04 October 2011

Entrepreneurial spirit


"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." – Albert Einstein

Everywhere we turn, economic crises seem to pop up all over the world.  A lot of written words have been dedicated to how best to get out of this predicament. A common theme seems to be: all countries need to adopt an entrepreneurial spirit (or mindset) toward solving their current problems and plan for long term economic prosperity.

While the term entrepreneurship is relatively new, it is certain that many human beings have long approached life with an entrepreneurial spirit, probably going back eons, not years. I suspect that most people intuitively know what it means to have an entrepreneurial spirit. A simple way to think about it is a person’s ability to solve problems with the world as it is. In other words, they are the quintessential 'glass half-full' people.

The entrepreneurial spirit, of course, can exist anywhere. The only difference between countries is how wide spread. And it is not just the developed countries leading the way. As countries like Singapore, South Korea, Brazil, etc. climb up the ladder of innovation and entrepreneurship – and passed many western countries in the process – they serve to inspire developing countries to take the same path – knowing that the long road has its rewards.

As I think about our work in Tanzania, the lesson we need to heed is clear: it is critical that we transform the way people think before equipping them with specific skills. The challenge for us is to continually seek feedback from our customers – the young people of Tanzania – and make sure that the appetite for our work is real and robust.

While there is much debate about whether it is possible to teach someone to be an entrepreneur, the consensus is anyone can learn how to be entrepreneurial. We share the view that, at the end of the day, it is always about people making connections. We have no doubt that engaging local entrepreneurs to share their stories will be the catalyst for transforming half-empty to half-full.

We will evaluate our findings from our recent trip to Dar es Salaam in the days to come and map out our next step. We are excited and undaunted by the hard work ahead and look forward to sharing more with you in the near future. Stay tuned! Cheers, Dat


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