As Michael Gerber said: the entrepreneur is not really interested in doing the work; he is interested in creating the way the company operates. In that regard, the entrepreneur is an inventor. He or she loves to invent, but does not love to manufacture or sell or distribute what he or she invents. Innovation is the specific instrument of the entrepreneurship. Innovation creates a meaning for the existing natural resources, finding an economic value for them. Till then each plant is an herb and each mineral is another stone. Among all the modern economists, Schumpeter was the first to inquire and concern about the entrepreneurship and its impact on economy. He concluded that the entrepreneur is an important figure that has an immense influence on the economy. The same thing is available for the social sphere. There are no bigger resources in the economy than the power of purchase. But the power of purchase is the creation of an innovative entrepreneur as Peter Druker said in “The new society”.
A good example could be that of an American farmer that had a very low power of purchase in the beginning of 20-th century; this was the reason why he couldn’t buy the equipment for his farm. Then, one of the machinery inventors, Cyrus McCormick, invented the payment in rates. Therefore, the potential of making money out of existing resources is an innovation.
I consider that the solution for the stimulation of both entrepreneurship and innovation is a closer collaboration between the business environment, local service, research centers and academic environment. The exchange of information, resources and even employees between these entities should be accelerated.
Entrepreneur is the one who organizes and manages the business and undertakes the risks for the sake of profit.
The first reason why I would consider becoming an entrepreneur is the possibility to develop my own innovative ideas. It can make me fully appreciate the freedom and flexibility of being my own boss. Another reason will be the possibility to make more money. The biggest difference between working as an employee and having your own company refers to money. As an employee you can have a fix wage which will only increase if you get promoted, or do some extra work. But if you own the business you have the possibility to gain more and more money as your company evolves.
Furthermore, being an entrepreneur also means working with the people you chose according to your criteria of evaluation. Working with the right people and understanding their creative-thinking can facilitate the set-up of the enterprise and its future evolution. As an entrepreneur you have the opportunity to schedule your working hours according to your own necessity and expectations from the business. As well, the freedom to take decisions is also a challenge. You can feel a huge satisfaction when you realize that you have done something through your own efforts! Another point is that everyday you have to learn something new in order to surpass your competitors and develop your business.
As well, an entrepreneur can help reduce the employment rate by supplying the labor market with new working places.
The one that starts a new venture doesn’t aim exclusively on material advantage; he aims to come out from anonymity that is very characteristic for the employees of an enterprise or an institution. If you want to be known and appreciated for your work and merits, you have to be different…and have initiative.
The article about Andy Zimmerman, the prototype of the bad attitude employee and at the same time the top performer made me think and reflect upon the actions I would undertake to face this Andy.
I came to the conclusion that the best way to deal with attitudinally deficient employee is to put aside the concern about the attitude itself and not even try to fix it, because it will do no good. A person’s core attitudes are well fixed by the time he is three years old. I agree with the solution proposed by Chuck McKenzie, that is: “rather than wasting time on that hopeless strategy, carve out a role that lets him focus on what he’s best at: developing sales plans and selling”.
There is also a saying that confirms the above mentioned: “It’s easier to develop someone’s qualities, than to eliminate his weaknesses”. Another good idea is that Jane’s group could eventually become stronger and more creative in case it could deal with true diversity that comes with clashing personalities.
Another thing to do, in my opinion is to show Andy who’s the boss. Jane should directly tell Andy:”Stop behaving like this, it is unacceptable”, and tell the individual exactly what kind of behavior is required: courteous, cooperative and helpful.
The other article “Weird rules” made me think if hiring people you don’t like, rewarding failure, getting your best workers argue are a fuel for innovation.
I personally believe that applying these rules is extremely risky and these weird creative implications must be managed by ingenious professionals in order to succeed.
I think a huge attention should be focused on the elaboration of the weird rules that will probably work for your company, depending on its future goals and expectations. Because things that work for a company will not surely work for another one. And it is not so easy to ensure your company with an innovative workplace. First, you have to choose the right people with creative-thinking skills, then your innovative ideas should fire up their intrinsic motivation- their passion for particular challenges. Also, a good point I agree with is to offer employees few hours per week to play with their ideas, the time when they are not compelled to follow the job schedule and obligations, but just wreak the imagination and creativity. That is, telling them what mountain to climb …but not how to climb it, and let them know that what they do matters.
Unfortunately, there are only rare occasions when owners of companies allocate money for innovative strategies development and elaboration of new concepts. They would rather apply the traditional management of making money from tried-to-true products and services.
References: “What a star-What a jerk”, Sarah Cliffe
“The weird rules of creativity ”, Robert I. Sutton
To be an innovative company you have to ask for innovation.
The first thing I would do when starting up my own company is assembling a group of talented people and put them in an environment where creativity is expected.
A huge amount of time and a major attention would be paid to the process of recruiting, interviewing and training the stuff. I consider finding the right people for my company as being the most important factor. In an innovative company the right people are those who veritably serve their customers and are eager to build new products superior to anything that’s come before. For an entrepreneur is important to learn how the employees mind work, what they think about the creation of new specific products or services, what excites them and how they approach the problems.
In order to increase creativity and effectiveness, the company would motivate its personnel. And, it is not only the salary, bonuses and promotion that motivates the stuff…the most important factor is individual recognition. Every person, either they are business managers, or engineers, or machine operators, they all want to be creative and identify with the success of their profession and their organization. The biggest reward for the workers is to realize that they did contribute to making something meaningful happen.
Other means that will increase the effectiveness of the company could be: the rotation of the work places, the participation of the employees at the decision making process, the possibility to advance in job position, remuneration of the economic performance of teams. I consider that the most important thing, when you start up your own organization is to create an environment that will encourage team work, fun and excitement, that will encourage the members to do things differently and better.
