Happy 250th Birthday America

As I was planning my “Happy 250th Birthday” card to the United States, I reflected on the current state of the union. I’m not certain if this is the most polarized we’ve been as a country, but it has to be up there with other historically divisive periods.

Milestones are often a time of reflection, assessment and, anticipation. I wondered what was top of mind during the 1976 Bi-Centennial?

I was toddling around during our last big birthday so I only vaguely remember it.

I thought an easy way to gain perspective would be to review the bi-centennial speech from the sitting president at the time, Gerald R. Ford.

Unfortunately, Ford’s speech (which you can read here) is long, boring and says mostly nothing — attributes all too common to most political speeches. Often by the time speech writers, editors, and advisors get done with a speech what remains is an inert word salad.

As luck would have it, during my search I found the planning memos and internal communications preceding Ford’s speech located on the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library’s website (read here).

If you've never been to a presidential library, I highly recommend it. I've only been to two, John F. Kennedy's in Boston and George W. Bush's in Dallas, but I plan to visit any one I get near. And I mean any. Take off your tribal goggles for two minutes and you can learn quite a lot.

What I find interesting about the libraries are not the popular artifacts but the internal memos and communications. They often provide context lost in official statements and media soundbites. In preparing to write Ford’s speeches, his team focused on several possible themes. One in particular resonated with me:

Excerpt from Ford Library

The overall theme is to delineate not only what has made the American adventure successful, but what makes it unique. These elements have brought forth upon this continent not only a new nation, but a new kind of people. What they have in common is not race, religion, ancestral homeland or kinship, but characteristics and values derived from their common experience. By reaching for the unknown while retaining a reverence for the past, exemplified by law and learning; through the joyous pursuit of happiness as well as the somber spirit of sacrifice; Americans have created here a firm foundation for liberty and a haven of opportunity unmatched in human history.

In many ways this theme defines what makes an American. It’s not the things we spend our time fighting about; race, religion, etc. It is a set of values Ford’s advisors outlined that is an adherence to a way of life rather than demographic labels.

Maybe it’s my own filters and biases but their description, which I agree with, sounds like they’re describing entrepreneurs.

The Entrepreneurial Spirit

In my opinion, the entrepreneurial spirit is the core American value. You might be thinking, “not everyone starts a business” but the entrepreneurial spirit transcends the act of starting and building a business. It is a way of life and a way of viewing the world.

Reaching for the Unknown While Revering the Past

Entrepreneurship requires a tolerance for the unknown that many people find uncomfortable. No doubt, part of this intolerance is the fear of failure. I believe a bigger part of it is in order to create something new, you often have to destroy or remake what already exists. In economics, this as known as creative destruction.

Every entrepreneur lives in this tension. So does anyone who has ever changed the direction of their life on purpose.

You have to believe something can exist that doesn't exist yet. Starting a new business is a great example but so are career changes, a move across the country, a relationship, or learning a new skill everyone else believes you have no business attempting at your age. That belief requires a comfort with the unknown that most people avoid.

Reaching for the unknown doesn't mean throwing out everything that came before.

The person with an entrepreneurial spirit studies what worked. They learn the history. They understand why things are the way they are before they try to change them. They respect the hard-won lessons other people paid for.

There's a reckless version of this that ignores the past entirely. It assumes everyone who came before was a fool or that “this time is different”. That person relearns expensive lessons that were available for free.

The timid revere the past so much they never reach for anything. They admire those who took the chance and spend years wondering what might have happened if they had.

The entrepreneurial spirit holds both at once. Reverence for what works. Courage to build what doesn't exist yet.

The balance is paradoxical, like so many things about the American experience.

Law and Learning

There’s a rebellious side to being an American. Apple's iconic 1997 "Think Different" campaign praised “the misfits and rebels who change the world”. Yes, we Americans like to break the rules.

Breaking rules is different from having no rules. Bad and arbitrary rules deserve breaking. But not everything called a rule is arbitrary. The laws of physics and human nature don't care what you think of them. Break those and you will pay.

Man made laws are just as important. Property rights and contract law are foundational to a free society. The stability they provide makes building possible at all. You won't plant anything if you expect it to be taken tomorrow. Predictable rules are what let anyone invest years into something uncertain, whether that's a company, a craft, or a family.

It’s also not about any specific law but the respect of law itself.

Behaving in the spirit of law; maintaining order, protecting rights, and resolving conflicts is core to the entrepreneurial spirit.

Then there's learning.

No one starts anything already knowing how to do it. You learn by doing the thing badly, then slightly less badly. Failure is a feature. The entrepreneurial spirit treats every failure as tuition rather than verdict. The learning from failure is invaluable.

An observation frequently made by visitors who have spent considerable time in the US is our celebration of failure. Whereas failure in their cultures is hidden or stigmatized, they’re amazed how the effort and willingness to take the risk here is viewed as heroic regardless of the outcome.

Law and Learning go hand in hand. Law provides the stable environment required to learn through years of failure and the ability to reap the rewards from risks well taken.

Joyous Pursuits & the Spirit of Sacrifice

“Why do you do it?” It’s a question often asked to entrepreneurs. The news headlines will celebrate the multi-million dollar IPO but say nothing of the nights sleeping on the factory floor or being days away from not making payroll.

I and every business owner I have ever worked with have similar stories.

“So, why do you do it?”

The joy of solving a problem that stumped you for weeks. The joy of making something with your hands that wasn't there yesterday. The joy of watching an idea you had in the shower turn into a thing other people use. The joy that comes from ownership and consequence, from your choices actually mattering.

A steady paycheck can offer security. It rarely offers this particular joy.

Sacrifice is inevitable. The pursuit comes with a cost whether it be time, comfort, certainty, sleep or all of the above.

A burden you pick up in pursuit of something you believe in feels nothing like one handed to you by someone else.

There is no joyous pursuit without the hard work, suffering, and meaning inside of it.

The Next Step

The entrepreneurial spirit, at its root, isn’t just about business. It's a way of meeting the world. You can carry it into a company, a classroom, a workshop, a cause, or a life. The people who have it are recognizable anywhere. They reach, they learn, they choose their burdens, and they find joy in the building.

Ford's advisors were describing what makes America unique. A place that offers a way of living available to anyone who chooses it. A “foundation for liberty and a haven of opportunity unmatched in human history”.

That foundation is the entrepreneurial spirit and it is the core value that makes America great.

Happy Birthday, America. Here's to the next 250.

My goal with The Leap is to provide you each Saturday with the knowledge, tools and lessons learned to help you get started and keep going toward building your future. 

Whether you are making the leap to startups, solo-entrepreneurship, freelancing, side hustles or other creative ventures, the tools and strategies to succeed in each are similar.