Schools are factories that train us to be obedient employees. But now that the industrial economy is collapsing, standardized education isn’t enough anymore. In the emerging post-industrial digital economy the qualities that are most rewarded are initiative, emotional intelligence, uniqueness and creativity — none of which can be taught very well in the structured environment of the classroom.

To get ahead and carve out our own path in the fast-changing 21st century digital economy, we all need to think like entrepreneurs. That means creating our own instructions as we go along, taking risks, initiating our own creative projects, experimenting with new technology and finding meaningful ways to engage others and provide value to their lives.

As Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn writes in the Startup of You, “You have to be constantly reinventing yourself and investing in the future. You remake yourself as you grow and as the world changes. Your identity doesn’t get found. It emerges.

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