Genius at Work?

Did the title get you? Do you know what it means? Let me provide some hints.

Newscasts depress me. If I let them, they would succeed in convincing me that all is lost, the nation is in deep decline and very few people know what is going on and what to do about it. Example: reading and math scores for American students of all ages have declined.  Reading scores have steadily declined. Math for the first time in years, but declined this time around. So what is going on?

Reading scores are most likely suffering from electronic burnout. Why read text on paper when I get all I need to know from my phone or I-pad. Reading assignments aside, kids will find source notes to learn what the assignment was all about and its salient points. So why spend the time reading the text in the first place? More on that point later, but for now, let’s move on.

When social media is ascending why would a young person pay attention to the real news? They have more fun reading about their celebrities, musicians and actors. Of course sports figures are big in their world as well, so following news items pales in comparison to their chosen material.

Employers claim they have jobs available that go begging. They import talent from Asia and India to fill the gaps. They prowl the halls of universities and snag students nearing graduation in engineering and math, chemistry and physics, and other hot research oriented majors for jobs right after graduation. These students are commonly from China, Japan and Indonesia. Many from India as well. Our schools excel in these arenas but our native students aren’t interested. Or so the media claims.

More and more good paying jobs are located overseas where taxes on production facilities and net revenues are much lower than in the USA. Repatriating those jobs and profits would hurt the bottom line here at home, so the jobs and investment dollars remain outside our borders.

The Middle East lies in ruins and clouds of smoke. Oil production and shipments from the region are in serious doubt; surely a global shortage of oil energy is in the offing. Russia and China are making their moves in disputed regions for visibility, leadership and push back to American interests. We are challenged globally; seemingly everywhere. The global community is being lost to America.

Or so it seems surfing the net and printed news accounts.

We’d be wrong, of course, to make this conclusion. We would have to assume that America’s genius – what made us what we are and were – has disappeared. If you walk in my shoes you would turn your head and see what I see often: Genius at work.

Not my genius, Our American Genius. All is not lost. Here’s the evidence.

Kids in trouble with addiction to drugs and alcohol, all seriously underage. I work with these kids from age 13 through 17. They are all subject to legal proceedings and enrolled in rehab programs to help them move on to more productive behaviors. Transitioning from the angst of addiction to logical, productive lives is quite a journey. Experiencing it first hand is a challenge. The progress is slow. But here are the points I’ve learned from this work:

• The kids are very bright; high IQ’s; broad interests and curious minds
• They are bored; very bored. Their educational experience does not light them on fire but rather puts them to sleep
• Art is high on their interests – visual arts, creative arts, music, poetry (!)
• They feel isolated by adults; they think they are not being listened to
• When engaged in conversation their genius breaks forth; observations freely offered by them stun adults in their company 

Engaging these young people in pursuits that interest their intellects prove surprisingly effective. Is this normally done in our schools these days? If not, why not? If yes, why are destructive, isolating behaviors increasing and not decreasing? Or are they? Who has the data on this?

Another avenue of engagement and observation: small business entrepreneur coaching and mentoring. Being involved with SCORE (www.SCORE.org) regularly provides face time with people trying to bring fresh ideas, products and services to market. Although they are not always prepared to do so on their own, their thinking is refreshing and stunning. New ideas. From old circumstances. Placing new technology with old problems produces new opportunities. Envisioning the world in completely new ways produces fresh approaches to building exciting futures.

Isn’t this what America has been known for over 300 years? Innovation and creativity are the bywords. Can-do ability is another byword. Inventiveness is another word that describes the ambitious woman or man wanting to make a difference. They are filled with ideas and do not discourage easily. They keep pushing for something better, something they own and make happen.

This is a uniquely American genius. We are not out of ideas. We are loaded with them. Come to SCORE and see for yourself!

Trying to help these entrepreneurs succeed teaches us another lesson: mentors represent countless backgrounds from industry and commerce and they add several new dimensions of genius to the entrepreneurs. Suddenly new businesses pop up and thrive. Finding the right helping hands for precisely the right situation is made easier by the SCORE network of retired expert hands.

It’s pure genius of another sort. Unlocking it is the challenge and we are working on that at this very moment.

So, the moral of this story is that America has plenty of genius to fuel exciting new futures. Don’t give up just yet. These are blips on the journey that will make us even better at what we are best at: making a better tomorrow with fresh new discoveries. It begins with the native genius we each have within. Hear it knocking?

Open the door!

October 30, 2015