Ernesto Sirolli

I really enjoyed this book, although it's not one I would normally have picked up. Ernesto Sirolli's passion for his subject really shines through. He wants to help would-be entrepreneurs: not with money or training, but simply by giving them the chance to explore their ideas and helping them to connect with other people who might be able to offer their expertise.

Sirolli's anecdotes about the way that international development initiatives in Africa often fail are eye-opening, and his linking of work on person-centric therapies and self-actualisation with theories of community development are well explained. Personally I'm not a huge fan of the phrase 'enterprise facilitator', which screams 'management jargon' at me, but if you can get past that issue, there's a lot in this book that will be relevant to economic development in local communities of all types. I would say that Sirolli's ideas also dovetail neatly with current thinking about small-scale agriculture and local self-sufficiency.

There are lessons here for educators, too. I found the story about the man who wanted to study three different university modules, not to get a degree, but to help with his business particularly telling. He was laughed down by the administrators of the university. Things have moved on somewhat on that front in the 12 years since this book was published, but possibly not enough.… (mere)