The Ambidextrous Brain of the Entrepreneur

Can you write both left handed and right handed? What about thinking logically and creatively at the same time? According to a recent MIT study, entrepreneurs can do just that.

Generally, there are two basic problem solvind strategies: exploration and exploitation. In the exploration strategy, the solutions to a problem is found outside the current set of options, as new possibilites are explored. Conversely, exploitation focuses on staying the course and fully exploiting the current situation, the knowledge, abilities  skills, experience, connections, that one has. So, if your company is faced with a daunting challenge in regards to your current products, would you stay the course and try to maximize the return or go in a new direction?

When entrepreneurs were posed this question, their answers were no different than the general public; however, what made their thinking process different was that in fact, they used both sides of their brian simultaneously  They were able to concomitantly access their logical and creative centers. After further study, it was concluded that most adults lose much of their creative abilities by the time they are 35 years of age, unless they developed that side of their brian.

Currently, as in most any scientific field, there is debate whether the difference in brain functions is a byproduct of nurture or nature. However, it has been established that children who grew up in a family with a small business were far more likely to exhibit the ambidextrous entrepreneurial mind.

Personally, I am somewhat conflicted on the degree in which nature or nurture shape our lives. Even though your DNA influence every aspect of your body, great body builders are made not born and in the same way great entrepreneurs grow into their status. Your DNA may and will give you certain benefits, however each of us has the opportunity to fully take advantage of our natural strengths or to squander them. In the end, what is most important is that one finds happiness and success in their field of choice, and if entrepreneurship is like an itch that must be scratched, than that alone is the writing on the wall.

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