I believe the greatest aspect of entrepreneurship in this movie was not creativity; instead, the riskiness of being creative. The unpredictability and risks of being creative is what makes the entrepreneur. When an individual decides to incur the risks of a business venture, they no longer prioritize the safety of predictability. In fact, for the entrepreneur to continue, they must adapt effectual reasoning, which is based on complete lack of certainty. In Howard Roark's case, he made every decision in favor of his creativity not predictability.
First, when the movie begins it shows Howard struggling to make ends meet with past due electric bills, and a notice to vacate his office. One of his friends stops by to boast of his new promotion while he also tries to persuade Howard to compromise his values. His friend tells him that if he would just give in to corporate pressure then he would have plenty of business and revenue. Then, Howard goes to visit a board of directors for a project where they offer him "his chance to make it"; however, they insist that he must make some classic adjustments to his work to appease the public. Roark refuses the project and must pause his profession to obtain funds working at a rock quarry. There he fell in love with a girl who was forced to leave him because Roark faced so much risk. She wanted him to quit his entrepreneurial efforts and get a "meaningless job" where he wouldn't have so many problems. As Howard persevered and had some wins, his risk only grew. For instance, he decided to blow up a large construction site that his competitors took advantage of his ingenuity to create. As a result, he found himself on trial with no security from investors. One last thing, Howard watched the love of his life marry one of his rivals because he was focused on himself. His choice to wait on her for another time assuming she would come back symbolized his comfort in risk.
In addition, this aspect was the most interesting because the movie portrayed a risky environment the whole time. When Roark rejected his first big job, I was disappointed in him. I figured that was his one and only shot at a successful career in architecture. Fortunately, it worked out and his creativity proved to be more valuable than obeying the boring preferences of society. Had it not been for Roark's ability to take that leap of faith he wouldn't have found himself at the top of his profession at the end of the movie.
The risk of entrepreneurship affects society in a positive way. The reason is because being creative is costly. When the entrepreneur begins, they usually have extremely limited resources and must make the most of them. This is also known as bootstrapping. This dilemma keeps entrepreneurs focused and aware of the value they need to create. Consequently, entrepreneurs are frugal with what they do have and are less likely to waste society's time and money. In short, the greater pressure incentivizes innovation. Also, society supports this aspect all the way. In society, we have those who prefer a life of simplicity and predictability, and we also have those who are risk takers. Naturally, society obeys their tendencies and people fall into their careers. Still, we have those that work a corporate job for most of their life before realizing what they were missing was self-esteem. They have free will to drop their job and pursue self-employment. I would say that this relationship is a mutualistic one. Both entrepreneurship and society benefit from this aspect because it creates value for everyone involved. The entrepreneur can find fulfillment in working for themselves and bearing that risk that comes along; while the rest can be fulfilled with a safe secure job that a successful entrepreneur can later on provide them with. Finally, the risk of entrepreneurship is critical because it makes innovation more meaningful thus creating more value in society.
