1. Intergenerational
Entrepreneurship, Well-Being and
Human-Centred Innovation:
Exploring Different Ways of Building Sustainable and
Resilient Entrepreneurial Ecosystems
Nathan To, PhD CCC
Culture, Communication & Psychology
Research Consultant/Certified Counsellor
nathan.to@ronininstitute.org
https://about.me/nathanto
1
3. Building a sustainable, resilient
culture of entrepreneurial innovation
is a
Human Project
nathan.to@ronininstitute.org 3
4. nathan.to@ronininstitute.org
Q. How might recovering family histories
build meaningful connections, resilience &
encourage innovation in family businesses?
Challenge 1:
Broken Intergenerational Links
4
5. nathan.to@ronininstitute.org
Q. How might improving family wellbeing,
communication & transparency aid
innovation potential in businesses?
Challenge 2:
Family Conflicts, Dynamics Well-
being
5
6. nathan.to@ronininstitute.org
Q. How might we pragmatically assess
family dynamics, the business culture &
innovation in human-centred ways?
Challenge 3:
Rigid, inflexible approaches to
business
6
7. Interdisciplinary Lens
◈ Social Science
○ Cultural Studies / Anthropology,
Psychology, Sociology, History
◈ Critical Theory
○ systems of culture, communication, power
◈ Migration Literature
○ diaspora
7
9. Building resilience in entrepreneurial ecosystems within
family businesses
Interdisciplinary Well-being/
Mental Health
Intergenerational
Myths & Scripts
9
Daley, M. (2010); Taylor, C. (1989)
19. “The central lesson is that while most
entrepreneurs are pretty good at
business planning, it is planning for
the family that tends to be a problem.
-Prof. Randel S. Carlok, INSEAD
19
21. Rainforest Model
21
Hwang, V.W., Horowitt, G. (2012). The Rainforest: The Secret to Building the Next Silicon Valley. Los Altos, CA: Reginwald.
Hwang, V. W. (2013). The Rainforest Blueprint: How to Design Your Own Silicon Valley | Unleash an Ecosystem of Innovation in Your
Company, Organization, or Hometown. Los Altos, CA: Reginwald
nathan.to@ronininstitute.org
22. Hardware (Assets)
People
Professional
Physical
Policy
(labour, money, supply
chains, buildings, distribution
channels, patents, legal
issues, and marketing)
Rainforest Model
Software (Culture)
Diversity
Extra-Rational
Motivations
Social Trust
Rules of Rainforest/
Interpretation of rules
Leadership
22
23. Farm Economics
Central Planning
Zero-Sum Transactions
Uniformity
Rationally Selfish
Conservative
Emphasize Certainty
High Degrees of Formality
Silos of Activity
Rainforest Model
Rainforest Economics
Decentralized Iteration
Positive Sum Transactions
Diversity
Extra Rational Motivation
Dreamer
Embrace Ambiguity
High Degrees of Trust
Extensive Promotion of
Collaboration
23Doss, H.H., Brett, A.M., Hwang, V.W. (2015) The Rainforest Scorecard. Los Altos, CA: Reginwald.
28. Well-being & Flourishing Mental Health
Re-claim / Restoring
“Voice”
Intrinsic Self-Worth
Confidence
Resilience
Coping
Self-Efficacy
Leisure
Recover Heritage &
Empathy
Diversity
Collaboration
Protect & Care for Own
Community
Belonging
Social Support
Recover Calling Social
Impact/Vision
Working towards
something “larger” than
selves
Social impact
Social Justice
Societal Engagement
28
Daley, M. (2010); Taylor, C. (1989)
30. nathan.to@ronininstitute.org
Q. How might learning family histories
recover meaningful connections &
encourage innovation in family businesses?
Challenge 1:
Broken Intergenerational Links
30
31. Barriers to Family Dynamics & Well-
being
nathan.to@ronininstitute.org 31
32. On Family Scripts
32nathan.to@ronininstitute.org
“Clinical Rating Scales”. Kets de Vries, M.F.R., Carlock, R.; Florent-Treacy, E.
(2007). Family Business on the Couch: A Psychological Perspective. London:
John Wiley & Sons. www.facesiv.com
33. Family Scripts:
Ways of thinking, feeling, behaving
that are deeply rooted in a family’s
culture and social
values and are transmitted across
generations by senior generations.
nathan.to@ronininstitute.org 33
Manfred, 2007 (106ish
35. Searching for Histories can lead to
valuable transparency & insights
Systemic thinking-->family dynamics in businesses
nathan.to@ronininstitute.org 35
36. What historical & cultural contexts
surrounded families?
Systemic thinking-->family dynamics in businesses
nathan.to@ronininstitute.org 36
39. “Dad was raised in wealthier environment. But obviously had
to get out of war-torn places.
But mom was raised in an average wealth environment…not
really low, but average…so that's why I really admire their
success…the way they are able to raise me and my sister and
obviously living in a better more than average situation…That
is an old adage saying…’got to work hard to get dividends…no
free lunch.’ ‘Pay your dues…so hopefully when I'm someone's
husband or father, I want to provide same stewardship…so not
just shifting through jobs or searching through meals.
39
--Trevor
40. Key Points
Themes
Survival
Working hard to
achieve success &
wealth
Historical
Surviving war/post-war
(WW2 in Pacific)
Connections to Econ
Intergenerational
mobility
40
41. “Then my parents moved to Canada to Vancouver from
Indonesia, but dad didn't find good work in Vancouver…so
moved there around 1976, because my older sister was born in
[1975]. So dad moved to Indonesia back to start his own
business and moved back and forth between Indonesia, and 3
kids were born in Vancouver..
41
42. Examples of follow-up questions
Feelings
How did you feel about
Dad being away so
often?
Parental Messages
What did your Dad
teach you about
working life while he
juggled being in two
places?
Relationships
How did your siblings
feel about your Dad
being away?
42
43. “Firstly, my parents have always said, ‘Make sure you end up
getting white-collar office jobs that require university
education -so that you won't end up like us.’ The whole idea
that our parents didn't want us to end up like them implied
that there was something shameful or embarrassing about
who/what our parents were. My brother seized upon that
idea and never let go. I, however, just thought my parents
were being overly humble.
-George, 39
43
44. Notes: Why is this important if not entrepreneurs?
Why important?
Parental self-beliefs
pass differently to
children
Children can interpret
parenting very
differently (leads to
conflict vs. harmony)
Education
Parental Perceptions
Fear, Shame,
of being unsuccessful,
not wealthy, not rich
Connections
Intergenerational
mobility as both
children “wealthier”
than parents.
Deeper, more involved,
longer story.
44
46. How might we learn to build resilient
cultures of entrepreneurship by
uncovering family myths?
Historical Context + Psychology
nathan.to@ronininstitute.org 46
47. “Villagers...who went overseas and returned to their villages
were of course respected. The village I was born in was poor,
so those who returned with a lot of wealth would be very
comfortable. Even those who did not make that much money
could at least throw a feast for the villagers. Whatever it is,
they were respected as ‘Nanyang Guest’--most people respect
them
-(interviewee, migrant to Singapore during 1920’s-1930’s, in Chan Kwok Bun, 1991,
p. 150)
47
48. “Because of me, my father spent a lot of money. He was so
afraid that I would be conscripted. That was why he wanted
me to leave and come to Nanyang. He had to sell our only
buffalo and two portions of our farmland to get the money for
my passage (besides the costs of paying another male child to
stand in for me in military conscription). It was my father's
blood and sweat which supported my passage here. I thought
to myself at that time: I must be ambitious and become
worthy.
-(interviewee, immigrated during 1920’s-1930’s, in Chan Kwok Bun, 1994, p. 140)
48
49. ““one judged (and was judged by others) his moral conduct in
terms of how much and how often money was sent…it served a
‘psychologically cleansing experience. It purified the soul,
relieved guilt, and reaffirmed one's sense of responsibility to
his [wife], children and parents, and therefore, one's ethnicity
and continuity with tradition and the past”
-Chan Kwok Bun, 1991, p. 33)
49
50. Generational Family “Myths” on Success & Wealth
Why important?
Parental self-beliefs
pass differently to
children
Pressures of Pursuing
Wealth, Money, Success
Shame
Failing = shames self,
family & community
Letting down culture
Remember Parents or
be shamed
Respect parents
Social Position/Mobility
improving own position =
improve family’s position.
More respect, honour,
authority
Pre-occupation on social
status back “home” vs. in
host society.
50
51. Migrant Generation
Pressure from family &
community back “home” to
succeed in host country
Social Status vs. Intense
Shame
Common themes Across Generations
2nd Generation heard:
Shame
Succeed
Partial explanations,
Fragments of memory
51
53. Characteristics of Family Scripts
◈ Not conscious | Autopilot
◈ May be Multi-generational
○ great-grandparents→ grandparents → parents → child
◈ “Hauntings” from Difficult Histories (Trauma?)
○ “There’s a reason he/she is like that”
◈ Mixed with cultural values & histories
○ e.g. Confucianism
53
54. “The central lesson is that while most
entrepreneurs are pretty good at
business planning, it is planning for
the family that tends to be a problem.
-Prof. Randel S. Carlok, INSEAD
54
56. nathan.to@ronininstitute.org
Q. How might we pragmatically
assess family dynamics, the business
culture & innovation potential?
Challenge 3:
Human-centred Innovation
56
57. Building a Culture of Innovation is a
Fundamentally a Human Project
nathan.to@ronininstitute.org 57
58. Human-Centred Innovation
Interdisciplinary
Flexible to different
fields
Disrupts Silos.
Well-being/Mental Health
Empathy
Recover Voice
Community, Family
Common Vision
Larger Vision
Social Impact
Intergenerational
Story
Family Myths
Family Scripts
History
58
Daley, M. (2010); Taylor, C. (1989)
61. Kets de Vries, M.F., Carlock, R.; Florent-Treacy, E. (2007). Family Business on the Couch: A
Psychological Perspective. London: John Wiley & Sons.
61
62. -Sibling or branch rivalry
-Gender stereotypes (with males
preferred for both ownership and
leadership roles);
-high parental expectations (with
oldest sons being assumed as the
next leader)
-the family’s energy in a
constructive way and finally
address the ‘undiscussables.’
Some Benefits of a Genogram
-cut-off relationships where
family can no longer bear
ongoing
conflicts
-enmeshed relationships
where family members are
unable to develop a sense of
autonomy.
-Intergenerational Myths &
Scripts
62
63. 63
“Clinical Rating Scales”. Kets de Vries, M.F.R., Carlock, R.; Florent-Treacy, E.
(2007). Family Business on the Couch: A Psychological Perspective. London:
John Wiley & Sons. www.facesiv.com
71. “
Quality of family performance is
dependent on the quality of the
leaders and owners
71
72. Thanks!
Any questions?
You can find me at:
Nathan To, PhD CCC
Culture, Communication & Psychology
Consultant/Certified Counsellor
nathan.to@ronininstitute.org
https://about.me/nathanto
72
73. Hello
Nathan To, PhD
Culture, Communication & Psychology
Consultant/Certified Counsellor
nathan.to@ronininstitute.org
https://about.me/nathanto
73
74. Credits
Special thanks to all the people who made and
released these awesome resources for free:
◈ Presentation template by SlidesCarnival
◈ Photographs by Unsplash
◈ Backgrounds by SubtlePatterns
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75. We can create more insights about
issues like “succession” by
temporarily putting aside those very
issues & looking elsewhere.
Counter-intuitive Progression
nathan.to@ronininstitute.org 75
