I RECENTLY returned from a fantastic trip to Israel an interfaith business and leadership delegation sponsored by the American Israel Friendship League. Our group consisted of 29 dynamic Tucsonans a vibrant mix of faiths, ethnicities, professional backgrounds and expertise.
Together we explored the rich tapestry of religious, archeological, business and cultural sites that makes Israel unique.
Toward the end of the trip, each participant had the opportunity to experience a day long counterpart exchange with Israelis in their fields of interest to learn and share knowledge, expertise and innovations in medicine, art, technology, education and venture capitalism.
I lived in Israel, 1974-75, when I was a junior in college and Israel was only 26 years old. Its hard to reconcile the Israel of today with the one I knew when my apartment had no hot water or heat; and in order to call home I had to take a bus to the central post office in downtown Jerusalem where a rare row of public phones lined the wall.
Over the past 37 years, I have watched Israel develop from a Third World adolescent to a robust, maturing, high-tech nation.
At 63, Israel is the most innovative and entrepreneurially successful country in the world.
According to journalists Dan Senor and Saul Singer, authors of Start-Up Nation, Israel has the highest per capita rate of start-ups in the world.
Israel has more companies listed on NASDAQ than all the the entire European continent.
In 2008, per capita venture capital investments in Israel were 2.5 times greater than those in the US, 30 times greater than in Europe, 80 times greater than in China and 350 times greater than in India.
WHAT are some of the secrets of Israels success? Why, despite the hardships she faces daily in struggling to remain the only genuine democracy in the Middle East, is Israel able to outshine all other countries in innovative business practices and entrepreneurial efforts?
There are three significant reasons. They boil down to ARF: attitude, relationships, and the failure factor.
Israelis develop an attitude about authority in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) which transfers beautifully into the business world.
Since most Israelis serve in the military immediately following high school (men for three years, women for two), a common culture is established between Israeli youth that binds them, literally for life.
Soldiers are taught from the start to work as a team; it is imperative for their safety, the nations security and the success of their mission.
But unlike many other military models, the Israeli army has an informal quality among its ranks that has been described as anti-hierarchical.
IDF commanders are given nicknames by their units, they make coffee for their troops and hang out with them, telling jokes and stories.
Soldiers are encouraged and expected to assert themselves respectfully, to voice their opinions and ideas in a way that fosters debate and the rethinking of strategies.
We might see this as arrogant or insubordinate, as totally unacceptable in the US military, but Israelis view this type of chutzpah (nerve in Yiddish) as positive.
A soldier with chutzpah, who respectfully disagrees with his commander, is not punished, but applauded.
Israelis take this attitude with them into the work force where it serves to promote original thinking, respectful debate between employees and superiors, and challenges old paradigms that no longer work.
The Israeli attitude inspires less formal and more trusting relationships between employers and employees.
Because of the informality that is accepted and the chutzpah that is expected, people at every level of business are more willing and able to debate and disagree with one another without fear of recrimination.
This reduces the back-biting, gossip and negative competition. Disagreements are aired openly and freely.
Relationships at work are built on the same principle as those in the army: the group must work together and each member must trust the other in order to accomplish the businesss end goal.
WHAT is most impressive however, is the Israeli reaction to failure. In many countries, including our own, there is a tendency to view failure as negative.
But in Israel, when a drug trial fails or an idea falls short, the failure is seen as value neutral if it is grounded in intelligent, well-reasoned assumptions.
If the risk taken is rational and not reckless, the failure will be seen as information to be used in the future and will become the springboard for the next generation of assumptions.
The question is not What did we do wrong? but What have we learned and what do we need to know to take this idea to the next level?
There is no doubt that Israel has made many mistakes and has much to learn in its trajectory from Third World country to start-up nation.
But we stand to gain much, as individuals and as a country, if we consider the values and attitudes that have served Israel so well as front runner in the entrepreneurship race.
Copyright © 2011 by the Intermountain Jewish News
