In 1985 Peter Drucker argued<\/a> for a shift toward an entrepreneurial society, one where \u201cexecutives in all institutions\u2026make innovation and entrepreneurship a normal, ongoing everyday activity.\u201d This intentionally broad view requires a fundamental change in mindset. Drucker was pushing us to think and act less like\u00a0employees taking orders and more like free agents, alert and responsive to opportunities whether we work in a startup or in a large corporation.<\/p>\n Thirty years on, how far have we progressed toward Drucker\u2019s entrepreneurial society? Many large companies are experimenting with ways to tap into their employees\u2019 creative ideas. There has been a boom in startups, the number of freelancers is growing rapidly, and technology-enabled platforms such as Upwork and Amazon\u2019s MTurk are helping people find work<\/a> that\u00a0suits their skills and schedules<\/a>. And yet I would say the entrepreneurial glass is still half-empty, judging by the\u00a0anaemic levels of engagement in work<\/a>\u00a0that we see today.<\/p>\n For the entrepreneurial society to properly take hold, we need three things as individuals: means, motive, and opportunity.<\/p>\n Consider our means <\/strong>first. Charles Handy\u00a0once pointed out<\/a> that Karl Marx was\u00a0right all along. Marx\u2019s goal was for workers to take ownership of the means of production, by which he meant factories and machinery. But in the post-industrial world, most of us are knowledge workers at least in part \u2014\u00a0the means of production is our brainpower, which we retain ownership of no matter what our job is.<\/p>\n Many of us also need access to technology and funding, and this is one area where the changes of the last 30\u00a0years have been profound. Internet technology has essentially democratized entrepreneurialism. To be a freelance worker today, you need an internet connection and a service to sell, whether it is coding, copywriting, or cartoon drawing. To be a taxi driver, you need a car and a GPS. To be a hotelier, you need a spare room. And if you need access to money, crowdfunding platforms\u00a0and microfinance options\u00a0make that easier<\/a> than ever.<\/p>\n In the developed world, at least, the means of the entrepreneurial society are in place\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and the developing world is catching up fast.<\/p>\n What about motive<\/strong>? Maslow\u2019s famous hierarchy of needs reminds us that what drives us depends on our lot in life. The industrial era created salaried work as we know it, and for most people it took care of the lower levels of the hierarchy: shelter, security, and social interaction. Now that these things are taken for granted, many of us are reaching for the higher levels \u2014\u00a0that is, the desire to do meaningful work, develop expertise, and have freedom to make our own choices. When I ask my MBA students who belong to Generation Y what they really <\/em>want to do, most of them express a yearning to\u00a0be their own boss. They live in a comfortable world, and it gives them license for self-expression.<\/p>\n If means and motive are improving fast, what about opportunity<\/strong>? Here the story is mixed. In prior decades latent entrepreneurs had to overcome a lot of barriers \u2014\u00a0the red tape around setting up their own business, the difficulty of getting unsecured loans, the social pressures to climb a corporate ladder rather than work for themselves. But the opportunity for entrepreneurship in today\u2019s business world is enormous. New technologies and economic and social changes have opened up vast new opportunity areas. The social acceptance of entrepreneurship has also improved, thanks to shows such as\u00a0Dragons\u2019 Den<\/em> and Shark Tank<\/em>\u00a0and role models including\u00a0Richard Branson, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerburg.<\/p>\n But despite all these improvements, much remains to be done before the entrepreneurial society truly arrives. Here are some of the obstacles:<\/p>\n There is a common theme here. While technology, commercial acumen, and social norms have evolved dramatically over the last 50\u00a0years, the institutions that govern capitalism are still stuck in the late 19th\u00a0century. We are using industrial-age rules to oversee information-age business practices, and that is what is holding us back. I have written elsewhere<\/a>\u00a0about the need for management innovation in large firms to make work more engaging and fulfilling. An equally pressing need is for institutional innovation at a societal level so that today\u2019s would-be entrepreneurs have the means, the motive,\u00a0and the opportunity to succeed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n