Gareth Chaplin: Self-reliant attitude holds Kiwis back on big stage

Motorbike legend Burt Munro, played by Sir Anthony Hopkins in the movie 'The World's Fastest Indian', was a good example of a Kiwi do-it-yourselfer. Photo / Supplied

The determined Kiwi do-it-yourself attitude that drives New Zealand innovation can be the very trait that holds us back economically.

We have a unique way of operating. The Kiwi inventor can be found tinkering away in a garden shed on a motorcycle that will one day shatter land-speed records, or spending weekends making splatter films with puppets and killer lawnmowers.

Our isolation is not a barrier to our inventiveness; if anything, it has shaped our gift for innovation.

Our great heroes are one-man-bands who have gone it alone; we are a nation of professional DIY-ers. Some of our greatest export successes started in the garden shed.

But this very same mindset can also often be our failing on the world stage.

Not all businesses have the capacity to successfully internationalise their innovations. In our determination to do things our way, and on our own; to be satisfied with what we've got, we often ignore the expertise and opportunities that the rest of the world can offer.

This was one of the most sobering findings from research conducted for New Zealand Trade and Enterprise by economic researcher Tony Smale.

The report, called "Playing to our Strengths: Creating value for Kiwi firms" was released this week.

In it, Smale reveals some of the national characteristics that make us great, but also stop us from achieving significant international economic success.

While English is an international language, New Zealanders are just not fluent in the dialect of business.

This is consistent with what wider NZTE research within the export community is telling us and with what wider business research is revealing.

We're seen as "high in human values but low in business acumen".

We're friendly enough but we're not perceived as having the smarts or the sophistication to do business internationally.

Potential overseas business contacts often think we're odd.

We can be so passionate about our "baby" that we sometimes seem abrupt.

We can be unsophisticated in our business attitudes: we are awkward with concepts such as mixing business and pleasure.

We don't like to "beat around the bush" - even though in many cultures relationship-building is key to a successful business partnership.

In fact, we usually don't even want business partners - but we want everyone to love our products and want to buy them.

What these traits illustrate is that our isolation is both inspiring, and inhibiting.

New Zealanders have reasonably simple aspirations, known colloquially as the three Bs: the bach, the boat and the BMW.

When a Kiwi business owner has achieved those, or whatever luxuries are considered a similar level of comfort within their peer group, they will often succumb to "enoughism".

Just this week, research from the University of Waikato suggests that SMEs are happy to stay that way, largely through lack of desire to lose their business independence.

In a social sense, this is something New Zealanders are proud of: we have relatively simple tastes and are happy with our lot in life. But what is a proud trait in the individual is not always good for the New Zealand economy or the future of our country.

We need to cultivate a hunger for greater and greater success.

Any small New Zealand business should aspire to a national presence. Any medium-sized New Zealand company should be aspiring to export success.

Any large New Zealand exporter should be aspiring to world domination.

Even though we pride ourselves on our lifestyle, unless we start to earn more through exports, our enviable standard of living will disappear within a generation.

We need to grow, and we need to earn more. We need more high-paying jobs, and more opportunities for bright young minds.

New Zealand is obviously not bereft of ideas or talent, but sometimes we just don't quite know how to exploit it.

The good news is that we can learn from those who have succeeded - and those who have already learned from their own mistakes.

Those New Zealand businesses who are willing to understand and own this issue can put in place strategies to make the most of their talent and to build profitable partnerships.

The art of DIY is knowing when not to DIY.

* Gareth Chaplin is chief economist for New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.

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For the full research findings, including practical strategies for international business success, visit www.nzte.govt.nz