One of the many honors in my career as serial entrepreneur, author and keynote speaker has been my involvement as a keynote speaker at several national and international Ernst & Young (EY) Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, a global competition that fuels and celebrates innovative business thinking. The annual awards were started in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1986 and have now been run in all 50 states and more than 60 countries.
What began as one award that first year – to Scott McNealy of Sun Microsystems – the EY-sponsored competition now averages 400 recipients annually and has been awarded more than 10,000 times. Despite the singular name “Entrepreneur” of the Year, the award is actually plural, with multiple winners each year in recent history.
The competition, which currently brands itself as a celebration of “mold-breakers,” is in its 32nd year. Its mission is to honor entrepreneurs who have the boldness to drive change in unexpected ways.
The excitement around these awards is unparalleled. Winners represent virtually every industry imaginable – and some that are still emerging. Industries include retail and consumer products; technology; family business; energy, chemical and mining; food products and services; real estate, hospitality and construction; financial services; digital media; and emerging and transformational.
Notable past winners include John Rothwell of Australian company Austal Ships (2000); David Bussau of Opportunity International (2003), also from Australia; Reid Hoffman and Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn (2011); and Andrew Richardson of Canadian company Targray (2016).
Perhaps most notably, Michael Dell of Dell Computing won the EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 1989, Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com won it in 1997, and Sergey Brin and Larry Page of Google won it in 2003.
The Hunger to Not Be Left Behind
One common trait among successful business innovators is motivation. What do they desire to start and what is their reason for doing so? In other words, what keeps them going?
On the topic of motivation, there is a great story from my time speaking at, and interfacing with, the world’s best entrepreneurs, at the very first World Summit for Entrepreneur of the Year Award winners. It was held in Singapore a number of years ago, and the theme was “Access Asia.”
The focus was on identifying new opportunities in the region, specifically China and India. As I listened to the speakers from Asia, I noticed that one word kept standing out. They all referred to the tremendous “hunger” of their people to shape their future, grow their economy and enhance their standard of living.
Actions speak louder than words, and the actions that followed made it clear that millions and millions of people throughout that region saw real hope for themselves and their countries. I observed that the young, as well as the old, were excited and engaged in the rapid learning and changing that was going on around them. One motivation was so that they wouldn’t be left behind.
Looking back, it seems my observations were spot on. According to the International Monetary Fund, Asia contributed 40 percent of global GDP in 2016. And the Asian economy is projected to deliver nearly two-thirds of global growth in the not-too-distant future.
4 Must-Ask Questions of Business Innovators
In reflecting on the sentiments in Asia at that time, along with the huge amount of progress I have seen in my global career over the past 35 years, I felt compelled to try and boil business ingenuity into four must-ask questions. These are questions we should all be asking ourselves and each other. If we hope to propel America forward the way we have seen our neighbors in the East do it, we should ask:
1. Are We Hungry Enough?
Governments tend to be slow to change, but the governments in China, India and throughout Indonesia saw real opportunity and took unprecedented actions to ensure Asian technology would boost the economy. Cars, smartphones, biotechnology and renewable energy all come to mind as areas of accelerating innovation and growth.
As I listened to my Asian colleagues at the entrepreneurs’ summit, I asked myself:
- How hungry are the thousands of American executives who are close to retirement?
- How hungry are the youth of America?
- How willing are Americans to work hard to learn new things, change and grow?
- How ready is America to actively shape a better tomorrow for themselves and the nation?
- How well do American businesses anticipate the future before it arrives?
Let’s face it: change is hard for a lot of people. And it’s even more difficult if you’re on top and really don’t want to change. In other words, if you don’t have a lot of motivation to do so, why would you use the energy it takes to change?
However, if you see change as opportunity and you open your eyes to the many reasons to have hope for a better tomorrow, change, as well as technology-driven transformation, is welcomed, encouraged and even invigorating, rather than a drain. I have worked with a wide variety of businesses in many different countries, and the motivation throughout Asia is without comparison.
If you have ever observed a person from Asia who has moved to the United States and started a business, you know what I mean. Which brings me to my next question.
2. Are We Ready to Work Hard?
Asian immigrants see the opportunity the U.S. has to offer and they work hard to realize their dreams. The result is a very high success rate. This same hunger for a better future is a major factor driving Asia’s growth, both now and well into the future.
The majority of Americans have always had the amazing opportunities of freedom and democracy. We think we are the best, and we show it. All too often, we spend our time defending and protecting the status quo instead of leading change from the inside out.
The result is a much lower level of hunger to learn, grow and change in order to take advantage of all the new opportunities that are available to us.
One way to jump-start the hard work necessary to take American businesses to the next level is to learn how to anticipate. How often do we spend time developing a concept, product or service to solve a current problem, and by the time the solution is ready, rapid change and disruption has rendered the problem, as well as your solution, less relevant or even obsolete?
One tip I can provide is to learn how to distinguish something that might happen, a Soft Trend, from something that will happen, a Hard Trend. By learning how to separate what might happen from what will happen, you can work both harder – and smarter.
3. How Will We Motivate the Future?
For over 30 years, Burrus Research has not only helped businesses and government leaders worldwide identify and take advantage of amazing new opportunities, we have also helped students and educators understand the opportunities of the future through our education division and scholarships.
I can tell you from our education division working in thousands of schools all over the country, America’s youth didn’t seem very hungry there for a while. I think that is changing in part because Millennials grew up in households affected by the 2008 recession. And in part because once students can see the tremendous opportunity the future has to offer, they become more optimistic. Optimism fuels an eagerness to learn, grow and change.
History has shown that once Americans clearly see future opportunity on a personal level, they develop the hunger and drive needed to shape the future. Often, it takes a tragic event such as Pearl Harbor, 9/11 or massive layoffs to mobilize us. A major change in White House administrations can also make many of us feel a little off balance; it’s how well we see the opportunity created by major change that makes the difference.
The good news is that we don’t have to wait for the other shoe to drop. As leaders, we can create hunger in our people by helping them to clearly see the personal opportunities that accelerating change and digital transformation present. Yes, I said personal. If we only discuss organizational opportunities, we will never create hunger. If we create a vision that individuals can relate and aspire to, then change is seen as positive and the result is action.
4. Do We Know Where to Start?
Ask yourself: Do I have a strategy to create a personal hunger for my employees or students? If the answer is yes, great! I’m sure many of your peers and colleagues would love to hear the secret to your success.
If the answer is no, it might be time to form your own network of like-minded innovators and brainstorm together. In today’s age, social media provides us with a free, always-open channel of communication.
Consider logging on to some Twitter chats hosted by business authorities you admire. Don’t just connect on LinkedIn, communicate there. And by all means, continue to learn from each other the old-fashioned, and still the best, way – face to face.
If you still want some help getting started, you might want to read The Anticipatory Organization, my latest book I wrote to help you learn to see the many opportunities that are now available to actively shape a better future for yourself, your family, your organization and your country, and most importantly, to have the confidence to leap into action.
ABOUT DANIEL BURRUS
Daniel Burrus is considered one of the world’s leading technology forecasters and innovation experts. He is the CEO of Burrus Research, a research and consulting firm that monitors global advances in technology driven trends to help clients profit from technological, social and business forces that are converging to create enormous, untapped opportunities.
He is a strategic advisor to executives helping them to develop game-changing strategies based on his proven methodologies for capitalizing on technology innovations. He is the author of seven books, including The New York Times bestseller Flash Foresight, and his latest book The Anticipatory Organization.
To Order FREE book: Visit https://www.anticipatoryorganization.com/get-the-book
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