Reading Reflection Week #3

1.    It is quite fascinating to read the dynamics of the entrepreneur, however in the chapter, The Entrepreneurial Mind-Set in Individuals: Cognition and Ethics, I was surprised to see the author associate the failure of an entrepreneur venture with grief. It is easy to understand the grief of losing a family member or friend, the failure of a marriage or the diagnosis of a terminal disease, but I never anticipated seeing a chapter on 'the grief recovery process' in an entrepreneur textbook.

2.    When the textbook stated, “….we have to choose from our own codes of conduct,” I couldn’t help but remember photos of handcuffed executives from such powerhouses as World Com, Enron, and Tyco, and last but by no means least, Bernie Madoff, whose sweetheart deals and gross misconduct made clear the importance of ethics in business. So, while the statement above isn’t confusing in and of itself, it does make one question as to whether our own personal ethics in business is enough to produce effective leaders. Former CEO of Hewlett-Packard and current Presidential Candidate, Carly Fiorina, points out that ethics is all about the art of navigating the slippery slope; you have to draw a line for yourself and stick to it. But, for those without a strong set of ethics, such as the above examples who demonstrated a lack of guideposts when they found themselves in a situation that challenged them morally, the only outcome was to find themselves sliding rapidly downhill.

3.    The two questions that I would like to ask the author would be as follows:

·         Understanding that we have embraced failure as an entrepreneurial trait, at what point would you say stop trying and get a real job? I know someone who continues to come up with good entrepreneurial ideas only to see one failure after another; self-deception that everything will turn out seems to prevail.

·         What’s in your wallet? The real question would be: how do you find venture capitalists with battle scars to help grow your business. I ask this question because most ideas are worthy of some kind of investment, but are they worthy of a venture investment.

4.    President Reagan’s favorite Russian saying regarding arms-control agreements - doveryai, no proveryai, “trust, but verify” - sounds like great watchwords for entrepreneurs. Basically, this is a simple slogan during the cold war calling for political transparency. The textbook describes ‘a sense of distrust’ as a dual-edged sword, and although I agree that mistrust in any relationship  creates conflict, I also believe trust can be conceived through verification.  Honest, ethical behavior, and a willingness to exchange information are critical when deciding whom to trust. I would say that entrepreneurs do not completely trust their counter-parties, leading to a sense of distrust; most expect and forgive lapses in judgement, though less tolerant of malicious intent.