Building an Entrepreneurial Culture

Business God’s Way © Paul Nyamuda, City Life Church (Student Notes with Answers) 43

Lesson 8

Building an Entrepreneurial Culture

Introduction Entrepreneurship is the practice of starting new organizations or revitalizing mature

organizations, particularly new businesses generally in response to identified opportunities.

(Wikipedia)

The word comes from the French entreprendre which means to undertake. The French word

entrepreneur is “one who undertakes or manages”. (Etymology dictionary)

As believers we need to know that God is the one who anoints us for business. We need to

known that the anointing is not limited to so-called “spiritual” things but that God is our

source of true creativity. The following verses highlight this principle.

Exodus 35:30-35 And Moses said to the sons of Israel, See, Jehovah has called the son of Uri the son of Hur, by

the name Bezaleel, of the tribe of Judah. And He has filled him with the spirit of God in wisdom,

in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of work, and to devise designs, to work in

gold, and in silver, and in bronze, and in the cutting of stones to set, and in carving of wood, to

make any kind of skillful work. And He has put in his heart that he may teach, he and Aholiab

the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. He has filled them with wisdom of heart to work all

kinds of work; of the smith, and of the skillful worker, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in

purple, in scarlet, and in bleached linen, and of the weaver, of those who do any work, and of

those who work out artful work.

Dan. 1:4, 17, 20 Sons in whom was no blemish, but who were handsome and skillful in all wisdom; and who had

knowledge and understanding, even those who were able to stand in the king's palace, and to

whom they might teach the writing and the language of the Chaldeans…..As for these four boys,

God gave them knowledge and skill in all writing and wisdom. And Daniel had understanding in

all visions and dreams……And in any matters of wisdom and understanding that the king asked

them, he found them ten times better than all the horoscopists and conjurers who were in all his

kingdom.

I. What is the aptitude of an effective entrepreneur? To be an effective entrepreneur one needs to have the following aptitude:

A. Calculated risk-taking

B. Innovation and Creativity

C. Achievement orientation

D. Determination

II. Why is there a shortage of entrepreneurs? A. We live in a risk-averse culture.

B. We have an education system (including parents), has undermined creativity.

C. We give up too easily.

D. We do not have enough role models in specific trades.

E. We have made climbing the corporate ladder our main focus.

F. We are more accustomed to mediocrity than achieving greatness.

G. We have succumbed to peer pressure.


H. We are unclear about the correct time to embark on a project.

III. What are the marks of a God-honouring entrepreneur? The signs of a God-honouring entrepreneur are clearly seen in Proverbs 31. Although this

passage of scripture is often used to describe the marks of a virtuous woman, it is important to

note that this woman was also an entrepreneur.

Prov. 31:10-31

Who can find a woman of virtue? For her value is far above rubies.

The heart of her husband trusts safely in her, so that he shall have no need of plunder.

She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

She seeks wool and flax, and works willingly with her hands.

She is like the merchants' ships; she brings her food from afar.

She also rises while it is still night, and gives food to her household, and a share to her young

women.

She considers a field, and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.

She binds her loins with strength, and makes her arms strong.

She sees that her merchandise is good; her lamp does not go out by night.

She lays her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.

She stretches out her hand to the poor; yea, she reaches forth her hands to the needy.

She is not afraid of the snow for her household; for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

She makes herself coverings; her clothing is silk and purple.

Her husband is known in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land.

She makes fine linen and sells it, and delivers girdles to the merchants.

Strength and honor are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.

She opens her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her sons rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.

Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all.

Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears Jehovah, she shall be praised.

Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

We can identify 15 key attributes of a God-honouring entrepreneur from this passage:

A. They are of noble character and fear the Lord (Prov. 31:10,30).

B. They are diligent (Prov 31:13, 15, 27).

C. They maintain focus on their family (Prov. 31:15,27).

D. They take calculated risks (Prov. 31:16).

E. They are generous to their workers (Prov. 31:15).

F. They run profitable businesses (Prov. 31:18).

G. They are not clock-watchers, but are result-oriented (Prov. 31:18).

H. They give to the poor (Prov. 31:20).

I. They see ahead and plan (Prov. 31:21).

J. They are dignified (Prov. 31:22,25).

K. They have a positive impact on their spouse and children (Prov. 31:23, 28).

L. They keep a guard over their mouths by their choice of words (Prov. 31:26).

M. They maintain good customer service (Prov. 31:24).

N. They have a good reputation (Prov. 31:31).


IV. What are the two psychological contracts? One can also be entrepreneurial whilst working in a large corporation. This is because

entrepreneurship is a mentality and disposition as opposed to something associated only with

new businesses. In 1977 the Pinchots coined the term “intrapreneurship” to describe

entrepreneurship in the context of larger organizations. In this section we will examine the

concept of psychological contracts which describe the nature of an employee’s relationship with

their organization. Peter Block illustrates how the bureaucratic cycle is formed and reinforced.

This can be contrasted with the entrepreneurial cycle that fosters empowerment.

A. The Patriarchal Contract

The patriarchal contract has a bureaucratic cycle, where organizations unintentionally

encourage people to choose to maintain what they have, to be cautious and dependent.

Have you ever been in such an organization?

It is interesting to note that an entrepreneur of some sort started every organization, whether it is

a hospital, a government agency, a church or a business. This needed a great act of courage and

creativity, however, as the organization grew, it decided that more structure and control were

needed. It is also interesting to note at this point, what is termed isomorphism. This is the

tendency for organizations in the same field to tend towards becoming similar.

What other organizations do you know which have this isomorphic tendency?

Is isomorphism empowering or disempowering? Give reasons.

Exploring the bureaucratic cycle attempts to answer the question, “How does the spirit that

creates an organization get diluted?”

This cycle has four stages:

1. The patriarchal contract: The traditional contract is patriarchal with its top-down, high

control emphasis.

2. Myopic self-interest – success is defined in most organizations as moving up the ladder.

This often results in superiors using subordinates’ desire to go up the corporate ladder as

a means to control them. A hierarchical power-oriented culture breeds hierarchical

power-oriented people.

3. Manipulative tactics – Manipulative tactics are tolerated in most organizations and

implicitly admired. The common belief is that we have to be manipulative to get to the

top.

4. Dependency – The stages mentioned above all feed and reinforce each other in a way

that encourages a dependency mentality. This is really the belief that our survival is in the

hands of somebody else. Block states that:

Our initial willingness to be dependent also helps to create the cycle. After twelve or so

years of school systems and family that treat us fundamentally as children, we are

conditioned for more of the same. We may not wish to be dependent, but dangle a

reward system in front of our eyes and we are ripe for the picking.


B. The Entrepreneurial Contract.

Alternatively, the entrepreneurial cycle is really about using positive political skills through

acting with autonomy and compassion in service of a vision. The original meaning of politics

was to act in service of society, but it has since lost its meaning. Hence, we only think of the

negative aspect of politics as it has become self-serving. Becoming positively political is to act

as if the whole organization were your own.

The entrepreneurial cycle begins with:

1. The entrepreneurial contract – the mindset here is to teach people to trust their own

instincts and to take responsibility for the success or failure of the organization.

2. Enlightened self-interest – here, success is defined as giving service to customers and

other departments as opposed to climbing up the corporate ladder.

3. Authentic tactics – if we believe that this is our business we will feel empowered to act

on our own values. This will mean being transparent, sharing control, and taking

reasonable risks. This breaks away from a culture that feels one has to be calculating and

controlled to move up the ladder.

4. Autonomy – the result of the entrepreneurial contract and service oriented definition of

self-interest is this autonomy. This autonomy reduces the need to be controlled and give

so much power to those above us. It demands that we own our own actions.

V. What are some qualities of creative people?

Creativity is a key aspect of the entrepreneurial aptitude. Without creativity your business stands

still as the world changes around you. Humans were created to be creative; this can be seen in

how small children play, but somewhere in growing up this gets lost. It seems as if our life

experiences set patterns for us - patterns that we accept as we continuously run away from

change. To foster creativity, we need to remove the barriers to it and foster a culture that

stimulates it. The creative person generates new ideas whilst the entrepreneur turns them into

profits. In developing leaders, we need to foster creativity. Creativity depends on creative

qualities, a supportive environment and opportunity. As Christians we have access to God’s

creative nature. The following are some creative qualities: There is no formula for identifying a

creative person, but some are:

A. They are independent thinkers. Needing to think through things for themselves

B. They are inquisitive. Having a seemingly unquenchable thirst to understand

C. They are iconoclastic. Nonconforming, not wed to the status quo

D. They are confident. Feeling they can do something exceptionally well

E. They are determined. Convinced they will find a better way if they persist

F. They are learners. Always keen to acquire new knowledge and adapt as a result of it

G. They are intuitive. Able to make leaps of imagination, not needing to stick to the facts

H. They are open-minded.


No rush to decide, wanting to dig deeper and study more angles

VI. What are some keys in fostering an entrepreneurial Culture?

A. Remove excessive red-tape Remove “red tape”, bureaucracy and a risk adverse environment.

B. Don’t over-centralise. Organize the business into multiple units free to act on their own as large entrepreneurial

businesses need to be small at the same time.

C. Don’t micro-manage.

All employees should be encouraged to show leadership in their fields.

Central/top down control needs to be minimal.

D. Take risks with your people. If someone can do it 80% as well as you then let them. Efficiency is still required to deliver

today’s products profitably but efficiency becomes bureaucracy when elevated to an end in itself.

Being profitable today and simultaneously creating the future requires a balance of efficiency

and entrepreneurial flexibility.

E. Don’t be a control freak. Learning organizations are those that act without fully knowing where they are going, and then

learning from experience.

F. Leave room for improvisation and surprises.

A balance must be struck between strategic planning and improvisation.

G. Create an environment that fosters new product development. Set targets like 3M – a certain percentage of next year’s profits must be from new products.

H. Draw out the diversity of your team. Don’t be an insecure leader. An entrepreneurial culture encourages diversity – not uniformity.

This may mean encouraging employees to disagree with you – not always easy.

G. See mistakes as learning opportunities. Taking risks and making mistakes must be rewarded and learned.

Education

Building an Entrepreneurial Culture