In my opinion, a new, much more entrepreneurial business culture is beginning to emerge in Quebec.This is currently very evident in the start-up and entrepreneurial community. We also see some indication that it’s starting to catch on in corporate and public environments.
A new set of core values
This culture is more open, transparent and collective than ever. Three of its core values: action, collaboration and cooperation.
- Action is about making moves. It’s about experimenting. It’s accepting the chance of failure. It’s about making decisions with incomplete information.It’s working in small, efficient teams rather than in large structures. It’s hard work. It’s getting things done, not just talking. It’s charging ahead.
- Collaboration is uniting to become stronger. It’s working together. It’s finding complementary partners. It’s putting aside our differences and our egos. It’s about sometimes forgetting hierarchy in order to make progress. It’s breaking out of silos. It’s the opposite of “every man for himself”. It’s mixing disciplines.
- Cooperation is paying it forward. It’s helping people around us. It’s sharing with our peers. It’s mentoring ourneighbors. It’s making introductions for our business contacts. It’s investing in our youth when we’ve had success. It’s about learning to leave a bit on the table sometimes. It’s giving before receiving.
I see more and more entrepreneurs and business people in Quebec who espouse these values. If that’s the case, we might be at an important turning point in Quebec’s history.
Understanding our history
Quebec has had a rather unique past when it comes to money and business. The excellent TV series Les Grands Moyens, hosted by Bernard Derome, provides a very interesting overview of these origins. Through interviews with entrepreneurs like Jean Coutu, Stephen Jarislowsky and Marc Dutil,the series reveals a business culture tinged with some biases about money and wealth. “We struggle with money in Quebec […], it’s as if it is very bad to succeed in business”, said Charles Sirois, a renowned entrepreneur featured in the series.
According to the series, the presence of the Church has also played a significant role in our past. It encouraged French Canadians, in particular, to shy away from business and to foster stability and comfort at the expense of risk taking, which over time would have also led to a certain kind of corporatism in our large institutions.
Understanding this context is important in order to support entrepreneurial development in Quebec. If our business culture does not accept failure,entrepreneurs will be reluctant to venture. Although the Fondation de l’Entrepreneurship has said that a majority of Quebecers believe “that an entrepreneur having suffered a failure in Quebec is respectable”, this perception isn’t always evidenced in practice.
Stats from the latest studies
So, are we really more entrepreneurial in Quebec today? According to Quebec’s 2014 entrepreneurial index published by the Fondation de l’Entrepreneurship, there has been a positive change in terms of desire to start a business (33.6% in 2014 compared to 25% in 2013) and actual start-ups (12.0% compared to 7.4%).
In the same study, Quebecers were surveyed about their “ideal career choice”. The results are encouraging and indicative of a change in our business culture. For those 35 and older, the most popular option was a “government job” (32% of respondents), followed by “start a business” (29%), a “job in a SME” (18%) and lastly a “job in a large company” (16%).That said, youths surveyed between the ages of 18 to 34 hadfar different preferences; 40% of them preferred to “start a business”. Younger Quebecers are therefore more often considering entrepreneurial routes.
On the other hand, there is still a gap between the desire to start a business and actual action, especially in the key 18–34 year old segment, where intentions (33.6 %) clearly exceeded actions (12%). There is also a gap between Quebec and the rest of Canada. To believe some studies, entrepreneurship in Quebec is in rough shape.
Maclean’s magazine recently declared Quebec dead last in terms of business in Canada, stating that from 2000 to 2009, Quebec had both the highest rate of business closures and the lowest rate of entry and business creation.
Change of course
Beyond the numbers, there is a sense of momentum. Setting foot at the Notman House in Montreal, you can see the new business culture of tomorrow. Most recently, at a forum for young professionals organized by the McKinsey consulting firm, I learned that Desjardins, one of the oldest institutions in Quebec, recently implemented an internal idea incubator program. Our leaders have a willingness to change.
My wish is that this culture continues to spread beyond the entrepreneur and start-up community and into our large corporations and our governments.
We still have a long way to go. That said, if this new business culture rooted in action, collaboration and cooperation becomes part of our daily routine, we will create wealth fairly and equitably. We will create a healthy environment to start successful ventures. We will permanently transform our business culture. We will create a new economic reality for Quebec.
[Note: This article was originally published as a guest editorial in La Presse.]
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