More Insights on Entrepreneurship from Alan Webber
If you’ve enjoyed Oliver’s articles on entrepreneurship, you need to read these three exceptional articles by Alan Webber (and particularly the third, though you should read them in this order):
Munger to Friedman to Diamond!
A few excerpts:
“If you look up the word ‘mindset’ in the dictionary, here’s what you get: ‘a fixed mental attitude or disposition that predetermines a person’s responses to and interpretations of situations’ and ‘habits of mind formed by previous experience.’ Societies vanish because their mindsets preclude them from seeing reality as it is.”
“…we’re all captives of the models in our heads; of how we’ve done things in the past; of the values and behaviors that ‘got us this far.’ …But the hard truth is, America is still an experiment. That’s the way the Founding Fathers felt about; it’s a Republic–if we can keep it.
“…it’s up to us to see the problem, look the brutal facts of life in the eye, and change our behavior–and question values that we’ve either adopted in place of our original ones or that no longer work in an economy that’s global–and get back to work.
“The other option is…joining the Mayans, the Easter Islanders, and a litany of societies that disappeared, clinging to their habits and behaviors, all the way to oblivion.”
“If you put down the daily newspapers, stop surfing the web, step away from cable TV news, give talk radio a rest, and just go out into your own community…you will be thrilled, delighted, amazed, and profoundly moved at the kinds of changes going on all around us.
“Below the surface, like icebergs and ducks, out of sight of the traditional media and traditional politics, there is a movement gaining force.
“It is micro-change. It is entrepreneurial and vibrant. The projects are often small. Think of them as Petri-dish size experiments.
“They involve small groups of like-minded individuals who want to make a difference, have some impact.
“I’m not talking about angry shouters. I’m talking about do-something-abouters.
“This is how change happens. Far from the corridors of power.”
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Stephen Palmer is a book writer for mission-driven leaders, a small business lead generation website design architect and persuasive website copywriter, a co-founder of The Center for Social Leadership, and the author of Uncommon Sense: A Common Citizen’s Guide to Rebuilding America.
He co-authored the New York Times bestseller Killing Sacred Cows: Overcoming the Financial Myths that are Destroying Your Prosperity, as well as Hub Mentality: Shifting from Business Transactions to Community Interaction.
He is a liberal-arts graduate of George Wythe University and a graduate and faculty member of the “non-traditional business school” Wizard Academy.
Stephen resides in Round Rock, Texas with his gorgeous wife Karina, awesome son Alex, and princess daughters Libby, Avery, and Laela.
Subscribe to Stephen’s blog and contact him at stephen [at] leadershipwriter [dot] com.
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