Can we learn (or teach) entrepreneurship?
A recent article, The evangelist of entrepreneurship profiles Carl Schramm who is “on a mission to teach the world to be entrepreneurial.” But, will he ever truly succeed? Can he? Should he?
If it wasn’t for “entrepreneurial” curiosity and drive, we could still be knawing on uncooked animal parts and dimly wondering about that burning thing that happens when light spears from above. If it wasn’t for human passion and courage, Dr. King would never have roused people to start marching, keep dreaming and make a difference.
Yet, can an entrepreneur be created? Sure, risks can be encouraged and rewarded; lessons can be learned; tools can be provided. However, as with leadership, I’d submit that if the person doesn’t have certain inherent qualities - and isn’t in the right place at the right time - it just isn’t going to happen. Savvy tech companies hire for attitude first, tech knowledge second - they know you can’t force attitude if it ain’t there (no matter how much training is done or how many rah-rah signs are posted.)
Going out on our own means giving up a lot of things - regular paychecks, health insurance (although that’s rapidly going away too), paid vacation, sick leave, weekends. The first question I usually ask would-be entrepreneurs is “Can you afford to fail - financially and psychologically?” Second question: “Are you willing to fail?” No, we never want to go into a new venture assuming we’ll fail. However, the hard cold fact is most innovators fail (a lot) before succeeding. You’ve got to have a tough hide and strong conviction to be a good failure.
So, what do you think?
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December 19th, 2005 at 4:55 pm
Hi Mary,
New reader– recently discovered your blog from Corante. Here are a few quick thoughts. I agree that entrepreneurship requires the right attitude. But attitude isn’t enough. A good entrepreneur can also spot promising business opportunities, devise clear business plans around them, adapt that plan as necessary, etc. I’m thinking that those things can be taught, although some people will be more successful than others.
The best way to teach entrepreneurship may be first to inspire the right attitude into others, and then teach them the fundamentals. Of course, experience is the best instructor, but this plan may give “students” a good foundation.
I really love John Maxwell’s work on Leadership (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0785274405/). He does a great job both inspiring the reader to be a better leader and showing her/him how to act like a leader. Wonder if there’s anything similar for entrepreneurship…
December 19th, 2005 at 6:08 pm
Thanks, Ajay. And, no attitude alone won’t do it…it takes the right combination of ‘tude, skills, timing and - let’s face it - a soupcon or more of luck.
December 20th, 2005 at 2:38 am
Mary,
Many a times I have felt that entrepreneurship CANNOT be taught in B-Schools the way it is meant to be practiced in the REAL WORLD! Its more of an ART than SCIENCE and hence can be perfected (excelled) over a period of time. However, the spirit of entrepreneurship, best practices, real-world case-studies, management games, entrepreneurial simulation et al COULD BE taught (whether relevant or not to the real world!) in B-Schools…well, the beauty is that when all of these (and much more!) could be learnt in the corporate world, people pay a fortune to learn these thingz @ B-Schools and end up with a mid-life crisis!! I love the quote “I was born intelligent, education ruined me!” and I think its true because to the best of my knowledge, till date, not many successful entrepreneurs have had fabulous education. However, they ended up making a truckload of reserves & heaps of fortune (technically called WEALTH CREATION)! I guess education & entrepreneurship is inversely propotional!
December 20th, 2005 at 9:47 am
Good points. It is both an art and a science - and there aren’t any magic “easy” formulas for any kind of success - business or personl (although the thousands of self-help books would have you think otherwise).
A lot of Harvard MBAs end up working for people with lesser degrees. Life just isn’t as simple as a textbook business case.
December 20th, 2005 at 11:37 am
Food for thought
Here’s something that Mary Schmidt wonders about: Yet, can an entrepreneur be created? Sure, risks can be encouraged and rewarded; lessons can be learned; tools can be provided. However, as with leadership, I’d submit that if the person doesn’t ha…
December 20th, 2005 at 12:05 pm
Mary,
Excellent post.
One thing to consider is that less than 100 years ago, and for most of America’s history, the vast majority of people owned their own businesses. It wasn’t until the titans of industry, Carnegie, Pullman, Ford, etc built massive companies which ran systematically and provided regular wages for workers, that most people made the shift to becoming employees.
As it becomes more efficient and economical for companies to NOT own the entire supply chain, to focus specifically on what they do best, and leverage relationships with other companies who do what THEY do best, you’ll see a return to leaner, more entrepreneurial businesses. You’ll see more small businesses becoming successful, especially given that many companies can operate “virtually”, with lower overhead.
These are only my predictions, of course, and life will do what it will as time passes. I sincerely hope that people like you and I and Carl Schramm can make enough of an impact in our time here, to improve the success rate of new ventures.
Whether the skills of entrepreneurship can be learned, taught or understood is a matter of debate that will continue until the majority of people own businesses again. It’s excellent discussion for the end of the year, when many employees examine their situations, and decide to strike out on their own.
I really enjoy reading your blog, Mary. Your personality is genuine and refreshing. Thanks.
`Dave Krock`~
December 20th, 2005 at 3:03 pm
Dave, I agree with your predictions. I’m admittedly prejudiced - being one of those wild and wacky free agents - but I truly believe that the very nature of “work” is changing. Technologies have enabled us to work anywhere, anytime with just about anybody. The idea of a “job” at one location, for set periods of time and pay, is rapidly becoming outdated. Which is, of course, daunting to the old guard with hiearchical, management through control business models. And, it’s not for the faint of heart, in any event.
Further, even if still working for “the man” - people can have the entrepreneurial spirit which makes their lives a whole lot more - dare I say it? - fun!
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