Over the last five years we have learnt how entrepreneurship can lead us down the wrong road. Having entrepreneurial bankers risking our saving is not a good place to be. I also watched Manchester United lose at home in the champions league and it was expected given the events of the last five years. Football lacks good governance, everyone knows this from the top (who enjoy great wealth from the game) to the bottom whereby fans get to see there teams spend every more money in creating spectacular entertainment. The same is in in many religions.
As an entrepreneur, having to report to a group of people who may or may not agree with you is a major issue which you will try to tactically eliminate. However it is important to hear the truth, however hard from those who you trust and not from the fans, shareholders and voters. These three groups will never ever be pleased and therefore if you are pleasing them now, you are in about to fall. The independence of others ensures your success, this is why mentors are so worth their weight in gold.
This is one of the reasons I agree with more woman on the boards of companies, also diverse educational mixes. It reduces the group think and ensures a healthy debate occurs on all subjects before moving to a consensus. This is one of the major parts of good goverance, a diverse range of views who provide guidence, knowledge and thought behind every decision you make.
The banks have failed to engage diverse educational background into there management stuctures which led to no one pointing out the obvious. i.e. Should we be investing in this at this time?
The NHS have failed in Staffordshire becuse of the same reason. Everyone was happy to get their wage and not question, why are these people dying and how can be make this better?
The same happens in government, small businesses and multi-national businesses. Its common as people like people who like them. We don’t like people to question us, we like people from our tribe (university, ethic group, gender or golf club), if we and everyone else is happy why should we ask for change?
The fact is we all have to be entrepreneurs, and this is what entrepreneurs do, look at the system and say, I’ m going to make this better. It may be painful, risky and I am not going to be liked for saying this, but the world is going to be a better place after i have done this.
And once I have done this, I willl ensure others have the opportunity to question me and make me continue on this path, never ever giving up because I have won this one battle. Afterall being an entreprenur is a war against complacency.