An entrepreneur is an ambitious person who thinks creatively and actively mobilizes resources in order to take an advantage of an opportunity. Highly creative people make good entrepreneurs because they think unconventionally and act intentionally. They’re constantly dreaming up unique ways of doing things that keep them engaged in their goals. Creative entrepreneurs generate new ideas and turn them into reality. Ambition is powerful because it can motivate people to achieve great things. In the process of striving toward their goal, entrepreneurs can learn, grow, and help others. Many of humanity’s advances in technology, science, medicine, and other areas are the result of ambitious individuals striving to attain their goals.
Entrepreneurship is the practice of Problem-solving, Innovation, Value creation, Opportunity-finding and Technology application (PIVOT). The entire ambition of an entrepreneur is encapsulated in innovation, which is the ability of an entrepreneur (innovator) to apply creative solutions to problems and to opportunities to enhance and to enrich people’s lives. The primary goal of a true entrepreneur is to make a difference through innovation or value creation.
‘Amphibious’ means living a double life or alternating between living on land and in water. The “amphibious entrepreneur” is an entrepreneur who is able to use both creativity and knowledge to drive the entrepreneurial and knowledge economy in an alternating manner. The global economy is a combination of knowledge and technology. Innovation is created when technology is combined with either knowledge or creativity or both. The “amphibious entrepreneur” is a creative and knowledgeable thinker who is able to operate within both the entrepreneurial economy and knowledge based economy respectively. The ability to live a “double life” with respect to knowledge and creativity is what makes a completely “amphibious entrepreneur”.
Ambidexterity in entrepreneurship
What you do effortlessly is often done faultlessly. A truly ambidextrous person is facile with both hands or, as defined by the Compact Oxford English Dictionary, is “able to use both hands alike”. Such individuals do exist, but they are quite rare. A much more common situation is the person who uses one or the other hand according to task (eg, one hand for writing, the other for throwing). The most accepted definition of ambidexterity in entrepreneurship is a balance between explorations and exploitation; organisations capable of exploiting their existing competencies while simultaneously exploring other possibilities and new opportunities. Ambidextrous entrepreneurs are individuals who are able to tap their ‘TAP’ (Traits, Abilities and Personality) for both exploitation and explorations. Take for instance, maybe your “TAP dey rush” within the media space as an entrepreneur, you could actually look in a different direction and explore opportunities in other fields such as Agriculture, Education, Health, Technology, etc. I am an entrepreneur in my own right and I daily seek to deepen the knowledge economy by reading and writing on several aspects of entrepreneurship. In the recent years, I have been able to develop competence in public speaking. I am ambitious; I pursue my entrepreneurial goals doggedly. I am amphibious; I thrive by both creativity and knowledge. I am ambidextrous; I exploit opportunities and also explore possibilities, at the same time.
Ambition and motivation
A well-known need-based theory of motivation, as opposed to hierarchy of needs or satisfaction-dissatisfaction, is the theory developed by David C. McClelland and his associates. McClelland developed his theory based on Henry Murray’s (1938) developed long list of motives and manifest needs used in his early studies of personality.
McClelland’s need theory is closely associated with learning theory, because he believed that needs are learned or acquired by the kinds of events people experience in their environment and culture. He found that people who acquire a particular need behave differently from those who do not have. His theory focused on Murray’s three needs: achievement, power, and affiliations. In the literature, these three needs are abbreviated as “n Ach”, “n Pow”, and “n Aff” respectively.
A brief description of these three follows:
Need for Achievement (“n Ach”):
This is the drive to excel, to achieve in relation to a set “standard, and to strive to succeed. In other words, need for achievement is a Behaviour directed towards competition with a standard of excellence. McClelland found that people with a high need for achievement perform better than those with a moderate or low need for achievement, and noted regional, national differences in achievement motivation.
Through his research, McClelland identified the following six characteristics of high need achievers:
- High-need achievers have a strong desire to assume personal responsibilities for performing a task or finding a solution to a problem.
- High need achievers tend to set moderately difficult goals and take calculated risks?
- High need achievers have a strong desire for performance feedback?
- They have need for achievement for attaining personal accomplishment.
- They look for challenging tasks.
- The high need-achievement individuals are not buck-passers.
As regards the above three needs, McClelland holds the view that all three needs may simultaneously be acting on an individual. But, in case of an entrepreneur, the high need for achievement is found dominating one.
A unique way to summarize David McClelland’s “n Ach” need theory within the entrepreneurial context is to state that the Traits, Abilities and Personality (TAP) of an entrepreneur are directed towards competition. An entrepreneur strives to compete with the competent, and with a standard of excellence. The ambidextrous entrepreneur is an ambitious and amphibious thinker who uses creativity and knowledge to turn on his ‘TAP’ (Traits, Abilities and Personalities) in order to exploit opportunities as well as explore possibilities. Remember the goal of a true entrepreneur is to make impact. Money is the reward for the problems solved by innovators.
My name is Niyi Kolade aka thinkUP, liberating souls and celebrating solutions.
Enjoy this musical piece by Ayra Starr:
Sabi girls no dey too like talk
Animals dey in human form
Padi man, nobody like work
But you must hustle of you wan chop
E no finish dem wan fight us
If them dey run dem no fit catch up
I no dey form say I too righteous
No come dey form say you too like us
[Pre-Chorus]
Me no get time for the hate and the bad energy
Got my mind on my money
Make you dance like Poco Lee
Steady green like broccoli
Steady on my grind no wan hear what they wan telly me
Kudi na my fantasy
Dem wan dey check if my tap e no rush
[Chorus]
But e dey rush
E dey rush well wеll
E be much
Na God dey make my tap, е dey rush
The kind money we touch
But e dey rush
E dey rush well well
E be much
No be hype, everybody dey crush
There’s no dulling with us (There’s no dulling with us)
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