The adventure of an entrepreneur
A comprehensive narration of Adriano Olivetti’s human and entrepreneurial vicissitudes
Olivetti was an entrepreneur and thus, above all, a human being, with contradictions but also dreams and the strength to realise them. He was an example, in constant evolution, of entrepreneurial capabilities – of how to do business. And this is the reason why companies and corporate culture should not be restricted to the theoretical sphere, because a company is not just about production organisation, technology and – nowadays – automatism and digitalisation. A company is something else, it’s much, much more. Something that can only be grasped through the life stories of the men and women who have conceived, founded and developed their own businesses. This is the instance of Adriano Olivetti, whose very recently published biography attempts to depict as Adriano, the man, rather than just Olivetti, the entrepreneur.
Adriano Olivetti, un italiano del Novecento (Adriano Olivetti, an Italian man from the 20th century), written by Paolo Bricco, is the result of a long period of research, analysis, interpretation and narration of the life of one of those entrepreneurs who has taught the world how to do business, and who has brought prestige to Italy. A legend, as many often said of him, but also, more simply, a man – and not a very consistent one, but a man full of contradictions and yet – or perhaps precisely for that – a genius.
Bricco has been able to reconstruct Olivetti’s life by situating it within the industrial, social, political and cultural context of an Italy between the end of the 19th century and the economic boom, without painting a glorifying image, however, but by capturing his human essence. Therefore, Bricco succeeds in retracing the milestones of an entrepreneur devoted to a company that was not a mere production organisation focused on making money, while also revealing the contradictions, conflicts and many shortcomings of Adriano the man. Thus, in less than 500 pages (as enjoyable as a novel), we learn about the deep and tormented relationships he had with his family, his two wives and the other women he loved; his passion for a scientific organisation of work and his attraction towards spirituality, astrology and Oriental wisdom; the difficult path that he undertook in the 1920s, leaving his family’s socialism for the theory of corporatism as well as his actual integration within fascist society in the 1930s; the daring relationship, at the fall of the regime, he entered with British and American secret services, and the constant fiendish temptation to go into politics, though his Movimento di Comunità (Community Movement) organisation failed to become a full political party; the identity of a businessman who sensed the potential of the new technological frontiers (in electronics) and who combined humanistic knowledge with technical and manufacturing culture, without however succeeding in overcoming the limits dictated by his family’s capitalist leaning. Essentially, Adriano Olivetti was at the centre of a world, yet he was not its sole protagonist because, as Bricco’s book masterfully conveys, at the very heart of this story lies a utopian vision (partly realised): that of the factory as a beautiful place in which to live and work, a place where technology and humanity blend with harmony. An environment that, as Olivetti himself stated, “believes in the value of spirituality, science, art, culture and, ultimately, in the notion that the ideals of justice cannot be undone by the disputes between capital and work that still exist. An environment that believes in humanity above all, its divine flame, its potential for elevation and redemption.” A concrete utopia, which indeed characterises the entire Olivetti story and whose influence is still very much felt today.
Paolo Bricco’s book tells it all, does not leave anything out, gives each detail its own well-deserved space. It’s the result of ten years spent researching and writing, a literary work that at times reads like an adventure story – which is just what the life of a good entrepreneur is, after all.
Adriano Olivetti, un italiano del Novecento (Adriano Olivetti, an Italian man from the 20th century)
Paolo Bricco
Rizzoli, 2022
A comprehensive narration of Adriano Olivetti’s human and entrepreneurial vicissitudes
Olivetti was an entrepreneur and thus, above all, a human being, with contradictions but also dreams and the strength to realise them. He was an example, in constant evolution, of entrepreneurial capabilities – of how to do business. And this is the reason why companies and corporate culture should not be restricted to the theoretical sphere, because a company is not just about production organisation, technology and – nowadays – automatism and digitalisation. A company is something else, it’s much, much more. Something that can only be grasped through the life stories of the men and women who have conceived, founded and developed their own businesses. This is the instance of Adriano Olivetti, whose very recently published biography attempts to depict as Adriano, the man, rather than just Olivetti, the entrepreneur.
Adriano Olivetti, un italiano del Novecento (Adriano Olivetti, an Italian man from the 20th century), written by Paolo Bricco, is the result of a long period of research, analysis, interpretation and narration of the life of one of those entrepreneurs who has taught the world how to do business, and who has brought prestige to Italy. A legend, as many often said of him, but also, more simply, a man – and not a very consistent one, but a man full of contradictions and yet – or perhaps precisely for that – a genius.
Bricco has been able to reconstruct Olivetti’s life by situating it within the industrial, social, political and cultural context of an Italy between the end of the 19th century and the economic boom, without painting a glorifying image, however, but by capturing his human essence. Therefore, Bricco succeeds in retracing the milestones of an entrepreneur devoted to a company that was not a mere production organisation focused on making money, while also revealing the contradictions, conflicts and many shortcomings of Adriano the man. Thus, in less than 500 pages (as enjoyable as a novel), we learn about the deep and tormented relationships he had with his family, his two wives and the other women he loved; his passion for a scientific organisation of work and his attraction towards spirituality, astrology and Oriental wisdom; the difficult path that he undertook in the 1920s, leaving his family’s socialism for the theory of corporatism as well as his actual integration within fascist society in the 1930s; the daring relationship, at the fall of the regime, he entered with British and American secret services, and the constant fiendish temptation to go into politics, though his Movimento di Comunità (Community Movement) organisation failed to become a full political party; the identity of a businessman who sensed the potential of the new technological frontiers (in electronics) and who combined humanistic knowledge with technical and manufacturing culture, without however succeeding in overcoming the limits dictated by his family’s capitalist leaning. Essentially, Adriano Olivetti was at the centre of a world, yet he was not its sole protagonist because, as Bricco’s book masterfully conveys, at the very heart of this story lies a utopian vision (partly realised): that of the factory as a beautiful place in which to live and work, a place where technology and humanity blend with harmony. An environment that, as Olivetti himself stated, “believes in the value of spirituality, science, art, culture and, ultimately, in the notion that the ideals of justice cannot be undone by the disputes between capital and work that still exist. An environment that believes in humanity above all, its divine flame, its potential for elevation and redemption.” A concrete utopia, which indeed characterises the entire Olivetti story and whose influence is still very much felt today.
Paolo Bricco’s book tells it all, does not leave anything out, gives each detail its own well-deserved space. It’s the result of ten years spent researching and writing, a literary work that at times reads like an adventure story – which is just what the life of a good entrepreneur is, after all.
Adriano Olivetti, un italiano del Novecento (Adriano Olivetti, an Italian man from the 20th century)
Paolo Bricco
Rizzoli, 2022