Creative Class

We just returned from Moscow where Richard was the keynote speaker at the Federal Agency on Youth Affairs, Government of The Russian Federation alongside other notables including Virgin’s Richard Branson, Apple guru Guy Kawaski, and best-selling author John Naisbitt. The conference focus was the role of innovation among the country’s youth, with audience members ranging in age from 14-25 years old. We enjoyed a fabulous dinner at the famed Cafe Pushkin and Kawaski was lucky enjoy to get his shoes shined by Branson. What do you think of Moscow’s Creative Class?

Richard and Rana at dinner at Cafe Pushkin with Naisbitt, Kawasaki and our hosts

Opening Keynote by Richard

Rana and Richard with conference organizer, Mikhail

Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Richard Branson. According to this story in Forbes, 73 of the world’s 1,125 billionaires dropped out of school along the way. An op-ed in the Wall Street Journal reports on research that says preschool is counterproductive – keep the kids home with mom and dad longer. Finland, where kids start school at seven, is seen as a model of education. Peter Drucker famously said that the resarch university would not survive the shift to knowledge-based capitalism.

So, do we need less school, or different kinds of school, or what?