Canada West Foundation Blog

By: Robert Roach, Senior Researcher and Director of The West in Canada Project

Be it myth or reality, there is a perception that our neighbours to the South are naturally more entrepreneurial than we are. The history of the United States is rich in entrepreneurial spirit, but for whatever reason—geography that requires a more communal approach, a different history of immigration, a slightly more conservative culture—Canadians haven’t been quite as naturally willing to roll up their sleeves and start their own businesses.

Of course, Canada has had its share of personal business success too. Family empires such as the Eatons, the Bronfmans, and the Thompsons quell the notion that Canadians can’t be business savvy.

Brett Wilson is a Canadian businessman, philanthropist, and a “dragon” on CBC television’s The Dragon’s Den. Having built an energy empire from scratch, he knows a thing or two about entrepreneurialism and how essential it is for an economy like Canada’s. Additionally, he has established the Wilson Centre for Entrepreneurial Excellence at the University of Saskatchewan. Education around entrepreneurialism is critical, and young people seem particularly well-suited for entrepreneurialism, perhaps because of their naturally youthful optimism or the energy they devote to pursuits which interest them.

Entrepreneurialism matters because economic power centres are shifting. Manufacturing is in upheaval. Resources are under cost and environmental pressure. Everything is changing, and the countries that will succeed are not the ones that cling to 20th century ideas of business empire building, but the ones that can adapt more quickly to the world around them.

A heady combination of creative skills, comfort operating in foreign markets and with international partners, risk-taking, a strong desire to be at the top of the economic value chain, environmental thinking, civic duty and social gregariousness will culminate in the New Canadian Entrepreneur. The result will be not only a measurably better economy, but a happier, more engaged and more productive workforce.

The New Entrepreneur may be on the cutting edge of scientific research, perhaps starting Canada’s next Research In Motion. She will find innovative new cures for diseases and put Canada on the map for health technologies. He will creatively find solutions to political and social issues around poverty and homelessness. They will be superstars in their fields.

Surely not everyone will be as wealthy and famous as Jim Balsillie. Not many of us will make medical breakthroughs like Sir Frederick Banting and Dr. Charles Best, the Canadian discoverers of insulin. Most of us don’t even aspire to that anyway. The good news is that the New Entrepreneur will also be what most of us hope to be: fairly-paid employees who feel that their ideas and actions are actually valued and making a difference.

Admittedly, some jobs are simply more creative and engaging in nature. It may be easy (and expected) to be creative if you work for a software company with a foosball table. Working in a meat slaughtering plant or a road paving crew may not be as naturally creative.

Still, in even the most seemingly mundane or routine jobs, there is scope for creativity and entrepreneurialism. In any occupation or activity, one can ask “Is there a way to do this better? Is there a method that reduces time or waste? Are there ways I can minimize my environmental footprint and save money at the same time?”

The New Entrepreneur will naturally ask these questions, regardless of the type of work he or she is doing. It goes far beyond our 20th century notions of “entrepreneur” as strictly an inventor or a self-employed business person. The New Entrepreneur will see every action he takes—be it as a medical researcher or a janitor—as part of something larger. She will use her natural creativity and willingness to embrace failure to push her world and her economy a little further.

Sounds utopian? Perhaps a bit. But for the most part, we are not talking about revolutionizing the world. We are suggesting that the Canadian economy and personal job satisfaction can be improved simply by asking a simple question: “How can I do this job differently?” That question will come naturally to the New Entrepreneur.

See previous blogs in this series for a discussion of each of these factors.

This article is based on a forthcoming book entitled “Rewriting the Code: Changing Canada’s Economic DNA” by Todd Hirsch and Robert Roach. Robert Roach is the Senior Researcher at the Canada West Foundation and Todd Hirsch is the Senior Economist at ATB Financial.

This post is based on a forthcoming book entitled “Re-Writing the Code: Changing Canada’s Economic DNA” by Todd Hirsch and Robert Roach.

In much of the thinking on economic competitiveness, there tends to be an emphasis on science, math and applied technical skills. Without question, these are essential if Canada’s economy has any chance of success in the coming years.

But a test tube can solve no problems. A hammer can build nothing. And even the most powerful computer can’t create a thing. What each of them needs is a human brain to operate them to solve, build and create. Obviously, knowing how to use a test tube, a hammer, and a computer is essential, but what’s really needed is clever ideas that apply the technology to solving 21st century problems. We don’t need a fountain of youth; we need a fountain of smart!

A few years ago, Daniel Pink authored a book entitled “A Whole New Mind.” He argued that linear-thinking and “left-brain” occupations such as medicine, engineering and computer science contributed significantly to our economic wealth in the 20th century. But increasingly, because of competition from Asia and the advances in computing ability, what North America’s workers really need in the 21st century are more “right-brain” attributes—skills such as imagination, creativity, intuition and relational abilities—to complement our linear thinking.

The problem now is that so much has been written on the importance of “the creative culture” that some of us are growing frustrated with not knowing exactly what “creative” means. Does it mean that our cities need to be artsier? Will trendy cafes and poetry readings bring prosperity? Do we really need to turn our old warehouses into avant-garde theatres or face economic extinction?

Not at all. Art and culture have extremely important roles to play in the economy, but the notion of creative students and creative workers goes far beyond Bach, Shakespeare and Monet.

Creativity is an essential element in every occupation. In its broadest definition, creativity is the application of a clever idea to solve a problem, seeing something in a new way or making something unique. Even something as simple as putting a telephone book under your computer monitor to raise it a few inches is a creative (albeit very basic) solution to a common problem.

People say all the time, “Oh, I’m not creative.” But in fact, everyone is creative, or at least has the potential to be. And most of us have no idea of the creative capacity we possess. There is not a single sector of the economy that would not benefit from clever solutions to problems, new ways of seeing things and unique products.

What can we do, then, to foster a clever society?

When it comes to our children, the answer is almost comically simple: stop pounding the creativity out of them. Much of our education system over the past century had sadly evolved into a system that practically punishes creativity. Thankfully, huge strides are being made by some of Canada’s most thoughtful education practitioners in trying to correct that.

One example of how to foster children’s creative abilities is found at the Calgary Arts Academy. This K-9 charter school is not an art school; rather, it’s an arts immersion school that delivers the standard provincially approved curriculum through the arts. Teachers work alongside artists to design the program. Kids learn math through music and dance, for example, or social studies through drama. Don’t just make the kids read about and memorize types of cloud formations—get them to write a play and act like clouds. By doing so, they engage their whole brain in learning the defining characteristics of different cloud types.

Being clever must also extend to the workplace, and here we need an effort from both employers and employees. All sorts of courses and seminars are offered to stimulate the whole mind and train ourselves to think critically. At the very least, an emphasis on correcting basic literacy deficiencies would go a long way in making the workplace safer and more productive.

Certainly there are many who will quickly dismiss these activities as a waste of time and money. But activating all parts of the human brain is no silly diversion, and it could do amazing things to help Canadians work more productively, get more enjoyment out of their jobs, and find clever solutions to the problems they encounter in the workplace.

All of us are clever in ways we can’t even imagine, and exercising that cleverness is an economic imperative. Clever kids aren’t the ones who simply memorize information; clever kids are the ones who learn how to learn. Clever workers find simple solutions to the complex problems they encounter in their daily jobs. And the future of Canada’s economic prosperity needs them both.

Robert Roach is Senior Researcher and Director of the West In Canada Project, Canada West Foundation and Todd Hirsch, is Senior Economist, ATB Financial.

Posted by: Rob Roach