Thinking Different 

Bill Gartner once commented how the fundamental quality of entrepreneurship is variation, and that the study of entrepreneurship is about how and why difference is created. The problem is most people don’t like “different” (academics included), or the changes difference-making can cause, and therefore resists or fights it rigorously. Yet, we need to embrace difference as well as change to learn and develop. Because self-imposed change is extremely difficult an alternative option is to make active decisions to seek out and engage with individuals that do not think like you. Here are some individuals that have helped me grow and develop as an entrepreneurship scholar, not because I agree with everything they say and write, but because what they say and write is captivating, stimulating, provoking, and challenging.

Peter Klein, Professor of Entrepreneurship at Baylor, and research fellow at the Mises Institute.
Alf Rehn, Professor of Organization and Management at Åbo Akademi.
Richard Wolff, Professor of Economics Emeritus UMA, and Visting Professor at the New School.

Cooking & Entrepreneurship

Grasping the notion of entrepreneurship is quite tricky, and in my classes I often talk about the food and restaurant industry to illuminate the nitty-gritty of entrepreneurship. We do this because all of us have a relationship to food, the are numerous new restaurants started every year by eager entrepreneurs, there are numerous restaurants failing every year, and because gastronomy and kitchen management embodies many of the tensions, paradoxes, and joys of entrepreneurship (see here and here).

Thus, I delight in “studying” the stories and escapades of chefs and restaurants, and here are some inspiring tales to stimulate your appetite:

Jiro’s Dream of Sushi
Whatever stuff René Redzepi is involved in
The Chef’s Table series (in particular the episodes with Massimo Bottura, Francis Mallmann, Ana Roš, and Gaggan Anand)
El Bulli: Cooking in Progress