The Education System is Broken And Why That Matters for the Future of High Performance
Our education system is broken. It was designed for an industrial world that no longer exists.
It was built on the idea that you’d go to school, narrow down into a subject, climb the career ladder, and stay in one job for decades. That made sense once, but the world has shifted beyond recognition. Careers are fluid, entrepreneurship is on the rise, technology is reshaping every industry, and the next generation is facing a future none of us can fully predict.
Yet we’re still educating them as if nothing has changed.
Why This Matters to Entrepreneurs and Leaders
As high performers, we know that success is never about clinging to outdated systems. It’s about evolving, innovating, and imagining what’s possible. If we want a future workforce that’s capable of leading with creativity, agility, and resilience, then we can’t keep putting children through an education system that was never designed for the world they’re stepping into.
This isn’t just about “kids in school.” It’s about the future of talent, leadership, and innovation. It’s about the environment that will shape the people we’ll one day hire, collaborate with, and learn from.
The Mismatch Between Today’s Children and Today’s Classrooms
Children today are digital natives. Their attention spans, learning styles, and modes of processing information are completely different from even a generation ago. They thrive on interaction, immediacy, and creativity.
And yet, in most classrooms, the default is still rows of desks, a teacher talking at the front, and a curriculum that hasn’t kept pace with the world outside.
It’s little wonder so many children switch off. The majority don’t learn best by being “talked at.” And yet the system is set up that way because it’s the easiest to administer, not because it’s the most effective.
What’s Missing in Education Today
There are some subjects that sharpen the brain. Algebra, for example, may never be used in daily life, but it builds problem-solving and logic. The issue is that children aren’t told this. They’re left asking, “What’s the point?” when the point is actually to exercise their brains in new ways.
But alongside these brain exercises, there are critical areas that are barely touched:
Emotional intelligence and human connection: how to understand values, communicate effectively, and build relationships.
Identity and self-love: how to know who you are, embrace your strengths, and grow into the person you want to become.
Creativity and imagination: not as side projects, but as central to learning.
Wellbeing and regulation: yoga, breathwork, nervous system support, and stress management, the very foundations of resilience.
Money and energy: not just financial literacy, but an empowered, positive relationship with wealth and opportunity.
These are the skills that create leaders, innovators, and fulfilled human beings. Yet our children are spending years learning to pass exams instead.
Rethinking the Structure
Even the timetable is outdated. School hours were built around a world where one parent (often the mother) was at home and the other worked 9–5. That doesn’t reflect modern life.
Teenagers, meanwhile, are forced to start early despite research showing that their sleep cycles make this detrimental to their development. We talk about optimising performance as adults, yet we ignore the basic biology of our children.
And what about the possibility of a four-day school week? What about giving families more space for connection, recovery, and activities that fuel growth? These conversations rarely make it into mainstream debate, yet they’re vital if we’re serious about preparing children for the real world.
The Opportunity Ahead
Yes, change is daunting. Education reform is a huge, complex task. But sticking with a system that is no longer fit for purpose is even riskier.
We are raising the next generation of innovators, leaders, and high performers. If we want them to thrive, we need to evolve the way we educate, not with minor tweaks, but with a willingness to reimagine the whole model.
And here’s the invitation: if you’re a parent, entrepreneur, or leader, you’re part of this conversation. We can influence how our children learn and grow, and we can model what true education looks like by living it ourselves.
I explore this in much more depth in the latest episode of the Born To Be Brilliant® Podcast, where I dive into why the education system is broken, what’s missing, and how we might start to reimagine it.
👉 You can listen here:
