The Innovative Entrepreneur

Like everyone else, the innovative entrepreneur sees the world and understands what is wrong with it. Then he questions why it must be that way, and realizes opportunities for change. This gives him passion.

He imagines, in his mind's eye, a different world. It looks different, better and compelling. He visualizes that new world to be a destination, not yet knowing which path leads there. This is vision.

His search for a path quickly reveals that he needs other people to join his pursuit. To win them over, he shares the vision of future with them. Here begins leadership.

The path to the vision usually involves solving multiple problems. The innovative entrepreneur nurtures a childlike curiosity for options available. He attacks problems with the zeal of a puzzle solver, enjoying the solving process. He thinks laterally, questions assumptions, backtracks when confounded, reasons, analyzes, and synthesizes. Above all, he puts up with all the chaos that accompanies thought. And finally an idea takes shape. This is innovation.

With his team, he nurtures the idea and fleshes it out. Then he questions it, subjects it to scrutiny and determines if it can play a role in realizing the vision. He must now make choices about investing scarce resources in pursuit of objectives. This is strategy.

With a deeply held belief in the venture the entrepreneur goes about leading his team to realizing the shared vision. Along the way, he needs to make decisions that are consistent with his values and principles. He needs to juggle resources. He needs to refine processes. This is execution.