Step 2: Where to apply our "Grit"? During our first session at the Zanner Institute, we cultivated our "Growth Mindset" and our "Grit." We learned that we could learn anything, "not yet" after "not yet." But once the mindset is forged, a question arises: where do we apply this new energy? This was the goal of our second session held last week: learning to see problems as opportunities.
Empathy: The entrepreneur's first step Instead of jumping straight to a "genius idea," we introduced our 22 students to the first step of "Design Thinking": empathy. The goal was simple: to open their eyes wide. Through observation exercises, we asked them these questions:
- What daily problems do you experience or see in Goma?
- What frustrates your family, your neighbors, your community?
- If you had a magic wand, what one thing would you change in your neighborhood?
From problem to solution Answers poured in, touching on sanitation, mobility, access to information, and youth leisure activities. This session was not a theoretical lecture on economics; it was a practical exercise in active citizenship. By identifying a problem they truly feel, our students laid the first stone of their future entrepreneurial project. The next step? Starting to "design" the first solutions.