Is entrepreneurship influenced more by nature or nurture? The question is the basis of a long standing debate. Many people claim that entrepreneurs are born, not made. We’ll save that full debate for another day, as I don’t want to dilute the point of this post.

An interesting article was released in The Economist titled “Psychology beats business training when it comes to entrepreneurship.” When Daniel Pink, the author of A Whole New Mind, saw the article, he put his own twist on the title in a tweet, “if you want to help entrepreneurs, teach them psychology, not accounting.” I used to like him! OK, I still do, but I personally feel that studying psychology won’t necessarily make someone an entrepreneur, and studying accounting definitely won’t prevent you from being one.

While I won’t get into the details of the underlying study, the article suggests that entrepreneurship, or at least some mental habits useful for it, can indeed be taught—or nurtured. Do we agree?

My take away on the study is that:

“Mind opening” training enhances creativity and has a positive impact on revenue and profitability
Traditional business training does not

Business vs Entrepreneurship

This concept is nothing new. Many universities distinguish between traditional business administration programs and entrepreneurship programs. There are schools that offer Master in Entrepreneurship degrees in addition to masters’ degrees in business administration.

I sit on the Advisory Council for the University of Colorado’s Center for Entrepreneurship that, in addition to certificates and specializations in entrepreneurship, offers a minor in Entrepreneurship that can be combined with any major. How cool is that? A major in Accounting with a minor in Entrepreneurship.

The distinction between business and entrepreneurship is that:

Traditional business administration programs teach students how to participate in today’s business world
Entrepreneurship programs teach students how to enhance and advance the business world of tomorrow

“Our minds are like parachutes. They work best when they are open”.
- Sir James Dewar

Nurturing tomorrow

You can’t expect more innovation and growth when you are married to limiting beliefs. David Schwartz, author of The Magic of Thinking Big, frequently asks his audiences if the prison system can be eliminated. The question is so radical, most people immediately respond not only no, but hell no! If our minds shut out the potential, we can’t think of one idea to make it possible. If we can open our minds to the potential that our business has, we can begin the process of enhancing and advancing it.

I talked about this dynamic in an article published in Accounting Today (April 2014). All accountants have the capacity to be entrepreneurial. An entrepreneurial mindset is what makes an entrepreneur – and it is this entrepreneurial mindset and spirit that is the “secret sauce” for accelerating success in business. Entrepreneurial is what we must be as we tackle the industry and competitive challenges of today and tomorrow.

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Brian Amann can be reached at 303.921.5310 or send an email.

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