entrepreneurs rejuvenate the human condition?
George G Clark, 11 September 2009
A BBC video clip[1] suggests that the further development of the planet might be driven in part by fire in the bellies of young entrepreneurs[2]. These are the shakers and movers with the get up and go that is needed to promote change for the better. But there is always the danger that there will not be enough of them and that many will burn out. So - what sparks the fires, what fuels them, and how brightly should they burn?
The simple answer is that there is no simple answer! Entrepreneurial priorities vary with context and that is constantly changing. And appreciation of context depends on the breadth and depth of the appreciator's point of view. Gloriously expansive viewpoints now exist[3] - they range from quantum to cosmic levels and attempt to deal in an integrated way with issues in themes such as the social, technological, environmental, economic, political, legal and spiritual[4].
From my own point of view the raging fire in the belly that drove my early multi-tasking as a social entrepreneur[5] is now a mild, mature glow in the unconscious. I prefer doing only one thing at a time - and with regular intervals for time out. Should this be viewed as (a) pathological and regressive or (b) a natural evolution towards a long-established pattern of social and spiritual entrepreneurship that embraces the transpersonal and the transcendent?[6] What place therefore for older heads in the grander scheme of things? In rejuvenating the economy and the human condition what might be the optimal mix for youthful, raging fires as against mature, relaxed glows?
A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change[7].
A spiritual entrepreneur is someone who recognises and seeks to address a spiritual challenge (personal or cultural): they use entrepreneurial principles to mobilise growth in the breadth and depth of spiritual knowledge, speech and action that increases happiness, peace, and compassionate justice.
[2] the video relates to business entrepreneurs, but there are social and spiritual variations on the theme
[3] see for example the works of Fritjof Capra and of Ken Wilber
[4] STEEPLeS
[5] the youthful urge was to discover better ways to be human
[6] most cultural traditions recognise stages on the path from cradle to grave
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