The origins of entrepreneurship

People have been asking me for some time to share some insight into the origins of the term ‘entrepreneur’. So I approach this blog with some trepidation as I am not a linguist, even less an expert and will therefore likely be stretching truth herein.

You see a lot of this has come to me by way of stories; people sharing insights and meanings that are relevant to them. I don’t speak French, Maori, and some people would even contest English. I’m Australian, so I speak Stra’ian …okay!

Despite George W. Bush’s reported gaff of travelling to Paris and saying: “The French don’t even have a word for entrepreneur”, the truth is George: they do. It is called “entrepreneur”, and that word translates to something like “one who takes within their own hands” or “undertaker”.

Of course the only reason that “Undertaker” was not adopted by the English to describe this pursuit was that it was already adopted by another profession. Mixing up ‘business creation’ with ‘dealing with the dead’ just doesn’t seem like a right fit. So the English searched abroad for who else was describing similar stuff and low-and-behold the French had a word.

This is not to suggest at all that ‘entrepreneurship’ was created or invented by either the French or the English. (Clearly it was created by Australians but our internet wasn’t fast enough to tell anyone about it).

‘Entrepreneurship’ takes on its own life in different parts of the world, and indeed in every entrepreneur themselves. I have spent some time traveling in Asia and Africa. Seeing entrepreneurship in other parts of the world is entirely different to what one would readily associate with a Western-Bransonesque style of entrepreneurship.

In the Philippines I observed and participated in an approach to entrepreneurship that was very ‘feminine’. Entrepreneurship there honours the collective, relationships, empathy and deep understanding. In Thailand, I understand that the word that would translate to entrepreneur also means to ‘bring people together’. We see in these countries as well as parts of Africa a collective entrepreneurship that is not as culturally understood or accepted in the West.

My partner is Slovakian, and I recently met a guy from Romania. For those who grew up in communist countries, ‘social entrepreneurship’ is not as readily translatable, and in fact carries quite different understandings where ‘social’ is associated with the ‘state’.

My favourite definition of ‘entrepreneur’ that I’ve heard is translated from Maori in Aotearoa (New Zealand), which defines the entrepreneur as ‘the needle that threads’. I really resonate with this metaphor, and I love metaphors as ways of understanding ourselves and our world (see other blog on metaphors to change the world).

Closer to home, I have experienced Indigenous Australian entrepreneurs as ‘storytellers’; and as I am told this is the translation in language groups in NSW. I recently sat with a group of Indigenous entrepreneurs in Brisbane and their first question was ‘tell us your story of where you are from’. We sat for a half hour just sharing our stories of our childhood; our parents; where we grew up. This was the basis upon which trust and respect was established, and upon where we were to build our business.

So we can see that entrepreneurship is at least partly culturally-constructed. I am interested to learn of how other cultures define or give meaning to this work/word in other cultures (please leave you own comments/reflections/ideas).

The other thing we see here is that ‘entrepreneurship’ is not linguistically rooted in ‘profit making’ or ‘commercial business activity’. We see that the activities and drivers of entrepreneurs are rooted in something deeper. In is only over the past couple of hundred years (or less) that this language has come to have commercial leanings. Language is not fixed, and we can constantly give new meanings and understandings to the words we use.

I work in the field of ‘social entrepreneurship’ and I know that many of my inspired colleagues envisage a day where it no longer needs to carry the prefix ‘social’. The vision for many is that ‘entrepreneurship’ of all kinds is highly social; based on ethical principles, excellence, respect for all life, sustainability and balance.

Meanings and identities are also personally constructed through life experiences, family influences, inspired others and more. We don’t need to wait for a culture or society to adjust or nominate new meanings. We can create for ourselves our own language to describe our work. There will be more to come on this; in the meantime….

Be well,

@bennycallaghan