas but thought they were probably dumb ones because they were different, and people looked at me strangely. Now I understand I was simply being creative. My boss and several of my coworkers have also taken the Ice House class. It helps to hang out with other creative people. We’ve made changes here at the library and will continue to do so, with an eye towards how we can best serve the community.

“So, again, the answer is yes. I highly recommend the Ice House class. It unleashed changes in me and there’s no going back!”

Check out my podcast interview with Nancy. Google “Correll Files.”

 

Jim Correll is the director of Fab Lab ICC at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship on the campus of Independence Community College. He can be reached at (620) 252-5349, by email at jcorrell@indycc.edu or Twitter @jimcorrellks. Archive columns and podcast at jimcorrell.com.

 

Published in the Independence Daily Reporter February 2020

Jim Correll, director Fab Lab ICC at Independence Community College, Independence Kansas

Julie Eisele always knew she wanted to do her own thing; that is, have her own business, she just didn’t know how that would come about. She and her sister had set up all kinds of stores along the sidewalk, one where they made crosses out of sticks, selling them to neighbors. That gave her an early taste of the satisfaction of adding value to something and exchanging it with a customer for something else of value; cash. Out of high school, she elected not to go to college but instead engaging in various kinds of jobs including a big one of raising a couple of kids. Eventually, she obtained her real estate license, and then the opportunities started coming.

Starting New Business In A Recession

In 2009, a year after one of the biggest economic recessions many of us will remember, she and husband George were saving money to build a garage. Julie was working as a real estate agent in this local market that had not recovered from 2008. The broker talked to Julie about buying the business. She went home to talk it over with George to which he calmly asked, “Are you nuts?” On many levels, it seemed like a crazy idea. One, other than the sidewalk businesses as a kid, Julie had no experience owning and operating a business. Two, there was the residual effect of the recession. Three, there would be the money required to buy the business. Still, Julie just thought that if she could make it work at this point in time, she should be able to make it over the long haul. They put their garage project on hold so the couple could use the money to buy Midwest Real Estate in 2009.

Importance of First Impressions

With no business ownership experience other than the sidewalk stores as a young girl, Julie set about working 16 to 18-hour days learning accounting, management, and all other aspects of running a busy real estate brokerage. One of the first things Julie did was begin to change the “brand” of the office. The receptionist station was made up of three non-matching desk components that were duct-taped together. The receptionist faced away from the entry door. She used some of the garage money to purchase new computers and workstations. She wants her offices to have a welcoming “homey” feel. She knows the importance of first impressions and pays a lot of attention to the look and feel of the facilities.

She is an active member in all communities where she operates, understanding that everyone has an obligation to be active in community service in order for them to be great places to live and work.

Opportunities continued to come with the creation of an auction company to aid people in selling their property and a rental company to manage their rental properties. In 2016, Julie opened her third office in Fredonia. In 2019, she recognized an opportunity and need, opening the first full-house air B&B (Bed and Breakfast) in Independence.

Gut Feeling Decision-Making

Julie has since hired an accounting firm, so she doesn’t have to do the books herself. She feels that what she learned, in the beginning, gives her a better knowledge and appreciation of her company’s financial information and the role the accountants can play in her ability to successfully manage the business. She uses her gut feeling to make decisions and says the few times she didn’t trust her gut, she’s regretted. In a world professing “data-driven decision-making,” Julie is one of the first entrepreneurs I’ve heard come out of the closet and admit to using gut instinct.

She doesn’t compete with her agents. She looks at her role as one of a servant leader, sending leads their way and making sure the business is managed in a way that will make the agents successful. The agents have the freedom to turn down any listings that don’t fit the business model.

It took a few years, but Julie and George have started their garage project; they now have a concrete pad to park on although no garage yet. In spite of the cultural narrative presenting entrepreneurs as swash-buckling risk-takers, throwing the dice on their business ideas, Julie is an example of how 98% of new businesses start, including those in the Fortune 500. Someone recognizes a need and makes a series of small bets, like garage money, to get the business started and then adjusts the model to fit the needs of the market.

Listen to my podcast interview with Julie. Google Correll Files podcast.

Youth Entrepreneur Challenge – $1,000 First Prize

An entrepreneurial experience in our youth can do a lot to set us up for success as an adult. All area youth are invited to compete in the Youth Entrepreneur Challenge sponsored by Montgomery County E-Community. The competition ends in mid-February. Follow the links at www.fablabicc.org for registration information.

 

Jim Correll is the director of Fab Lab ICC at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship on the campus of Independence Community College. He can be reached at (620) 252-5349, by email at jcorrell@indycc.edu or Twitter @jimcorrellks. Archive columns and podcast at jimcorrell.com.

 

Published in the Independence Daily Reporter February 2020

Jim Correll, director Fab Lab ICC at Independence Community College, Independence Kansas

I get a little nervous when I hear politicians, policymakers, and educators talking about making college free for everyone.  Free college is a bad idea and here are some reasons why.  By the way, these principles apply not only to government programs but also to many parents who are killing themselves trying to provide a totally free ride so Junior can attend college with no “skin in the game” of his or her own.

People Don’t Value Free

People don’t value things they receive for free.  Many times, it’s because free things are really of little value.  This gives people the impression that free things don’t have much value so that even things of value are not appreciated.  Giving things away does little to build the recipients’ ability to be self-reliant, or build their self-efficacy, a form of self-confidence that leads to better life-long decisions.  “Habitat for Humanity” is a program that helps people have affordable housing, affordable but not free.  The reason the program is successful is that everyone has to contribute to the house being built for them in some way.  This “sweat equity” is what makes people value the program and the homes they receive from the volunteers who help make them possible.  A college education should be affordable, but not free.

Not Everyone Needs College

Another reason free college is a bad idea is that not everyone needs college.  Don’t misunderstand, everyone needs to be educated, and everyone needs to be committed to life-long learning, but there are lots of ways to become educated besides going to college.  After decades of a societal message that everyone should go to college, many of us now realize this is not the case.  There are plenty of examples of people that have made huge differences in the lives of others, indeed, the world, without a formal college education.

Stop Saying No College is Inferior

Some politicians and other members of society are finally starting to realize that college is not for everyone. Their message is not right, however. If you begin to listen, you’ll hear this societal message loud and clear, “You don’t have to go to college, you can go to technical school and settle for a job working for someone else your whole life.” No doubt there are plenty of technical jobs that pay double what the new college graduate will make, but why are we telling these young people they can’t do any better than working for someone else? We have to have people willing to start new companies in the trades and technical areas and people without college will be just as apt to make a successful new business than those with college.

Higher Education Needs Change

Finally, with more than fifty percent of college graduates unemployed or underemployed, we need to re-engineer higher education before we make it free and infuse even more unemployable graduates into the marketplace. The college degree needs to include training and knowledge about how to be agile and adaptive to a changing world.   As the world changes and career paths come and go, we need our educated people to be able to change course and thrive rather than hit the unemployment line while waiting for the next job in a career that is no longer of value to the marketplace.

College Should Be Attainable, But Not Free

Scholarships and financial aid should be available for those willing to work in exchange.  There’s nothing wrong with the idea of students working their way through college.  Students having their own “skin in the game” will take their education more seriously and will tend to make sure how and what they learn will serve them well in a future world of continual change and disruption.

It’s the Mindset, Not the Degree, That Will Change the World

We should be instilling a growth mindset in all youth, college or not, employee or entrepreneur. We need to instill a curiosity about the world and how to make it better. From the great book “Creative Confidence by David and Tom Kelley, “When you open your mind to the possibility that your capabilities are unlimited and unknown, you already have your running shoes on and are ready to race forward.”

 

Jim Correll can be reached at (620) 252-5349, by email at jcorrell@indycc.edu or Twitter @jimcorrellks. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of Fab Lab ICC or Independence Community College. Archive columns and podcasts at jimcorrell.com.