Slow Entrepreneurship is 'Not' Unintelligent, it is Humane!

We, as a global community, are experiencing unprecedented levels of activity as well as a simultaneous rise in the average person’s uncertainty of their environment. These have been intensified by the fast-paced environments that we have created to shape and nurture future entrepreneurs. The rise in mental health struggles for entrepreneurs and our harmful effect on the environmental suggest that this fast-paced environment in which we have sought to nurture entrepreneurial talents is in no way sustainable. A futuristic vision of a digital revolution should encompass humane entrepreneurship.

Speaking from my childhood struggles and experiences of slower learning in a world designed for those with cognitive speed, had evoked negative emotions - which led me to question my abilities multiple times. As a child, I found comfort in my birds’ nest in Nigeria. I would often escape to my birds for hours while engaging in contemplative imagination about mankind, the universe, and society. My birds’ nests became a therapeutic space to release the negative energy. Therefore, in spending time in this setting, the birds nest became the initial bed rock, or foundation, for nurturing my emotional intelligence, compassion, and empathy, which I continue to use in my entrepreneurship (those who have been to my teachings will testify to my humane approach). Today, I reflect and ask the question, “Were would I have been today if I had not found the alternate intelligence in the birds nest?,” or even more importantly, “How many more slow learners who could have been great assets to the entrepreneurial world by engaging their thoughtful reflection and empathy, but have been lost within a system designed solely for cognitive speed?” It is time to re-think our approach. If we want a future, we need to engage a more inclusive and humane approach.

Despite my struggles of slow learning in childhood, I'm now a Senior Lecturer of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Bournemouth University in the UK. Bournemouth University is an exciting institution as it embodies digital futures and is particularly celebrated for computer animation and digital effects as well as acting as the home to the famous National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA). Over 50 BU graduates, as well as a number of staff members, worked on the Oscar-winning film Gravity.

As a senior academic, digital entrepreneur, and social innovator, I'm, today, the living proof that slow does not equate to unintelligent. If I can do it, then you surely can!

Moving into the digital futures, I think that games and animations could play key roles in providing immersive experiences that would enable youths to learn to be more humane entrepreneurs. The games would emphasize crossover, so that when young people were outside of their virtual worlds, they would still be able to engage these important skills.