Why Entrepreneurs Matter More Than Innovators

The Gallup Management Journal has a piece entitled "Why Entrepreneurs Matter More Than Innovators" which tells us:

In his book The Coming Jobs War, Gallup Chairman Jim Clifton makes the bold claim that political and business leaders pay far too much attention to innovation and far too little to cultivating talented entrepreneurs. They've got it backward, Clifton says. To create jobs, leaders must understand that great, thriving businesspeople matter far more than great ideas, which are a dime a dozen.

In short, great ideas still matter, but building a successful business is the real name of the game.

 

This book excerpt delves into the successes of Wayne Huizenga and Ted Turner, among others. To some, their ideas were "bad", not "great", but somehow they were great business successes anyway.

 

This notion of what makes an idea "great" vs. "bad" is interesting and worth contemplating, but not at the expense of building a great business.

-- Jack Krupansky