Develop Your 21st Century Entrepreneurial Mindset: Read The Entrepreneurial Imperative: How America’s Economic Miracle Will Reshape the World (and change your life)

By Tim Zaun

The Entrepreneurial Imperative: How America’s Economic Miracle Will Reshape The World (and change your life) by Carl J. Schramm (HarperCollins, 2006), is a prescient 21st century account of the world’s economic landscape.

Schramm, president and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation since 2002, is a globally renowned proponent of entrepreneurial capitalism. The Economist hails him as “the evangelist of entrepreneurship.”

The Kauffman Foundation, established in the mid 1960’s, is named after the late entrepreneur and philanthropist, Ewing Marion Kauffman. Based in Kansas City, Missouri, it is the 30th largest foundation in the United States. The institute’s vision is to foster ” a society of economically independent individuals, who are engaged citizens contributing to the improvement of their community.”

Schramm’s concise, congenial text delivers expansive entrepreneurial insight, with a simple message: entrepreneurship is America’s comparative advantage, and our 21st century livelihood will depend on our ability to exploit it fully, both here and abroad. “Technology isn’t the answer, since everyone now either has the same technology or can easily obtain it,” says Schramm. ” Education will not keep us out in front. Many parts of the world surpass the United States in teaching skills needed for the future.”

Schramm describes a four-sector model necessary for promoting entrepreneurship in the developing world. They include large companies, start-ups, universities, and to a lesser extent, government.

“Envisioning a new dynamic between big companies and start-ups is the central task for business leaders and policy makers if our economy is to continue to expand and become even more productive” says Schramm. Increasingly, organizations will need to nurture “entrepreneurial managers.” These individuals, trained inside a business, learn the skills of both an effective manager and a successful entrepreneur. Investment in creativity and innovation (human capital), and strategic planning ownership company-wide, devoid of bureaucracy, will also define 21st century enterprise success. 

American universities face 21st century challenges that, many, Schramm concludes, aren’t prepared to face. “Many-if not most- of our great universities were founded by entrepreneurs and were  intended to be entrepreneurial in their own right, but they haven’t turned out that way,” says Schramm. He believes that much of our nation’s higher educational system embodies bureaucracy, and is graduating degreed people ill-equipped to compete in the new economy, especially regarding critical thinking abilities.

Democratic government is often seen as a precursor to a thriving economy. Schramm  sees evidence today that suggests the process may work better with an about-face. Schramm sites the American Revolution as an example of a burgeoning entrepreneurial economy present before political reform. Paul Revere was a silversmith, Ben Franklin was an inventor and businessman, and most signers of the Declaration of Independence were either merchants or professionals.”  Exporting American entrepreneurial economics holds the potential to do more for expanding American markets, securing our position in world banking, and strengthening our university system than any other thing we might do.”

Schramm profiles entrepreneurs as inherently optimistic individuals, inspired by autonomous living. The historic question of whether entrepreneurs are born or made is the wrong query says Schramm. More important is how someone responds to risk during their various life stages.

“The pace of economic change is accelerating, driven by inventions, process improvements, and our perpetual quest for better, faster, cheaper,” says Schramm. “Paradoxically, continuous disequilibrium brings about our ultimate security.”

Four chapters conclude with Schramm’s correspondence to a specific demographic regarding their 21st century concerns. The first missive addresses parental anxieties of how to prepare their children for new world success. In another, Schramm speaks directly to his offspring, then age 16 and 21. A fifty-year old man downsized after 18 years of company service seeks Schramm’s career advice, and lastly, he talks to our nation’s forthcoming President-elect. Each meritorious letter deserves a review.

Make The Entrepreneurial Imperative your premier, non-fiction reading choice in the New Year. Give yourself the gift of Schramm’s 21st century entrepreneurial intuition, and reap its rewards for decades to come.

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Tim Zaun will lead a discussion on The Entrepreneurial Imperative on Tuesday March 4, at 7 p.m. at Key Entrepreneur Development Center. The Center invites you to attend and contribute your insight to the dialogue.