Entrepreneurs – Idiots Savants

It is almost de rigueur for populist entrepreneurs to deny any link between their business success and their previous education. This lecture explores the reasons for thuis view and the extent to which it is based on fact or myth.

This lecture was a part of the series Education for Enterprise.
The economic success of industrial societies is closely linked with the achievements of entrepreneurs. Wedgewood and Arkwight reshaped their worlds as profoundly as Gates and Noyce are reshaping ours. Many achieved their success and built their businesses around their ability to convert opportunities created by advances in knowledge or understanding into new businesses or industries. Despite that link, the relationship between education and enterprise is poorly understood and often doubted. This series of lectures explores this relationship and builds on the latest research to highlight the likely changes we might expect during a knowledge-based industrial revolution.