This has been the foremost question after I encountered Julia Galef’s Ted Talk on “why Scout Mindset is crucial to good judgement. Motivated
Reasoning in layman terms meaning seeking out and using information which confirms your existing beliefs and ignoring contrarian information
which contradicts. This thus brings the concept of a soldier’s and scout’s mindset.
To give context, a soldier’s mindset is always ready to go into battle with pumping adrenaline a call away. A soldier is conditioned to be prepared for
war any day and time in any conditions. In current times, a soldier mindset tends to approach situations with by defending their beliefs and negating
conflicting information since they don’t agree with a conflicting stand.
On the other hand, a scout’s mindset is prevalent with curiosity. In early days ( and even currently in the battles of espionage), scouts would be sent to
spy on their enemies and report back to their commanders about the formers situation. Their role was to observe and report without any bias or
prejudice. This might sound medieval but in current times this is just as important as it was during the Roman times.
As an individual, I have tried to relate these concepts to my personal and work life and tried to identify which areas have been approached with a
soldier mindset and why. I have realized that in my decision-making process, I conform to either scout or soldier reasoning based on two things; if it
aligns with my values or if I stand to gain from it.
I believe I have always had a scout’s mindset in the way I take on new information from an early age. This was primarily shaped by my passion
towards obtaining new information mostly through books. As time progressed, this changed towards a soldier’s mindset due to the way the education
system is structured. In the Kenyan education context, you are acclimatized to concepts and theories tested in the past and you are supposed to take
them as the gospel truth for you to be considered an education success. After 16 years (considering you went to university) of these hardwiring
methods, you are supposed to come out and face the world with an open mind which is contrary to what you have been learning and the experience is
nothing but steep for most.
Myself included.
I had an early stint with entrepreneurship (circa age 15) and this exposed me to some concepts that have been my guiding principles till now. I started
selling fried pouch like bread (‘Mandazis’) in my neighborhood with a couple of friends and got a firsthand experience on how to tailor a product
based on customer feedback. I was making money but there was always this gnawing feeling in my mind that I needed to have a high paying career to
be deemed successful in life. 4 businesses later, this feeling is still there and it made worse by the perception that entrepreneurship (In Kenya) for
most people is a side hustle away from their main job.
The Kenyan education system teaches from an early age the need to be successful in studies so that you can get your dream job. They emphasize the
concepts of working in an already running organization with proper systems in place. In pre-school and lower primary our teachers would always
keep asking us what we wanted to be when we grew up and anything different from a pilot, doctor, engineer or lawyer was shunned with disapproving
looks. Nonetheless, it seems teaching for most of them wasn’t a first choice but a result of a broken-down system. Getting into entrepreneurship early
provided a conflict of interest in what I was encountering in the real world and what I needed to conform to in school.
I have to admit, when starting out as an entrepreneur, I had no credible mentor who I could look up to for guidance so most of my decisions were
rationally based on my environment and how I perceived it. The assessment of an opportunity was done with how many people have the same need
and how can capitalize on it. This in essence meant a top-down approach to setting businesses with the entrepreneur(me) being at the center of focus
going outward to consumers. Despite this wrong approach, it served its purpose but proved to be challenge when trying to scale to bigger markets.
Since then, I have learnt the concept of Responsible Entrepreneurship which highlights the need to contribute positively to society whilst minimizing
the negative impacts on people and the environment. This kind of entrepreneurship is all-inclusive and its impact is felt both directly and indirectly to
consumers. For instance, a company that produces equipment to be used for better farming practices also needs to be aware of how their industrial
waste affects the environment and mitigate against it. The aspect of responsible entrepreneurship touches on both groups and individuals and how
they can improve the welfare of society collectively without putting anyone at a risk.
A responsible entrepreneur, according to Disha Kathuria in this article, needs to have these 5 key major attributes :
- An Internal desire to be responsible
A entrepreneur needs to step up and take responsibility in situations which require him to do and do away with the blame game. I have been in
situations whereby I pointed the blame to a colleague without acknowledging my actions or lack thereof necessitated the final problem.
In the same spirit, I have also taken credits aimed for the whole team.
- Good time management skills
A responsible entrepreneur understand that time is a limited resource which needs to be maximized and thus inculcate fundamental skills like
delegation, trust and self-knowledge to fully tap into its potential. I have to admit; I am not the best time manager. I have in the past spent countless
hours on a task that I could have delegated. Some of the lessons have been learnt the hard way especially during the times I was growing a team for
my company and I still learn daily.
- The ability to be part of a whole
An entrepreneur needs to not only focus on improving him/herself but rather work towards impacting the whole community, positively. This stance
should be prevalent from the time they embark on their journey till the end. Personally, I have always been driven by making an impact to more
people than I engage with. I do what I do because I realize if I maximize my potential, more people stand to gain and get inspired in what they do.
When I started Oratech Solutions, the need was driven to improving the efficiency in organizations in how they work through customized software
solutions. This has remained consistent through the years despite the changing landscape of software and how we offer solutions currently.
- Purpose driven
A responsible entrepreneur is supposed to go beyond their ego and connection to a personal purpose; to be purposeful entails being in service of a
purpose greater than ourselves. An entrepreneur success is predicated by their why – why they want to be an entrepreneur
What is my purpose? This has been the question in my mind for the longest time. Buddha is popularly known for saying that our purpose in life is to
find our purpose and give our whole heart and soul to it and I have tried to live within this mantra in my search for it. At an early age, I knew I was
destined to be a pilot and paint the skies with the trail of my airplane smoke traversing continent to continent. Since then, I have wanted to be many
things and more, but all of them are driven by the need to be fulfilled. I realized most of my early ambitions were selfish geared towards improving self
but I have been learning to hitch myself to something greater than me to have a more purposeful impact.
- A strong sense of ownership
Responsible entrepreneurship requires individuals to be driven by both intellect and intuition and taking care of each and every step in their
businesses. This process requires research-backed decisions without bias and thus entrepreneurs sense of ownership needs to be driven by their
passion for keeping things real and honest.
In my entrepreneurial journey, I have tried to be transparent to both my stakeholders and self though there have been situations where I went off this
path. I have hired employees based on friendship instead of merit and this has in the past had some adverse effects on the business. I have also been
caught severally in the interweb of assuming the business is doing well while fully being aware things are bad and action needs to be taken. As time
progresses, and with responsible entrepreneurship in mind, I have fully adopted the strategy of keeping things honest and true to myself and others
for its only through that that mistake can be identified and real progress can be made.
I know there is a lot of adjustments to be made and perceptions to be changed about entrepreneurship by self before I can deem myself as an overall
responsible entrepreneur and am committed towards this through learning new concepts and having an open mind to critique situations without bias.
