Shoulders of Giants

Our ability to be innovative, to produce something new and incredible to both benefit humanity as a whole and, of course, ourselves depends on role models. In a February 1676 letter, Sir Isaac Newton commented in a letter to his colleague Robert Hooke (to paraphrase): “If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulders of giants.” It was with this quote in mind I’ve been thinking about what makes BC a great place to live and work.

In the midst of this line of thought, something disturbing struck me: we really don’t celebrate or recognize the people from Vancouver (or BC as a whole) that have made a Big Impact (or are at least known) the world over. Sure, there are articles that celebrate the Canadians who made it big (such as the Financial Times’ “Top 40 under 40”), but usually these heroes no longer live here! Brian Adams may have scored big with his emotional song for the Olympic bid presentation, but it’s not like I’ve seen him strolling down Robson lately.

That got me thinking: who are those people (not just in business, but in other areas as well) that made it big and stayed? I can name a few, off the top of my head: Douglas Coupland, Geoffrey Ballard, David Suzuki, William Gibson.

But who else? Where are our giants?

So here’s what I’d like from the Vancouver crowd out there: name the “big” people in BC, the ones that their name would probably be recognized anywhere, and they’d be recognized as leaders in their fields. The rules of inclusion are simple: they have to be alive and they have to still be living in BC. Submit details on people you can think of using the comment system – who are they, what have they done, why are they important?

Unleash the Students!

While perusing various government web sites, searching for sources of funding available to entrepreneurial ventures, a thought came to me: I discovered a nearly bottomless source of free, or almost-free, labour that remains largely untapped by entrepreneurs and small businesses in general. I’m thinking about the legions of students.

Sure, businesses tap high school students as part of the CAPP Program, a program that requires a minimum level of work experience for BC students in grade 11 and 12. And yes, university students get drafted into work experience through various university co-op programs. But what about the rest of the time? You know, when they’re in class? Think of all the person-hours going to waste on projects that have no impact outside the classroom!

For example: in the MBA this year, we had to prepare two business plans. One group managed to find a husband and wife company that needed a business plan prepared for their Latin music and dance club. If you think the quality of a student-prepared business plan isn’t going to satisfy the needs of a small business, think again: the husband insisted on thanking the group in front of the class and even came close to tears while describing the impact the students’ efforts would have on his ability to start his business.

Most students have access to tools, expertise, and information not available to the general public. What’s required to unleash these capabilities for the benefit of business is a system that advertises upcoming class projects to the public and matches companies with projects to students. There would be some administration required to pre-qualify companies’ projects to satisfy educational objectives and manage the companies’ expectations, but imagine the potential benefits! First: students get meaningful projects, exposure to real-world experience, materials required to complete the project. Second: businesses get access to resources and labour at a low cost. Third: schools generate revenue from charging a fee to companies for the work performed by their students. It’s win-win-win.

There has been some movement in this direction, with BCIT‘s program for computer students. Companies get access to a group of computer students to complete a computer-based project, all for the low price of $300 (plus materials). Do you think someone could charge five to ten times that amount to facilitate such a service for university student projects and split the revenue with the universities?