I once asked a room full of people if a ‘Don’t walk on the grass’ sign made them want to immediately walk on the grass. About 70% of the room put their hands up, a trait that I equated to the DNA of an entrepreneur – namely the willingness to break the rules (especially silly ones). 

One of our Fetola mentors raised an objection, saying that this attitude leads to society breaking all rules. He has a point.

Colouring outside the lines

It has been proven that when a society begins to obey the small rules in life (don’t litter, only cross the road at the zebra crossing and don’t walk on the grass) the major rules, such as violent crime, decline. 

And maverick entrepreneurs who break ALL the rules ultimately end up broke and/ or in jail. So, yes, I take the point. 

Despite this, I still believe that entrepreneurs are people who just can’t help themselves from colouring outside the lines and making the sky green, turning expectations upside down and generally questioning the norm.

It’s this refusal to simply roll over and be average that makes entrepreneurs who they are. 

But, of course, we need entrepreneurs to obey the law too; so how about a compromise: Walk on the grass if this will lead to a better outcome for all.

See Also

Engineer follows his passion to build agro-processing business

Let’s refuse to be average as we keep searching, trying and testing new ways to do things, better ways to combine things, and more effective ways to delight our customers so we can build long-term business success.