On the cultural myth of the entrepreneur

As Ilvis might enquire, "What the entrepreneur say?"

Humphrey recently got a preview of a soon-to-be published article about entrepreneurs. This got him thinking about the many (but strikingly similar) entrepreneurial stories! Author/researcher Richard Smith concluded that they are fables that follow a remarkably similar structure, and rely on “cherished storylines” and similar rhetorical tactics. The creative flourishes that make a good story are not necessarily accurate – and this is why Smith terms them fables. Humph even created the graphic below to show his readers 3 Smith's common narrative components that run as threads through entrepreneurial narratives: morality (usually in the form of the Protestant work ethic), the Entrepreneurial dream as a guiding force, and “rags to riches” accounts of success. 

The narratives almost always follow a plot structure that begins with the entrepreneur’s modest up-bringing, followed with an account of “The Ordeal,” in which the entrepreneur overcomes adversity. Then, they depict “The Quest” in which they begin to pursue their dream. The narrative ends with “The Genesis,” when the entrepreneur achieves his or her success and dreams.
While narratives are individual stories and stories of individuals, in their re-telling, they construct the cultural myth of all entrepreneurs in the public zeitgeist. The characters change (take your pick: P.Diddy, Martha Stewart, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Jobs, Mark Cuban, and so many others) but the story remains the same. Many have been called out for not being the impoverished hard-workers they claim to be. Others have been accused of exaggerating or fabricating adversities they faced for the sake of a compelling story.
The real story is what is missing from the fables (and thus the myth): difference, luck, systemic factors and realities described in the article are erased. What is left is an “anyone can do this with enough determination” message. And, the fact that most of the fables represent outliers (in other words, the exception to the rule) remains largely uninterrogated.


Humph's recommended readings

Cloud, D.L. (1996). Hegemony or Concordance? The rhetoric tokenism in Oprah Winfrey’s rags to riches story. Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 13, 115-137.

Kenny, K. & Sciver, S. (2012). Dangerously empty? Hegemony and the construction of the Irish entrepreneur. Organization, 19(5), 615-627

Knight, M.J. (2008). We can’t all be Oprah: How black women negotiate entrepreneurship. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Smith, R. & Anderson, A. R. (2004). The devil is in the e-tale: form and structure in the entrepreneurial narrative. Available from OpenAIR@RGU. Retrieved from: http://openair.rgu.ac.uk

Smith, R. (2005). The fabrication of entrepreneurial fable: A biographical analysis. Journal Private Equity, 8(4), 8–19.