Entreprenurship

In the Exhibit Builder Sept / Oct 07 issue there is an article about entrepreneurialism called “The ‘Entrepreneurial Spirit’ in the U.S.” I thought the article was interesting for a variety of reasons. First – between taking the entrepreneurship boot-camp (4 weeks from first meeting to exhibiting a feasible idea to funders) and innovations in nonprofit management in grad school I have heard more about entrepreneurship in the past year than I have in the past decade or more. And there are always certain thoughts that seem to stem from the idea:
Can it be taught? Is it inborn? Is a personality trait? It seems to get linked up with passion – most great entrepreneurs that come to mind all have a great passion for something and are driven. They are have good emotional intelligence and don’t just have a good idea put can pull together a variety of resources to actually make something happen. Yet, I have often thought that anyone can act in an entrepreneurial way – that you don’t have to be the boss, or open your own company. That’s what made this article interesting to me. Read on for a few quotes:

“Being entrepreneurial means that one looks for problems and the means to solve them.”

“they look for a problem…deduce a solution to it, and create a business to fill the need.”

“Every employee could look for ways to do his or her job better”

The author compares this to initiative, but creativity and “outside the box” thinking is the separation for the author.

Ideas that work respond to a “perceived gap between what is and what ought to be”

“someone who is truly entrepreneurial understands that it’s not just about new ideas, its about making things that exist work as well as possible.”