"What would you do to earn money if all you had was five dollars and two hours?. This is the assignment I gave students in one of my classes at Stanford University."
They’re given from Wednesday afternoon until Sunday evening, and are told that they can use as much of that time as they want to come up with a money-making plan. However, once they open the envelope, they have two hours to generate as much money as possible. The students are encouraged to do the following:
- Identify opportunities.
- Challenge assumptions.
- Leverage their limited resources (time and money).
- Be creative.
What are some of the ideas people typically come up with when presented with a challenge of this sort?
When Seelig asks this question to most groups, someone usually shouts out, "Go to Las Vegas, or "Buy a lottery ticket". These folks would take a significant risk in return for a small chance at earning a bif reward.
People also usually say they would use the seed money to purchase start up materials for a lemonade stand or a car wash. This is fine if you want to make just a few dollars in the two hours. But if you want to create as much value as possible in those two hours you have to seriously challenge traditional assumptions.
In fact, Seelig explains that the teams that make the most money don’t use the five dollars at all. They realize that focusing on the money frames the problem too tightly: asking “What can I do with five dollars?” is too limiting.
Instead, they ask: “What can I do to make money in two hours if all I have are my observation skills–the ability to observe problems others are having–and my talents?” The winning teams typically bring in over $600 after asking themselves this question.
For example, one team identified a problem that is quite common in college towns: the long lines at popular restaurants on Saturday night. The team booked reservations at several restaurants; then, as the times for their reservations approached, they sold the reservations for up to twenty dollars to people who were happy not to have to wait in line.
Another team set up a stand in front of the student union where they offered to measure bicycle tire pressure for free. If the tires needed filling they would add air for a dollar. When they realized how appreciative people were of this service they decided to stop charging a dollar and ask for donations instead. What they found is that most people donated more than a dollar. Experimenting along the way, and adjusting their strategy accordingly, paid off!
The team that made the most money looked at their resources from a completely different lens. These students concluded that their most precious resource were the three minutes they were going to be given on Monday to give their presentation to the class.
They sold the three minutes to a company that wanted to recruit the students in the class. The team created a three minute “commercial” for the company and showed it to the students during their presentation time.
Dazzling, isn't it?
I don't know about you but it is blowing my mind right now, so imagine the kind of impact it can have on a 20 years old young adult starting her or his academic quest or career exploration. Would you have liked to read such a book when you were 20?
My son is studying in the US right now and will be 21 next month. I am sending this book to him for his 21st birthday.
I have also started to write a book myself a few years ago describing my thoughts about various issues of life such as education, career, marriage, and religion. I believe this is the most precious legacy I can give to my children. But I have to finish it first.....and go beyond the 2 chapters I wrote so far.... God help me.
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