The Homo entrepreneurialis promotes positive capitalism in a society, which is not about greed. In his essay, Prof. Dr. Grichnik calls out for an entrepreneurial society that enhances the invested human, social and financial capital purposefully.

Losing purpose in your (working) life?

Imagine that at the end of your life you guide your friends through a gallery, which documents your life in the form of pictures and videos. Are you happy with the exhibits you have collected about your life so far? Are you missing an essential part, your life dream, which might forever remain hidden in your mind? Or worse, the exhibition is threatening to become boring, because it looks just like the biographies of so many others and, with the exception of your childhood images, doesn’t capture your individuality. Somewhere in between school, your first apprenticeship, studies, and career something appears to have been lost, which as a child promised you career aspirations such as astronaut, footballer, singer or dancer, fully exploring your individuality and uniqueness. As one of a number of many gears in the machinery of working life, do you feel as if you are being sold below your worth and caught in the trap of your daily work routine? Even though you have a passion which you would like to pursue professionally. But your life circumstances – family, a well-paid job, perception of status, and lack of the know-how of how to pursue it – force you to remain stuck in a corporate slave setting and continue to shuffle listlessly through the entrance of your workplace every day until you retire?

"Our human capital is dedicated to a new purpose."

This or something similar is what I often hear from executives (even the successful ones!) and mature students in my courses at the St. Gallen University. Even my young bachelor and master students mostly pursue classic careers such as consultant, banker, or manager. But the wind is changing! In our turbulent times, in which politics can seemingly not find any solutions for the many problems of our world, and in which digital technologies facilitate us newcomers entry into more and more markets and branches, we are increasingly realising that we can take our future into our own hands and become self-employed with our own start-up or be entrepreneurial and innovative in the existing working environment – as employees. Our human capital is dedicated to a new purpose.

Entrepreneurial Living is the answer!

You don't need a business idea to become self-employed or to become innovative. It requires little to no funds to start a purposeful business. You are already equipped with everything you need to start right now. There is no excuse to not try right away. Forget the business plan, go straight to Plan B. Columbus wouldn't have discovered America if his journey to India had been successful. Entrepreneurial Living is a great way of life, to spend one’s life in entrepreneurship can have a significant effect on the individual as well as on society. No matter whether we plan to develop the new Amazon, open a bar, or start a charity with friends: there are a thousand reasons to launch something – and there is an entrepreneur in all of us!

Watch the video and read the entire article on the website of the St.Gallen Symposium.