WHAT IN-DIGE-NOUS CUL-TURE CAN TEACH US ABOUT EN-TRE-PRE-NEUR-SHIP

I would like to begin this post by acknowledging that the land on which it was written, is the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishnaabeg People.

There is an almost fever pitched interest in academic, political and business circles around entrepreneurship and its potential to contribute to economic growth and development — incubators, accelerators and funding abound.

Despite this interest, much less is known about cultural attitudes and approaches of Indigenous peoples toward entrepreneurship, whose ideas and values long pre-date current Western approaches.

Last week, we attended Canada’s first ever conference on Indigenizing Entrepreneurship. Our agency was proud to have supported the movement with marketing strategy and execution. As our schedule was tight, we were only able to attend half the conference, and this post is by no means an exhaustive list of what was covered, rather, our lay observations and insights gathered and the subsequent attempt to share some of those with you.

To that end, a few approaches, thoughts and ideas that resonated…

We’re not even playing the same game

Our cultural perceptions of opportunity as it relates to entrepreneurship are vastly different. As per research outlined by panelist Leo Dana, Marie Curie Fellow at Princeton University:

Perceptions about entrepreneurship by non-Indigenous peoples

• I can tell people what to do;
• I’ll have heaps of money;
• I’ll take what I can before somebody else does.

Perceptions about entrepreneurship by Indigenous peoples

• Consensus based decision making;
• Money is good, but it is not everything;
• Sustenance as opposed to greed;
• Stakeholder over shareholder;
• Community first.

Many indigenous cultural values appear in stark contrast to the basic assumptions and approaches to mainstream entrepreneurship.

How you show up matters

Even the way an Indigenous panel member from New Zealand said hello to us had a profound impact.

From my ancestors to your ancestors. From me to you. From my unborn descendants to your unborn descendants. 

Greetings.

Welcoming someone across all time to start a meeting kicks things off on a helluva positive note.

Minding your entrepreneurial mind

Buddha once riffed that we are what we think. That all that we are arises with our thoughts. That with our thoughts we make the world.

Not many contemporary Western entrepreneurs are exempt from the technological slavery of the next email, text and tweet. As the newly minted Executive Director of Truth and Reconciliation at Algonquin College and conference MC Ron McClester encouraged us all, consider reducing the empty loop of your instant gratification. Slow your mind. The benefits of being present can both help and heal your professional outlook.

Truth comes before reconciliation

You cannot reconcile with anyone if you don’t spend enough time on truth, understanding what it is, what it means and where you stand. Sometimes, you have to marinate yourself in the truth in order to understand and accept it, before you can move on to reconciliation.

As speaker and Executive Director of Sacred Fire Productions, Nadine St. Louis coined:

…to speak your truth is the most powerful tool you have. And to live your truth is the most powerful tool for change.

Final thoughts

Canada is a country of immigrants. And we’re so much richer for it. There are different ways of looking at things and we’re still trying to figure things out — probably always will be.

For all entrepreneurs, credibility and legitimacy are two of the hardest things to attain. And we’ll overcome those barriers much more quickly if we cooperate, rather than compete.

Because regardless of how we hold ourselves or what we believe, we are all connected and dependant on each other.

In many ways, as conference speakers pointed out, we’re all indigenous. 

We all come from the same place.

And we can all learn from each other.