. So I asked my son, Jason, to take the online assessment for a spin. And this reminder: check out my Management Buckets website with
and downloadable worksheets for your staff meetings.
Shiny New Object Syndrome
Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com, is quoted in this issue’s book:
“If you double the number of experiments you do per year, you’re going to double your inventiveness. The thing about inventing is you have to be both stubborn and flexible, more or less simultaneously. If you’re not stubborn, you’ll give up on experiments too soon. And if you’re not flexible, you’ll pound your head against the wall and you won’t see a different solution to a problem you’re trying to solve.”
That’s from the nine-page color commentary on “Creative Thinker,” one of the 10 talents of successful entrepreneurs according to the hot-off-the-press book/assessment from Gallup, the creators of the international bestseller,
StrengthsFinder 2.0.
This new book and 25-minute online assessment,
Entrepreneurial StrengthsFinder, measures 10 talents, or drivers of entrepreneurial success.
“The degree of your natural ability in each of the 10 talents will determine where you will be successful and where you will fall short in your entrepreneurial journey.”Co-authors Jim Clifton, chairman and CEO of Gallup, and Sangeeta Bharadwaj Badal, Ph.D., say their research reveals that
“only about 5 in 1,000 people
have the aptitude for starting and growing a business.
In comparison, 20 in 1,000 have IQs high enough to be accepted into Mensa.” (My assumption: if you read this eNews, you’re a Mensa member, right?)
Over the years of guilting readers into buying books (and I know you read them all, thank you), I've probably gone overboard on entrepreneurship books. (See the Book Bucket below.)
So finally, I have a cogent reason for my gut instinct that entrepreneurs are needed more than ever. But is this new assessment just one more flash-in-the-pan, leadership fad-of-the-year?
To find out, I was the almost-silent observer last weekend when my entrepreneurial son,
Jason Pearson, completed the 25-minute online assessment. (Each book includes a unique access code that can only be used once.) My response while looking over Jason’s laptop: fantastic questions!
Gallup wants to inspire Americans to wake up and start spotting young entrepreneurs. The message: the need is not more innovation; we need entrepreneurship which creates customers—and customers create jobs. Jim Clifton (the son of the late Donald Clifton, the father of the StrengthsFinder movement) sold me on this bedrock core belief in the first 35 pages.
Upon completing the assessment, Jason downloaded two helpful documents: a color-coded three-page report of his entrepreneurial strengths—strongest to weakest; and a 20-page practical guide on suggested next steps.
Jason was dominant in three talents: Creative Thinker, Relationship-Builder, and Risk-Taker. He had four more talents termed "contributing," and three at the bottom in "supporting." Nothing complicated—and all very practical and straightforward.
The customized color-coded report defines your entrepreneurial strengths:
•
Dominant talents. “You consistently and naturally lead with your dominant talents.”
•
Contributing talents. “You show some evidence of your contributing talents, but you must deliberately apply them to achieve success.”
•
Supporting talents. “The talents that you don’t naturally lead with are your supporting talents.”
Jason, who has started four companies, has the entrepreneurial genes. The authors note research “that the tendency toward entrepreneurship is between 37% and 48% genetic.”
I wasn't surprised that Creative Thinking was Jason's top entrepreneurial strength. Ask him for 10 ideas, and
he'll deliver 20 by the time you’ve learned how to spell “entrepreneurial.”
But I was pleasantly surprised by the book’s practical definitions and color commentary on each of the 10 entrepreneurial strengths. That section highlights key traits of each strength “in action” (with PowerPoint-worthy quotes from well-known entrepreneurs like Warren Buffet and others); cautionary notes (be sure to read the warnings for Risk-Takers); and then a practical list of next steps for maximizing that talent. All in about eight or nine pages each—easy reading and immediate comprehension (for you Mensa types!).
For example, under Creative Thinker: • “You have a mind that is typically firing with many different ideas.”
• “Comfortable with the unknown and the unfamiliar, you always look for new ways to combine and recombine resources to create innovative solutions for your customers.”
• “As a Creative Thinker, you are quick to act. You seize opportunities and are usually the first mover in the market.”
• Other code words: “rule breakers,” “refuse to be bogged down,” “you like to work autonomously,” “push the boundaries.”
• Under cautions: “You may fall prey to ‘incumbent inertia’ as you achieve success and growth. Maintain the organizational flexibility that allowed you to explore your creative imagination in the first place.”
If you score high, as Jason did, as a Risk-Taker, share the color commentary with your spouse, family, and friends.
“Contrary to popular belief, highly successful entrepreneurs are not risk seekers, they are risk mitigators par excellence. If you are a Risk-Taker, you instinctively know how to manage high-risk situations.”While Risk-Takers are “avid problem solvers,” some (on the extreme side) hold themselves in high regard, a phenomenon known as “hyper-core self-evaluation” (hyper-CSE). This may lead to “shiny new object syndrome.”
Andy Dunn, co-founder and CEO of Bonobos:
“Prior to a lobotomy I just underwent which
removed shiny new object syndrome (SNOS)
from my brain, I was both an asset
and a threat to my own company.”
There are six ways for Risk-Takers to maximize their talent (plus color commentary on each): 1. Know what you do know and what you do not know.
2. Take risks incrementally.
3. Beware of confirmation bias. (“Ask people with opposing views to counter your initial idea or concept.”)
4. Construct different scenarios to guide your decision-making process.
5. Don’t gamble. (Institute a “cooling-off period” before you’re swept away by the brilliance of your own ideas!)
6. Kill unimportant projects.
Bill Gates on Warren Buffet: “He doesn’t invest—take a swing of the bat—unless the opportunity appears unbelievably good.”
Who should read this book? • CEOs and senior leaders (to spot and coach young entrepreneurs)
• Educators
• Parents and grandparents
• Spouses and family members (part encouragement, part therapy!)
• Mensa members!
Clifton suggests every city (his core belief: cities are the fulcrum for the future) install an early identification assessment system and offer the
Entrepreneurial StrengthsFinder assessment to thousands of students (prime age: high school freshmen to sophomores in college).
Clifton begins this book with a sobering thought: “During my 40 years at Gallup, I’ve observed that when very talented leaders fail, it’s often because their thinking failed them. Not their management or leadership skills, but their thinking about a core belief that they put at the center of all of their strategies. Because they are so wrong about that core belief, every subsequent decision actually makes things worse, because every decision is tied to that belief. The more they manage and lead, the worse things get.”
“This is happening in Washington, D.C., but it is also happening in many cities throughout America.” His core belief: “Entrepreneurs create customers. And customers, in turn, create jobs and economic growth."
"Almost no leader knows this.”
“Virtually all U.S. and world leaders have misdiagnosed the core problem and put billions and billions of dollars into mistaken strategies that are not helping America’s economy, much less the world’s.”
I must end this review—but you MUST read this book!
To order from Amazon, click on the link for:
Entrepreneurial StrengthsFinder, by Jim Clifton and Sangeeta Bharadwaj Badal, Ph.D.
To purchase the online assessment without buying the book (which I don't recommend, unless you have access to a colleague’s book), visit the
Gallup Strengths Center (and view the three-minute video).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions:
1) Gallup says that “those with the dominant talent in Business Focus are twice as likely to exceed their profit goals,” and “those with dominant Risk-Taker talent are four times more likely to growth their business significantly.” So…why might it be important to assess the entrepreneurial strengths of your team members—BEFORE you assign people to projects?
2) Gallup also says “if you have a high IQ, America’s massive testing systems will find you,” and “if you have the rare, innate talent to play basketball or football, our massive youth-to-college-to-pro sports system will find you.” So…why don’t we already have a system for finding those young entrepreneurs “who have the rare, innate ability to create a customer, to build a company?”-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Leaders Are Readers.
Ditto Entrepreneurs!
Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or NonprofitIn my cycle through the 20 buckets, here’s the core competency from the
Book Bucket, Chapter 5, in
Mastering the Management Buckets:
“We believe leaders are readers! We create a culture that embraces a healthy appetite for leadership and management books, journals, articles and audio resources. We mentor team members with thoughtfully selected titles and chapters to help them leverage their strengths, grow in their faith and serve others with passion. We don’t just talk about books—we actually read them!”So here’s a short list of entrepreneurial books I’ve reviewed. Add them to your toolbox and resource shelf, and/or assemble a portfolio of my book reviews to inspire your budding entrepreneurs:
•
Entrepreneurial Leadership: Finding Your Calling, Making a Difference, by Richard J. Goossen and R. Paul Stevens
•
Corporate Entrepreneurship: How to Create a Thriving Entrepreneurial Spirit Throughout Your Company, by Robert D. Hisrich and Claudine Kearney
•
Entrepreneurship, by Robert D. Hisrich (with Peters and Shepherd)
•
PastorPreneur: Pastors and Entrepreneurs Answer the Call, by John Jackson
•
Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge From Small Discoveries, by Peter Sims
•
Creators: From Chaucer and Durer to Picasso and Disney, by Paul Johnson
•
The Decision Maker: Unlock the Potential of Everyone in Your Organization One Decision at a Time, by Dennis Bakke
•
The King of Madison Avenue: David Ogilvy and the Making of Modern Advertising, by Kenneth Roman
• and my
two-page article, “Entrepreneurial Wisdom: 5 Career-Saving Principles for Ministry Entrepreneurs,” published in CLA’s
Outcomes magazine
