Saras Sarasvathy, a professor at the business school at the University of Virginia, presents a great argument about the thing that differentiates an entrepreneur. He narrows it down to the entrepreneur's ability to think effectually versus causally. I thought I would share this because I love the theory and it helped me in evaluating my own inner entrepreneur ;)
Causal thinking is the way we are taught to think in school, and throughout life in general: begin with a predetermined goal, and given a set of means, determine the optimal solution for reaching the goal. Though causal thinking has its place (I never would have gotten out a business school application without setting a predetermined goal and working to it), most of us can point to some experience when spent all our time planning versus implementing-- and by the time we began implementing, our idea was no longer relevant.
I can think of countless times where I was setting all my sight on some predetermined goal, too busy to pay attention to the cues, surprises, and opportunities that I was getting in my everyday life, just to find that that predetermined goal was not going to be reached in the way I had planned. And by that point, I was ill-equipped to recover and move in a different direction, because I had put all my eggs into one basket.
Sarasvathy argues that successful entrepreneurs are more effectual thinker/doers. Effectual thinking is completely different—and it feels completely different on your brain too. An effectual thinker/doer doesn’t begin with a predetermined goal, she only begins with her own means and relationships, and yet she uses what she has in front of her, creating and changing and disassembling, and lets goals emerge over time among the patchwork of her different experiences. Instead of obsessively planning before trying new things (‘ready, aim, aim, aim,aim…’) the effectual thinker isn’t going to miss the good that comes from the opportunities in front of her, and starts doing in order to find out what her goal is (‘ready, fire, aim’).
And when I think of the moments where I am my most entrepreneurial, it has always the effectual thinker in me, never setting goals but simply using the means in front of me for new creative solutions.
One major point that I would add to Sarasvathy’s theory is that I believe effectual thinkers are much more likely to take advantage of informal networks and do not adhere to traditional theories of what is work versus what is play— for the best effectual thinker/doers I know, there is no difference, the entire world is their playground.
I love Sarasvathy’s theory, and I find that it really resonates in my life. I was born more of a causal thinker—probably because of my Driver personality type I can be set on goals and sometimes low on responsiveness. But in the past several years I think I've taken steps toward flexing and exercising what I can now call my effectual-thinking muscles. I was very fortunate to have close friends who are the epitome of effectual thinkers/doers, and I think I began to unknowingly replicate their methods—developing ideas more organically, knowing no traditional hierarchies, and using the means in front of me to produce creative results... content to know that the future stitches itself together.
Causal thinking is the way we are taught to think in school, and throughout life in general: begin with a predetermined goal, and given a set of means, determine the optimal solution for reaching the goal. Though causal thinking has its place (I never would have gotten out a business school application without setting a predetermined goal and working to it), most of us can point to some experience when spent all our time planning versus implementing-- and by the time we began implementing, our idea was no longer relevant.
I can think of countless times where I was setting all my sight on some predetermined goal, too busy to pay attention to the cues, surprises, and opportunities that I was getting in my everyday life, just to find that that predetermined goal was not going to be reached in the way I had planned. And by that point, I was ill-equipped to recover and move in a different direction, because I had put all my eggs into one basket.
Sarasvathy argues that successful entrepreneurs are more effectual thinker/doers. Effectual thinking is completely different—and it feels completely different on your brain too. An effectual thinker/doer doesn’t begin with a predetermined goal, she only begins with her own means and relationships, and yet she uses what she has in front of her, creating and changing and disassembling, and lets goals emerge over time among the patchwork of her different experiences. Instead of obsessively planning before trying new things (‘ready, aim, aim, aim,aim…’) the effectual thinker isn’t going to miss the good that comes from the opportunities in front of her, and starts doing in order to find out what her goal is (‘ready, fire, aim’).
And when I think of the moments where I am my most entrepreneurial, it has always the effectual thinker in me, never setting goals but simply using the means in front of me for new creative solutions.
One major point that I would add to Sarasvathy’s theory is that I believe effectual thinkers are much more likely to take advantage of informal networks and do not adhere to traditional theories of what is work versus what is play— for the best effectual thinker/doers I know, there is no difference, the entire world is their playground.
I love Sarasvathy’s theory, and I find that it really resonates in my life. I was born more of a causal thinker—probably because of my Driver personality type I can be set on goals and sometimes low on responsiveness. But in the past several years I think I've taken steps toward flexing and exercising what I can now call my effectual-thinking muscles. I was very fortunate to have close friends who are the epitome of effectual thinkers/doers, and I think I began to unknowingly replicate their methods—developing ideas more organically, knowing no traditional hierarchies, and using the means in front of me to produce creative results... content to know that the future stitches itself together.
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