AUSTRALIA’S
TALL POPPY CURSE
Article Nine.
Anything
which drives many of our brightest and most creative minds to go overseas, in
order to further their work, has to be considered a curse. The Tall Poppy Syndrome
is easily the worst offender, as many of Aussie’s finest innovative minds can
testify, and it’s not a case of believing that American streets are ‘paved with
gold’ or any other such nonsense. It’s the basic reality that, over here, most
investors look to the US and Europe for new ideas that can make money, rather
than having faith in local ideas to do so. Sure we are a small market, when
compared to the US and Europe, but technology is not supposed to know any
boundaries, nor should it. Yet this expensive problem is not caused entirely by
the size of our population, it is more about the way Aussies treat folks who
are a bit brighter and think differently to most others.
Since the
days when computers, cell phones and microwave ovens were the stuff of science
fiction mags and Dick Tracy comic strips, the anthem of the guys with the ideas
around me has always been “let’s get to the West Coast man”. No, they weren’t
talking about heading for Perth, and the ‘lure of L.A.’ is just as strong
today, despite the so-called financial crisis. A large part of it is their
attitude to failure, considered over here to be the end of the line, by the
many “I told you so types”, but put down to experience on the US West Coast,
where having another go is applauded and encouraged. It might sound strange to
many, but there aren’t a whole lot of differences between those folks who fail
and those who succeed. Apart from fame, fortune and that sort of thing of
course. It takes many of the same characteristics to do either.
To start
with, both have to try. They both have to believe that they have got something
to sell, be it a talent, a methodology or an invention. They both have to be
passionate and courageous enough to take risks, in order to get their product
into the market. Although certainly not always the case, all that sometimes
separates the failed from the successful is simple circumstance. It is rare to
find a successful person who does not give credit to some luck. Any person who
has tried and failed, at anything, knows that failure is a potential teacher,
if they want it to be. For some, walking away is their answer, and for others
it is another vital building block on their way up to their dream. In the US,
having failed, yet still being willing to try is held to one’s credit, that’s
the real difference between the American entrepreneurial culture and our
own. This is not a suggestion that
Australian investors should buy into Australian innovation, regardless of its
intrinsic value, that would, in my opinion, be very counterproductive. However,
until investors stop seeking the overseas markets’ positive reaction, as the
only criterion for value, we will never have a truly Australian innovative
product, beyond pop/movie stars and eccentric entrepreneurs. Despite being a
vast nation with a population which is less than some European, Asian and US
cities, our take up rate of innovation in the market place is way ahead of any
of them. For example, when video was pegged at 78% penetration in Australia, it
was still only 38% in Japan! The US was just under 50% at the time. We are also
the world’s leading consumers of magazines per capita. In short, this as a
great test market, let’s use it!
It cost less
to reach the majority of people in Australia than it does in any other western
country, so the widest range of opinions can be had for the least dollars. When
you combine that with our markedly higher take up rate, it becomes clear that
this is a great country to launch a product in. When you add the extraordinary
expansion of our communications, introduced by the internet, the logic of
putting innovative joint venture groups together here in Australia is clear. If
that logic makes its way across the great desert, to the home of the current
mining boom, maybe the next generation of innovators will actually mean Perth,
when they say “let’s head for the west coast”. But the appeal to investors is
only part of Perth’s potentially exciting future; the folks who live around
there need to learn from America’s west coast.
Although the
availability of funds is undoubtedly one of the most powerful magnets for
creative and innovative people, it is not by any means the only one. Anyone see
these sorts of people rush for the oil-rich states lately? It takes more than
money to foster innovation, it also takes an understanding that to try takes
courage and failing can provide very valuable experience. That is, if one is
not shunned or put down for not being successful on their first, or second, or
next try. Painful as it is, failing is a vital part of sustained success. Apart
from the ‘lucky’ ones who get it right first time, more often than not because
of factors beyond their control, having a go and falling flat on your face is
how most of us finally do get it right. In reality, failing is an integral part
of success, but it helps to try again, if folks understand that.
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