One ladder does not fit all on the climb to success

IT is sometimes said that entrepreneurship can be a ladder out of poverty and into economic stability for low-income families.

What might be more interesting is whose ladder is employed for such efforts, and who are the people we are asking to climb such a ladder?

The big question is does one ladder fit all?

For a number of years, I have been working with a friend and academic colleague, a visiting Native American scholar.

Whereas I find my academic home in the disciplines of management and marketing, his interests lie more in the humanities and indigenous education. And never the twain shall meet?

I have come to learn that they do and indeed, they have.

Like many Australians, I have a genuine interest in both an historical and contemporary perspective of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ideas and insights into what best makes us a whole nation.

It was a chance encounter with my friend that revealed methods that helped me better understand not only indigenous peoples of Australia, but a widened view of other indigenous cultural experiences.

Together, we’ve been sharing ideas about community engagement practices that encompass a broad range of perspectives, genuine dialogue, discussion and the inclusion of indigenous perspectives on development and entrepreneurship.

In turning our discussions into practice, we ran a project together called Stories and Songs of the People which included local, national and international indigenous cultural expression, discussion forums, performance and art exhibitions.

It may have been the format, or the “ladder’’ that was employed in this project which seemed to belie a traditional sense of entrepreneurial activity.

Yet here there were no “radio voice’’ salesmen or a “sell sell sell’’ mentality that often underpins a traditional western business paradigm.

Instead, those who attended participated in a community forum which discussed current gaps in everything from education to business opportunities, obstacles, myths, misnomers, and challenges for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and Australians.

The “one size fits all’’ approach, which is often applied to indigenous folk, is one of the primary inhibitors or barriers for effective indigenous public policy, social capital development and in turn, social entrepreneurship.

The ‘one size fits all’ approach is one of the barriers for effective indigenous entrepreneurship