In “The Genius of One Percenters is their Amazing Command of the Obvious”, Forbes columnist Jim Powell makes a makes a pretty strong case that what’s made the super rich, well, super rich, is their ability to discover the obvious. Says Powell (qoting a Hungarian Nobel laureate) ““Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.”
Of course he’s right, but the businessmen Powell cites- Sam Walton, Ray Kroc, Fred Smith (FedEx), among others- had more than a grasp on the obvious. They were also terrific entrepreneurs!
As we consider ways to create what Paul Romer called “the unique set of institutions”1 necessary to support innovation, fostering entrepreneurship must be foremost in our minds. Creating institutions, programs, mindsets, values, moral examples, and more to support this most critical skill should be a key component of the Opportunity State.
