Demystifying Entrepreneurship: Unleashing Your Creative Potential

In a world structured around egotism and competition, many have sought to unduly mystify their abilities and talents. And there are always those who would hype such persons’ achievements, blowing them out of proportion to make them look like gods. Meanwhile, those that seem not to possess such ‘talent’ have often allowed themselves to be whittled down to accepting that someone is “better” than them, more special, kind of superhuman.

No wonder, for we have created for ourselves tin-gods who set the standards for us. And by their standards, we are adjudged either smart or stupid. And we have created systems along those lines. For instance, even though we are all unique, we have an educational system which has created a straight jacket into which everyone must fit. The one who’s unable to is labeled a drop-out; a misfit, instead of helping that person to unearth his abilities. No wonder the world is in a dire state of hopelessness, since everyone seems to be going in just one direction!

Through those mindset and systems, we have killed many talents, indeed many Steve Jobses and Bill Gateses because we made them feel that they were useless just because they failed exams. Today, the world continues to celebrate the late Steve Jobs’s life for the way he, as an individual, single-handedly changed the world through technology. But if Steve had sought a managerial position in some large organization when he’d dropped out of college who would’ve considered him? Yet he’d created one of the world’s largest information technology company by revenue!

Certainly, entrepreneurship is a very important vehicle for job creation and economic growth. And that is what the likes of Steve Jobs did and are doing. However, just like the other phenomena that the world considers to be very phenomenal, entrepreneurship has often been blown out of proportion to the extent that, useful as it is, ironically, people dread to be entrepreneurs. This is because for so long now, entrepreneurship has been mystified. Many have made fetish of the phenomenon, giving the impression that it takes a superhuman to be an entrepreneur. Others believe that it’s a special gift that is not available to everyone, and that it can’t be taught. Is that true? Do you believe those views?

In this piece, we’ll attempt to decipher how entrepreneurship came to be shrouded in mystery. That would set the tone for us to figure out how we can demystify it.

Origin of the Myth

Entrepreneurship is basically built upon two pillars; namely, innovation and creativity. To innovate is to “make changes in something already existing, as by introducing new methods, ideas, or products.” While creativity involves “the use of imagination or original ideas in order to create something.” (Concise Oxford Dictionary). From these two definitions we can presuppose that everyone has the capacity to be creative and innovative; it is simply a choice. As humans, we are all endowed with the ability to be creative and innovative (we’ll come back to this point later).

However, there are certain external factors that determine whether we are able to exploit those faculties or not. Among these are the environment in which we were raised and formal education.

If we were raised in an environment where we were made to believe that the only option in life was to be employed by a large organization, we’d hardly think of harnessing our creative and innovative prowess for entrepreneurship. And if that situation was coupled with stories of how certain entrepreneurs ‘failed’, our fear of risk would cause us to recoil into our shells and never seek to sharpen our creativity and innovativeness.

Further, the world’s educational system is structured to produce, not entrepreneurs, but employees. So right from primary school, we are taught to think in terms of passing our exams well, getting a good degree, maybe a second or third or even more, and that would “guarantee” a good salary and a successful future.

With the preponderance of that mindset globally, it takes only a few brave ones to take the bold step of starting-up a business. And since they are few in number compared to the majority who seek employment, they are viewed as “super”; as having certain qualities that are not in other humans. But that is pure fallacy! Sure, it takes some very special qualities to succeed as an entrepreneur. Yet, the truth is that anyone who decides to can be innovative and creative and thus be an entrepreneur.

The Naysayers

Those that oppose the idea that everyone has the potential to be an entrepreneur often do so chiefly because they are oblivious of the warped systems society has created that stifle entrepreneurship. Those, i.e., the warped systems society has created, are to blame and not the people. Some also confuse entrepreneurship with sound management practice. Hence, when an entrepreneur fails, many would think that it is his idea that failed. While that is true in some instances, many times it has more to do with his management style, especially people and financial management skills–Being an entrepreneur does not necessarily mean that one can be a good manager. And that is what some entrepreneurs fail to realize, which causes failure.

That notwithstanding, another truth is that in entrepreneurship, failure is success. So, the entrepreneur views his failure as a disguised blessing that, handled properly, would propel the business to greater heights!

Taking off the Shroud

Having realised that entrepreneurship is not reserved for a few talented people, we now have to disabuse our minds; for it’s one thing knowing the truth but quite another thing accepting it. It is when we accept it that the shroud can be taken off for us to see entrepreneurship in the right light. How do we do that?

The first thing is to convince ourselves that we’re uniquely designed as individuals to be creative and innovative. The One that made us in His image placed those creative and innovative qualities in us. “It is built into the human species,” writes Eugene Raudsepp in his book How Creative Are You? Once we convince ourselves of that and actively work to invoke those qualities in us, we would be surprised at just how amazing we can be.

Science believes that using the right side of the brain helps us to be creative. And since we all have that right side of the brain, it means we can all be creative. Thus by stimulating that creative part of the brain we will begin seeing things differently from what everyone else sees. It may make us seem insane to them, but there is the trick!

For example, when Steve Jobs dropped out of college, he hung on to one lecture in auditing and stated that had he not taken that Calligraphy lesson, the Mac wouldn’t have been born. During that time, he was sleeping on the floor in his friends’ rooms and returned coke bottles for cash. Wouldn’t you have thought that he was insane? Yet the truth is now there for us to see! So don’t be afraid to think outside of mainstream thinking.

How to Stimulate the Creative Part of the brain

One way to stimulate the creative part of the brain is to have adequate sleep. That may seem absurd to some but actually, sleep is very important. If you find yourself trying to figure out a creative solution to a challenging issue, simply go to sleep!  “Many people have found that a problem unresolved at bedtime seems much simpler in the morning, as if the brain had been quietly working on it overnight,” notes The Times of London. And researcher Dr. Ullrich Wagner said that “sleep acts as a creative learning process.”

So, make sure you sleep very well and that would help the creative part of your brain to function properly.

Reading is also very important in developing the creative mind. Reading a wide range of materials on various subjects from fiction to physics helps to develop the creative mind. This is because since we are interdependent, as we read what others have researched and written down, we acquaint ourselves, not only with the beauty of the different styles of writing there are, but also to interesting pieces of information that we can join with our own to have a clearer picture that may as well be the jewel we need for our business!

Also, when we see an artwork, we listen to music, we watch a drama or a movie, let’s not simply enjoy their beauty and satisfy ourselves with that. It’s helpful to imagine what may have moved that artist, that musician the playwright or scriptwriter to come up with such a masterpiece. In other words, it is helpful to seek to know beyond what is obvious. And that is a way to develop our creative minds.

It is no wonder, then, that proverbs are very beautiful and powerful. Both the one that creates the proverb and the one to whom it is said have their creative minds stimulated to get the meaning. And when the meaning is gotten, it is not applied to just one event or phenomenon but to a wide range of life’s experiences. By putting the thought processes to work that way, our imagination is heightened, and our understanding is enhanced, opening doors to creativity before us.

Developing interest is also very crucial for creativity and innovation. When we have interest in something, we learn it with a passion and practice it with finesse. Thus it is important that you develop interest in entrepreneurship. No one can force you to do so.

Today, many people go to school to study things they are disconnected from. Their motive is the job market and how much money they can make. But that is short-sighted and kills creativity. In his popular speech to students at Stanford University, Jobs encouraged them to look for their passion and follow it. He said “Keep looking. Don’t settle.” If you also keep looking and not settle till you find what you want, that is when your power of creativity and innovation would be triggered-off for marvelous things.

It is when we all seek to develop our creative minds and elicit our potential that we can really reach our dreams. Indeed, the world would have been a better place if we were all not made to live up to someone else’s standards by the system and we did things our own unique way. That is one huge fault that has caused retrogression in the world. I believe that there are many “Steve Jobses” who are tellers at some banks because they are struck by the myths surrounding entrepreneurship. Can you imagine how those could have contributed to changing the world?

Granted, not all of us can be entrepreneurs due to varying circumstances. So, I’m not advocating a mass conversion of everyone to entrepreneurship. However, I believe that there are many who could make great entrepreneurs out there who have settled in their comfort zone and not going out. These are the ones I’m challenging to come out.

It is not only entrepreneurs that have to develop their creative and innovative skills. Employees also need to do so in order to add value to their employers’ business. Some talk about “intrapreneurship”, i.e., being an entrepreneur within an organization, contributing to innovation. That is also a useful way to apply one’s creativity.

However, there are some corporate organizations that simply do not encourage creativity and innovation. If you are in any such organization, please, I implore you to resign as soon as practicable! You may be assured of your salary alright; but do you really enjoy what you are doing? Are you challenged to use your creativity? If you know you have something to offer, please don’t delay, otherwise you may live to regret some day in the future!

Free Yourself!

Indeed, creativity and innovation are not the preserve of just a few. We all have the potential. And entrepreneurship is nothing mythical. What matters is the will; if you really have the will, you’ll find the way. Don’t allow yourself to be deceived into believing that you’re not creative. If you really believe that you’re unique and you do well to unearth that uniqueness, you may find your talent.

However, be sure to not do so just to satisfy your ego or with a competitive mindset. That attitude would rather act retrogressively against your vision. Know yourself. Be yourself. Build confidence in yourself. And put yourself to work. You may as well be the world’s next Steve Jobs!

The author is CEO/Managing Partner at Soleil Consults (US), LLC, a Strategy, Management and ICT firm.