Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs believe that to the extent they can control the future, they don't need to predict it.


This is an awesome quote, and a great insight.  Because the future is so hard to predict, the costs of doing so well are higher than most people think.  Because random opportunities and problems pop up more often than people think, the benefits of a wide set of capabilities are greater than most people think.

A focus on prediction means abandoning control to the outside world.  You are like a weather forecaster, helpless to change things.  A focus on control lets you direct events to an outcome of your choosing.  If you have the ability to control a situation, there is no need to predict it, because what happens is what you want to happen.

One of my main personal mottoes is "Never make plans. Always be prepared."  This is a bit extreme, but the fact is that you can spend your time trying to plan and predict things, or you can spend your time building up skills and resources.  There is a great advantage to having the ability to deal with situations and take advantage of opportunities as they come up, and doing so can lead to better results than trying to plan everything out.


1 comment:

Lou said...

Excellent write up.....Points to ponder.