Making things happen

The 20th century created a pantheon of entrepreneurial pioneers whose exciting new products and services came to change our lives. Beginning most
notably with Henry Ford, the century
ended with Bill Gates, Sam Walton, Steve
Jobs, Dave Thomas and countless others
who turned good ideas into vast empires.

Dr. Terrell G. Manyak thinks the new century will bring a new type of entrepreneur.

“Instead of creating new products and
services,” Manyak says, “this new entrepreneur will focus on making things happen in
the public sector to improve the quality of
life of our society.”

Manyak is a professor of public administration and management at the H. Wayne
Huizenga School of Business and
Entrepreneurship. Smart Business asked
him to predict the future of entrepreneurism.

Your forecast is certainly bold. How can you
make it?

This prediction of the public servant as a
21st-century entrepreneur might appear
out of step with our present view of government. Indeed, public service has long
been viewed with suspicion, ambivalence
and even disdain by most citizens. Rarely
do we think of government service as a
calling for people with an entrepreneurial
spirit.

This perception changed abruptly with
the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001. The
heroic efforts of firefighters and police to
rescue the victims of that disaster generated a new interest among younger citizens to become a part of the public service sector.

This new interest relates to entrepreneur-ship, because many of these bright, young
people will have a very different view of
their public service role. They are not going
to accept the long-standing 20th-century
rule that politicians make policy that civil
servants blindly implement.

What virtues must today’s public-sector
entrepreneur’s possess?

This new, energized public servant of the 21st century will feel a commitment to
shaping and implementing public policies
that will effectively address the problems
confronting our society.

The challenge of shaping and implementing policy requires an entrepreneur’s
skill of identifying problems and bringing
together the necessary resources to initiate action. The entrepreneur needs to be
a leader, but a leader that cherishes the
opportunity to work within the democratic process. To make things happen in the
21st century will require entrepreneurial
spirits who are willing and able to marshal three key resources: the bureaucracy, the political elite and the citizens they
serve.

Is the public sector not more difficult to master than the private sector?

The entrepreneurial public servant needs
all the skills of a management leader to
energize the government bureaucracy.
Fortunately, management innovations that
are transforming the private sector today
are finding their way into public service.
The concept of performance-based management is rapidly becoming as much the language of the public sector as it is in any
business. The new entrepreneur will
understand the modern tools of management to create a civil service that is policy-focused.

The entrepreneurial public servant needs
to be an honest broker for the political elite
that largely set the agenda for policy development. The elite perceive themselves as
the stakeholders with the most to gain or
lose through the actions of government.

The entrepreneur needs to understand
their concerns in order to negotiate viable
policy options. The outcome of this political skill is the creation of coalitions that
support strong public policies that will lead
to a better common good.

The entrepreneurial public servant needs
to be a community leader. The skill
required in this role is to make citizens a
part of the policy-making process. Some
citizens may lack awareness. Some citizens
may even feel disenfranchised from the
policy-making process.

The entrepreneur as a community leader
will find new ways to make the voice of the
public heard in the policy-making process.
While many citizens are often resistant to
change, in the long run active citizen participation creates a buy-in and acceptance
of policies that will ultimately improve
their quality of life.

What rewards will success bring in the 21st
century?

The reward for the classical entrepreneur
of the private sector is fame and fortune.
The reward for the new public sector
entrepreneur will be the satisfaction of creating positive change in our society.

Despite this difference in reward, both
types of entrepreneurs will have shown a
high level of imagination, energy and skill
in bringing their dreams to fruition.
Moreover, they will both be very much
needed as we meet the challenges of the
21st century.

DR. TERRELL G. MANYAK is a professor of public administration and management at the H. Wayne Huizenga School of
Business and Entrepreneurship. Reach him at (800) 672-7223.