Kennedy Butler
EEE 2083
October 13, 2022
Discussion Paper 5: They Say It Can’t be Done
Does entrepreneurship in society affect big issues and problems that we face in the world today? What would it take for an entrepreneur to make a difference? How might it be done? The film, They Say It Can’t be Done, is an incredible and eye opening documentary that outlines the stories of various entrepreneurs and companies as they let their passions drive them to fight big issues and threats to the world and human race. The issues the film outlines is Sustainability of our Oceans, ending Hunger, The scarcity of Organ transplants and the ongoing issue of climate change. This is entrepreneurial because it outlines that not only is it possible to act in an entrepreneurial way while being socially responsible, but that it actually works and, in my opinion, is something that should be strived for more often.
This is interesting to me for a couple reasons. Honestly, what I kind of thought was interesting is though, now more than ever, social responsibility seems to be rising amongst businesses, there still seems to be almost a stigma about entrepreneurs and their effects (usually negatively) on society. This being lack of social responsibility as a result of being “money hungry” opportunity to seekers that might do anything to rise to the top. This is a really good example that there really are so many companies that do have passions about what they are selling, the consumers and the customer experience, but it is so much more than that in many cases. It shows the warmth and humanity of the entrepreneur.
How this film relates to entrepreneurship and society is the fact that their are individuals (the entrepreneur), who are taking something they are passionate about, for example, climate change, and turning it into not only their career and source of income, but into a company that is making the world and society a better place. It truly seems like the best of both worlds here. This film is an example of this aspect of entrepreneurship actually affecting and supporting society rather than stifling it or causing some sort of strife, that seems to have happened a bit in some of the previous films we have looked it. However, it could be argued that this as pet of society has the potential to stifle this aspect of entrepreneurship. I mean it in this way: that the certain morality or values that society holds together could in a sense, create limitations on what the entrepreneur can and cannot do, and how they are viewed. Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily. It very well depends on the society in my mind. But I think it is safe to argue that not all societies see this social issues in the same way or of equal importance. So how this affects the entrepreneur? Location.
In conclusion, while I did enjoy this documentary, honestly I did not focus a ton on some of the plot type “details” and decided that the big picture was far more important to me, because this is what affects us in society today.
