Meet Aaliyah.
She’s 17. Bright, motivated, good at maths. She’s been told she’d make a great accountant, so she’s lined up her A-levels, looked at universities, and picked a path.
But here’s the thing: Aaliyah’s not sure she even wants to be an accountant.
She’s just following the clearest option – the one that ticks all the boxes.
Then, during a college enrichment week, she signs up for a short enterprise challenge. She’s never thought of herself as “entrepreneurial,” but she gives it a go.
By the end of the week, she’s built an idea around tutoring kids in maths using AI tools. She’s figured out pricing, pitched it to a panel, and learned how to pivot when her first idea didn’t quite land.
For the first time, she’s not just thinking about what she wants to do – she’s thinking about how she wants to work.
And that changes everything.
The career ladder has become a jungle gym
The idea of climbing a stable, predictable ladder from school to job to promotion is, frankly, out of date. The average Gen Z worker is expected to have 17 different jobs across five careers. Some of those jobs haven’t even been invented yet.
What matters now isn’t just picking the “right” career early.
It’s being able to adapt, re-skill, and think flexibly when the world changes – which it will.
So why are we still training students for one path?
Schools and colleges do an incredible job of preparing students academically. But too often, we focus on building plans instead of possibilities. We ask teens to choose a route before they’ve had a chance to explore. And that means many of them are committing to careers based on what they think they should do – not what they’re actually good at.
We need to give them safe, supported spaces to experiment. To try out ideas. To solve real-world problems. To learn from failure and build confidence from doing, not just studying.
That’s where enterprise-style learning comes in – and why programmes like IdeaSpark exist.
Teaching flexibility through experience
Enterprise education helps students develop skills that go far beyond business:
- Resilience – when Plan A flops, what’s Plan B?
- Creative problem-solving – seeing more than one way forward.
- Confidence – speaking up, pitching ideas, taking a risk.
- Collaboration – working with others who think differently.
These are the traits that help young people not just survive in the working world – but thrive when things don’t go to plan.
Which, let’s be honest, is most of the time.
Back to Aaliyah
She might still go on to become an accountant – but now she knows she has options. She’s discovered that her maths skills could be used in dozens of different ways. She’s less anxious about choosing one path, because she’s learned how to navigate change.
That’s the real value of flexible thinking.
Not just knowing what you want to do, but knowing how to figure it out when things shift.
And in today’s world? That’s the skill that matters most.