Dec
21
Written by:
SuperUser
12/21/2011 2:35 PM
In his book, The Coming Jobs War, (Gallup Press, October 2011) Gallup Chairman Jim Clifton makes the bold claim that political and business leaders pay far too much attention to innovation and far too little to cultivating talented entrepreneurs. They've got it backward, Clifton says. To create jobs, leaders must understand that great, thriving businesspeople matter far more than great ideas, which are a dime a dozen.
Clifton offers lots of examples for his claim.
Wayne Huizenga has been able to build three hugely successful enterprises. When he was a garbage collection manager, he decided to build his own trash collecting business - Waste Management, Inc., a leader in environmental sustainability that is profitable and valuable to its customers, a great place to work, and an international powerhouse. Wayne's next idea was to rent movie videos through branded outlets, malls, and small free-standing buildings. That became his second multibillion-dollar Fortune 500 Company, Blockbuster, Inc. Then he had one more bad idea: a national chain of used car outlets. He called it AutoNation, Inc., and it became his third multibillion-dollar Fortune 500 Company. Huizenga’s key traits: extreme optimism, unstoppable determination, and incredible energy.
How about an Internet site where people can sell junk to one another -- a sort of 24/7 worldwide garage sale? Meg Whitman chose to lead that innovation. It's called eBay. Although eBay may be a humble idea, Meg made it great because whatever idea she chooses has a high probability of being a success because she makes it work.
Another favorite American enterpriser is Ted Turner. A 24-hour news channel didn't seem to be that good of an idea to many observers.
So what explains these staggering successes: the innovation or the person behind the innovation? Clifton argues that it’s all about the person and not the innovation. This is what to look for in an entrepreneur:
· Somebody with an idea that totally consumes him -- an idea that becomes the way he thinks, a way of life, an obsession.
·The obsession fuels unstoppable optimism, determination and incredible energy. All businesses have problems, but highly talented entrepreneurs enjoy the problems, even welcome them.
·Untalented entrepreneurs are usually destroyed by problems. That's why just wanting to be an entrepreneur isn't enough. Encouraging people to be entrepreneurs the usual way -- just take a class, get a loan, and then you're ready -- is setting them up to fail.
·A willingness to prepare. Everyone has the will to succeed, but very few have the will to prepare.
·The ability to build organizations with highly engaged workers. Success doesn’t come without a team.
Bottom line: Innovations by themselves have little value until chosen by talented entrepreneurs. According to Clifton, entrepreneurs have a rare gift. Clifton estimates that for every 1,000 people, there are only about three with the potential to develop an organization with $50 million or more in annual revenue.