Entrepreneurship and Storytelling

William B. Gartner

Estrad Lecture Series

ESBRI

Stockholm, Sweden

14 December 2011

“This is a test of imagination, one form of intelligence. I am going to show you some pictures, one at a time; and your task will be to make up as dramatic a story as you can for each. Tell what has led up to the event shown in the picture, describe what is happening at the moment, what the characters are feeling and thinking; and then give the outcome. Speak your thoughts as they come to your mind. Do you understand? Since you have fifty minutes for ten pictures, you can devote about five minutes to each story. Here is the first picture.” (Murray, 1943, p. 3)

What is Possible?

(Schwartzel) credited Oosthuizen’s win at the 2010 British Open at St. Andrews with helping him win at Augusta National.

“To see him win there was just such a big inspiration… Just to see him do it made me realize that is possible, and just sort of maybe take it over the barrier of thinking that a major is too big for someone to win”

(New York Times, 12 April 2011, B12)

What is Possible?

If (s)he can do it, then (maybe) I can too!

From Possible to Doable

Once we realize it can be done, then, the problem is HOW?

If (s)he can do it, then, what is the “it” to do?

The “How”

Who is involved and why?

What is going on? (events)

When and where did these events happen?

The “How:” Story

Character: Who is involved and why?

Plot: What is going on? (events)

Setting: When and where did these events happen?

Possible is not the Probable

The Probable

Is what is likely to occur…

Prevalence of Nascent Entrepreneurs by AgeBlack v Hispanic v White Males

Nu

mb

er

per

10

0

Age Category

12.9

15.9

9.7

0.4

10.111.4

7.5

4.4

8.5

9.9

6.9

1.2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

18-24 25-44 45-64 65+

Black Males

Hispanic Males

White Males

Prevalence of Nascent Entrepreneurs by AgeBlack v Hispanic v White Females

5.6

10.19.6 9.4

3.0

5.1

7.5

3.54.1

1.2

3.7

6.1 6.05.4

2.1

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64

Black Females

Hispanic Females

White Females

Age Category

Nu

mb

er

per

10

0

Prevalence of Nascent Entrepreneurs by Education

Black v Hispanic v White Males

12.4 11.7

16.2 15.8

26.1

7.09.0

12.1 11.4

20.2

8.97.5

10.1 9.510.6

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

No HS HSDegree

Post HS CollegeDegree

PostCollege

Black Males

Hispanic Males

White Males

Nu

mb

er

per

10

0

Prevalence of Nascent Entrepreneurs by Household Income

3.2

4.1

5.76.1

6.7 6.9

7.78.2

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

Lessthan$15K

$15 -20K

$20 -25K

$25 -30K

$30 -40K

$40 -50K

$50 -75K

Over$75K

Income Category

Nu

mb

er p

er 1

00 Overall

White Males

4.5

6.97.3

9.1

4.94.6

4.14.6

3.23.6

4.44.8

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

LowestQuartile

SecondQuartile

ThirdQuartile

HighestQuartile

Black Females

Hispanic Females

White Females

Prevalence of Nascent Entrepreneurs by Degree of “Urbanness”

Nu

mb

er

per

10

0

Degree of “Urbanness”

Overall

Hispanic Females

The Probable Entrepreneur:

Male (because of “More”)

White (because of “More”)

More Education

More Income

More Wealth

More Experience (managerial, industry)

The Un-Probable Entrepreneur:

Female

Hispanic

Less Education

Less Income

Less Wealth

Less Experience

Norma Aguirre

If Norma is possible, then:

HOW do we enable more Norma’s to exist?

If Norma is possible, then:

HOW do we enable more Norma’s to exist?

Tell Norma’s Story

John Morse

If John is possible, then:

If John is possible, then:

Entrepreneurs write their own stories.

Carl Chew

If Carl is possible, then:

If Carl is possible, then:

Entrepreneurs can change lives.

If Norma, John and Carl are possible, then:

If Norma, John and Carl are possible, then:

No one “type” of entrepreneur

More entrepreneurs = More diversity

Diversity in: Character, Plot, Setting

Extending the Possible

In Practice

Lots of “stories” in different “media”

Use “literary” tools to “deconstruct”

Use “business tools” to “analyze”

Bill Gates

Extending the Possible

We can’t predict the future, but we can help imagine it, and…

Stories enable imagination.

“Science,” Stories & Entrepreneurship

Your stories…

“Science,” Stories & EntrepreneurshipApperception: Educated as we already are, we never get an

experience that remains for us completely nondescript: it always reminds of something similar in quality, or of some context that might have surrounded it before, and which it now in some way suggests. This mental escort which the mind supplies is drawn, of course, from the mind's ready-made stock. We conceive the impression in some definite way. We dispose of it according to our acquired possibilities, be they few or many, in the way of 'ideas.' This way of taking in the object is the process of apperception. The conceptions which meet and assimilate it are called by Herbart the 'apperceiving mass.' The apperceived impression is engulfed in this, and the result is a new field of consciousness, of which one part (and often a very small part) comes from the outer world, and another part (sometimes by far the largest) comes from the previous contents of the mind. (James, 1925: 123)

“Science,” Stories & Entrepreneurship

Apperception is Providing Meaning to What is Perceived: “… based on the well recognized fact that when someone attempts to interpret a complex social situation he is apt to tell as much about himself as he is about the phenomenon on which his attention is focused. At such times, the person is off his guard, since he believes he is merely explaining objective occurrences. To one with “double hearing,” however, he is exposing certain inner forces and arrangements, wishes, fears, and traces of past experiences.” (Morgan & Murrary, 1935: 390)

“Science,” Stories & Entrepreneurship

McClelland, 1961: ix: It is important, therefore, to understand at the outset the simplicity of this book – what it can accomplish and what it cannot. What it does try to do is to isolate certain psychological factors and to demonstrate rigorously by quantitative scientific methods that these factors are generally important in economic development.

“Science,” Stories & Entrepreneurship

McClelland, 1961: 11: The modern economist has become even more insistent in his belief that the ultimate forces underlying economic development lie, strictly speaking, outside the economic sphere. As Meir and Baldwin put it, half humorously, “economic development is much too serious to be left to economists.” (1957, p. 119)

“Science,” Stories & Entrepreneurship

McClelland, 1961: 40: It may be worth considering for a moment why fantasy as a type of behavior has many advantages over any other type of behavior for

sensitively reflecting…

“Science,” Stories & Entrepreneurship

Coding Children’s stories 23 + 40 = 63 countries, random sample of 21 stories each. All stories (“over 1,300 in all”) coded: n achievement, n affiliation, n power, and values.

Stories in Appendix 1.

“Science,” Stories & Entrepreneurship

Identifying Need for Achievement

1. Competition with a standard of excellence.• Winning, or doing as well as or better than others is actually

stated as a primary concern.• If not actually stated, then affective concern over achievement

(vis-à-vis other) is evident.• The competition may be with a self-imposed standard of

excellence, rather than with others.2. Involvement with a unique accomplishment3. Involvement in attaining a long-term goal.

“Science,” Stories & Entrepreneurship

McClelland, 1961: 104-105 “Psychologically speaking, what such findings seem to mean is that n achievement is not only more frequently present in stories from more rapidly developing countries but when it is present, it is more apt to be “means” oriented rather than goal oriented. The achievement sequence more often dwells on obstacles to success and specific means of overcoming them, rather than on the goal itself, the desire for it, and the emotions surrounding attaining or failing to attain it. The adaptive quality of such a concern with means is obvious: a people who think in terms of ways of overcoming obstacles would seem more likely to find ways of overcoming them in fact.

“Science,” Stories & Entrepreneurship

McClelland, 1961: 104-105 “At any rate that is precisely what happens: the “means” oriented stories come from countries which have managed to overcome the obstacles to economic achievement more successfully than other countries… These results serve to direct our attention as social scientists away from an exclusive concern with the external events in history to the “internal” psychological concerns that in the long run determine what happens in history.”

Stories Matter!

McClelland, 1961: 417 “One study suggests that the most effective way to increase n Achievement may be to try simply and directly to alter the nature of an individual’s fantasies.”

References

James, W. (1925). Talks to Teachers: On Psychology and to Students on Some of Life’s Ideals. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

McClelland, David C. (1961). The Achieving Society. New York: The Free Press.

Murray, H. A. (1943). Thematic Apperception Test Manual. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Morgan, C. D. & Murray, H. A. (1935). A method for investigating fantasies: The thematic apperception test. Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry. 34: 289-306.

William B. GartnerSpiro Professor of Entrepreneurial

Leadership345 Sirrine HallClemson UniversityClemson, SC 29634-1345gartner@clemson.edu