ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET AND THINKING SKILLS

CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS

Critical thinking is the ability to apply reasoning and logic to new or unfamiliar ideas, opinions,
anD situations.
Skills involve are:
1. Open-minded approach
2. Rational considerations
3. Empathy

OPEN-MINDED APPROACH
Being “open-minded is a large part of critical thinking, allowing a person to not only seek out all
possible answers to a problem, but to also accept an answer that is different from what was
originally expected.

RATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
Rationality requires analyzing all known information, and making judgments or analyses based
on fact or evidence, rather than opinion or emotion.

EMPATHY
Empathizing with a person usually involves a thinker trying to put himself or herself in the place of
someone else.

CRITICAL THINKING (ANCILLARY SKILLS)

1. Observation
2. Analysis
3. Reasoning
4. Judgement
5. Decision Making
6. Persuasion

CRITICAL THINKING (HIGHER LEVELS)

One of the great things about critical thinking is its versatility. It is valuable at all levels of our thinking.

1. At the level of practical decision making

2. At the level of meaningfulness

3. At the level of concepts

LEVELS OF CRITICAL THINKING

PRACTICAL DECISION MAKING
Critical thinking helps when we are simply trying to deal with ordinary tasks such as how to study
efficiently, decide on what kind of clothes to buy. It is problem solving of the most authentic kind.

MEANINGFULNESS
Learning to think critically also helps people deal with the much larger issues of living their life. Examples
of which are finding a life partner or a new occupation, developing reasonable attitudes towards self,
towards others, towards your values, etc.

CONCEPTS
We think in terms of concepts, and these inevitably shape our life to a considerable degree. Reaching a
deep level of critical thinking by examining our concepts critically, becoming more aware of the way
individual concepts help us or hurt us, limit us or free us.
WHAT IS MINDSET?
The established set of attitudes held by someone. It is a good description of how our mindset operates.
Depending on our mindset, we will choose one path or the other.

2 TYPES OF MINSET

1. FIXED MINDSET
People perceive their talents and abilities as set traits. They believe that brains and talent alone are
enough for success and go through life with the goal of looking smart all the time.

They take any constructive criticism of their capabilities very personally, and tend to attribute others’
success to luck or some sort of unfair advantage. People with a fixed mindset will tell themselves they
are no good at something to avoid challenge, failure or looking dumb.

2. GROWTH MINDSET
People believe that their abilities can be developed through dedication, effort and hardwork. They think
brains and talent are not the key to lifelong success, but merely the starting point.

People with growth mindset are eager to enhance their qualities through lifelong learning, training and
practice. They see failure as an opportunity to improve their performance, and to learn from their
mistakes.

MINDSET FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP

An entrepreneurial mindset is the ability to quickly sense, take action, and get organized under certain
conditions. This also includes the ability to persevere, accept and learn from failure, and get comfortable with a
certain level of discomfort.

Cognitive strategies are the ways in which people solve problems such as reasoning, analyzing, experimenting
and so forth.

Metacognition is the way in which we understand our own performance or the process of “thinking about
thinking”.

PASSION ENTREPRENEURIAL MIND

passion can be defined as an intense positive emotion, which is usually related to entrepreneurs who are
engaged in meaningful ventures or tasks and activities, and which has the effect of motivating and stimulating
entrepreneurs to overcome obstacles and remain focused on their goal

NEGATIVE PASSION
It is possible to become blinded by passion and so obsessed by an idea or new venture that we fail to
heed the warning signs or refuse to listen to negative information or feedback. This type of negative
passion can actually curb business growth and limit the ability to creatively solve problems.

NEGATIVE IMPACTS (ENTREPRENEURIAL PASSION)

1. Founder Misalignment
This is a poor fit between the founder’s skills and what the new venture requires. More often than not,
startup founders fail to honestly assess how well their capabilities and motivations match up with what
it will take to successfully launch their idea. They end up floundering in an ill-suited role, and the idea
doesn’t get the right mix of talent around it to drive success.

2. Missing the Market

Somewhere out there in the cosmos is a massive graveyard of “great” business ideas. One of the most
common by-products of entrepreneurial passion is the founder’s assumption – even certainty – that
customer demand is high when, in fact, little or none exists. An idea isn’t great until the market says it is.
3. Rose-colored Planning (or none at all)
Somewhere out there in the cosmos is a massive graveyard of “great” business ideas. One of the most
common by-products of entrepreneurial passion is the founder’s assumption – even certainty – that
customer demand is high when, in fact, little or none exists. An idea isn’t great until the market says it is.

4. Unforgiving Strategies
Over-confident founders sometimes put the bulk of their resources into a single business strategy,
essentially putting all of their eggs in one basket, rather than preserving flexibility to experiment and
iterating their way to profitability.

5. Reality Distortion
Bad news is avoided or glossed over, and tough issues are rarely tackled.

6. Evaporating Runway
Some or all of the above dangers can lead to a rude awakening for founders who are caught in the
passion trap. What was assumed to be a lengthy startup “runway” evaporates quickly as the venture
runs out of cash and time.