This afternoon, my last in Germany for this trip, my two children and I were invited to attend an indoor fun park with a German family. Our host -- who has lived in the United States -- explained that such businesses were quite unusual in Germany, and that those who operated them did not understand how to attract customers. He had some very specific ideas about how to improve the business we were then visiting. So I suggested that he consider starting his own business.
His response: "Why would I do that? My job with the government pays well enough, and I have plenty of free time."
It would perhaps be unfair to suggest that this response is representative of an entire nation, but my experience here suggests that my host's attitude is commonly held. Admittedly, I am associating with a selective group, mostly lawyers, who do not seem an overly entrepreneurial lot in Germany. Nevertheless, Germany has not distinguished itself as an entrepreneurial hotbed.
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1. Posted by phil on June 25, 2004 @ 3:34 | Permalink
Entrepreneurship is fundamentally a cultural attitude. Which means that even though most Americans will never start their own business, the entrepreneurial attitude permeates our culture.
I was walking my dog in Rockville, MD one day when I came across a guy who had the same kind of dog (a Weimaraner) and as our dogs played I found out that he was an Englishman who along with his wife had made a great effort to stay in the US. I asked him why and he said that in the US you pursue your interests and dreams whereas in Europe if "you stuck your neck out it would be cut off."
Entrepreneurship is a human characteristic, but some cultures are more entrepreneurial than others. And some specific cultures have evolved the institutions that reinforce, channel, and force-multiply the entrepreneurial attitude.
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