Reasoning Like An Entrepreneur

They come in all shapes, sizes, genders and backgrounds. They get up at dawn.  They’re the first ones to the office and the last ones to leave. They use  productivity apps, network their touches off and leave no stone unturned when it  comes to pretty much everything.

At best, they make the rest of us humans wonder if it’s worth getting up in  the morning. At worst, well, ditto. As superwoman/entrepreneur Ingrid Vanderveldt (Dell’s entrepreneur-in-residence, media  personality and investor) puts it: “Entrepreneurs are barrier breakers whose  optimistic view of the world combined with their creative thinking has the  ability to address even the toughest of challenges, including the government’s  approach to innovation.”

Sound crazy? Well, that’s the point. Beyond what entrepreneurs actually do,  exists a mindset that has them believing even something as morose and archaic as  the government is redeemable vis-à-vis entrepreneurship.

Beyond the “to do” lists of the most successful ‘treps I know, lies a way of  thinking that acts as the engine to their seemingly invincible take on the  world. If you think like this, chances are you may be well on your way to doing  something insane…like attempting to innovate in the public sector. Ready?  Here’s how entrepreneurs (and maybe you?) think:

1. You like feeling like a kid. Entrepreneurs tend to  act like kids in a candy store. Nothing is off limits, everything is for the  taking, and their inquisitiveness is as infuriating as it is contagious. When I  asked Guide’s COO, Leslie Bradshaw,  to describe how she thinks, and why she prefers the entrepreneurial approach to  life, she responded without skipping a beat:

“I keep my childlike wonderment alive. I approach the world with curiosity,  passion, risk tolerance, and faith — just like I did when I was growing up. The  more traditional companies I worked for out of college not only didn’t foster  these traits, they flat out discouraged them.”

2. You think (or perhaps know?) you can do it better. Innovation presupposes that whatever came before it is ripe for improvement.  For entrepreneurs, this assumption is the driving force behind their efforts.  Jeremy Johnson, lifelong entrepreneur and co-founder of 2U, puts it aptly:

“An entrepreneur’s train of thought goes like this: ‘everything around me was  invented by someone and that person probably isn’t any smarter than I am.’ We  believe almost everything can be improved upon in some way. We start to imagine  what could be instead of what is…the world is malleable and many of the rules  that exist are more like guidelines.”

3. You are typically optimistic. This may seem like an  extremely obvious thing to point out, but its importance simply cannot be  overemphasized. Plenty of entrepreneurs exist who have a somewhat negative  disposition. But I would argue that those who think this way generally don’t get  very far.

Two things tend to happen: 1) they earn reputations as terrible bosses and 2)  their businesses eventually erode because of their own self-fulfilling,  pessimistic prophecy.

Special note: being optimistic is just typically a better  way to approach the world, so do it for your own sanity if nothing else.

4. You’re a rule breaker. Entrepreneurs are by nature  rule breakers and dissenters. This is an attitude as much as it is a mentality.  Meredith Fineman, CEO of FinePoint Digital PR gives an all-too-familiar look at what  goes through the mind of an entrepreneur on a regular basis:

“It’s hard for me to relate when people can’t wait for the week to be over or  can’t wait to rush out of the office for Happy Hour. My job is never done, nor  do I want it to be. That’s not to say that I never do things for pleasure, but I  am constructing my own life and not constricting it based on someone else’s  ideas or standards.”

5. You’re probably a gear head. This last point is a  direct result of our modern-day reliance on technology as a vehicle for  innovation. As Vanderveldt observes:

“Technology has been the common denominator for all the companies I have  started — from data mining to green energy. I believe it is the global  equalizer and enabler. Young entrepreneurs and startups need to be focused on  (and thinking about) enabling their organization to scale, delivering faster and  more efficient results, and maximizing workforce productivity – all of which can  be supported through technology.”

So whether you’re considering getting your feet wet as a first-time  entrepreneur, or you are well on your way to entrepreneurial success, keep in  mind that how you think is just as important as what you actually do.  Thinking like an entrepreneur requires a unique approach to the world and a  mindset to help view the world as limitless in its possibilities for  improvement, change and, ultimately, innovation.

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