We now discuss the chain of causality that leads from a high ceiling and tolerance for error to learning and creativity. Figure 11.4 shows the chain of causality.
The chain of causality begins with an organisational environment of high ceilings in which trial and error, experimentation, and the making of mistakes and errors are not only tolerated but are an accepted way in which employees conduct themselves. In such an environment employees are afforded freedoms to make improvements to the ways in which they work. Trial and error and experimentation are two of the ways in which employees discover improvements to their job tasks. Toleration of errors and mistakes are the ways in which the organisation encourages further experimentation. Experimentation in an environment in which mistakes are tolerated leads to two pathways. The first of these, explicit knowledge, is knowledge
Sustainable Entrepreneurship
vs. Sufficiency Entrepreneurship
Innovations
A
Tolerance Facilitates Creativity
x I ••••••■’
Explicit knowledge anI Tacit knowledge
t
High Ceilings of Tolerance Facilitate Learning
FIGURE 11.4 The chain of causality for learning and creativity.
available to all employees because it is captured explicitly in documents, computer programmes, handbooks, process diagrams, and other guides to workplace practice. Because this knowledge is explicit and available for all employees to use, it leads to innovations within the company. The second pathway, tacit knowledge, is knowledge available to individual employees in their personal skills, competences, and intellect. Thus, this form of knowledge is unavailable to all employees because it is in the minds, hands, and hearts of individuals. Although this form of knowledge is personal rather than public, it nevertheless can lead to creativity. And, as we have described earlier, individual creativity can be shared in work groups to create shared knowledge that is more widespread.
The organisation has three possible pathways to sustainable entrepreneurship. The solid arrows indicate the conventional pathway to sustainable entrepreneurship. One set of dotted arrows leads to sustainable entrepreneurship via innovations generated through explicit knowledge of the collected workforce. The other set of dotted arrows leads to sustainable entrepreneurship via creativity generated through the tacit knowledge of individuals in the workforce.
