Children enter the public school system full of enthusiasm, looking forward to each new days adventure. By the time they leave high school the simple act of getting out of bed has become a challenge for many. Yes, public schooling has successfully prepared the majority for the mind-numbing bleakness of work in the modern age.

It’s not all bad. A sufficient number continue their education, confident that the right vocation will lead them to that holy grail, their perfect career. For some this works. Others find themselves working at jobs they could have gotten straight out of high school, without the debt.

The system is the problem. My years working in information technology confirmed this. Once a software system reaches a certain level of complexity, change is actively resisted. The system that enabled so much growth and prosperity has become a bottleneck, hindering the capacity for additional growth, particularly when a change in strategy or direction is required.

Education is a system. Government is a system. They were built on models that worked effectively at one time. They no longer serve the people as they were envisioned. It’s time for a new vision. But that requires something extraordinary, the capacity to risk.

Risk requires us to do something unthinkable, especially for those in positions of leadership. Risk asks us to step into the unknown, to make choices with an uncertain outcome. The crystal ball is broken. The prophets have left for greener pastures. All we have is us. Are we willing to take the risk, to take a chance on an uncertain future?

We already have. Some of us are just a bit more uncertain than others.