So youre interested in entrepreneurship?
Walker, born Sarah Breedlove, was Americas firstfemale self-made millionaire.
To accomplish her goals, she had to face overwhelming uncertainties.
How would she finance her business?
Would her partnerships fail?
Would her products sell?
Would ruthless competition and racism get in her way?
Madame Walkers future was far from certain when she began her journey, but that did not dissuade her.
I am aresearcher and professorwho studies strategy and entrepreneurship.
I am also myself an entrepreneur, angel investor, and board member for startups and innovative firms.
But research shows this is not the case.
So what characteristics do innovators like Madam Walker have that lead them to the seemingly serendipitous moment?
What makes for a successful innovator or entrepreneur?
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
Generally, innovators are much more comfortable making decisions under conditions of uncertainty than the average person.
Additionally, innovators tend to have a set of skills that allows them to better navigate this uncertainty.
With dice, the risks are known but out of your control.
Diacritica via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
What is risk?
You cant control whether a 2 or a 12 is rolled, but you know the odds.
It is accepting a challenge to play a game that you do not completely know the rules of.
Interestingly, risk and uncertainty appear to triggeractivity in different parts of the brain.
Innovators dont ignore risk; they are just better able to analyze it in uncertain situations.
Innovative capacity can be learned.
Delivery skills include quantitative analysis, planning, detail-oriented implementation , and disciplined execution.
Discovery skills are the ones more involved in developing ideas and managing uncertain situations.
My colleagues and my own research and experience are summed up in our book The Titanic Effect.
We describe the PEP model of successful entrepreneurs and innovators.
It stands for passion, experience and persistence.
Finally, innovation takes persistence.
As Walker experienced, growing a business even with proven products does not happen overnight.
Madam Walker amplypersonifies the PEP model.
But uncertainty and change create opportunity and aneed for innovation.
The pandemic has created or exacerbated many problems that are ripe for innovative solutions.
As with anything relatively new, there is lots of room for radical improvement.
Now is not the time to put blinders on and close your eyes to uncertainty.
If you build your discovery skills, you are more likely to create opportunity and persist through uncertainty.
Like Walker, anyone can cultivate the abilities to navigate uncertainty and create positive change.
Innovators are not a breed apart.
