The Right Type of Entrepreneurship
Submitted by Malcolm on Fri, 01/16/2009 - 20:24.
When most people talk of entrepreneurship they think of risk and the willingness to lose all.
All of this is contrary to having Asperger Syndrome: we are risk averse, don't like uncertainty and prefer predictable routines and structures.
Yet some people with AS overcome these factors and thrive; indeed, they are highly dynamic.
Would anyone like/be able to comment on this as I feel that identifying the right parameters is critical, especially so given that being self-employed overcomes many of the typical barriers and hurdles that people with AS encounter in a conventional work setting: corporate politics, inter-personal relationships etc.
Entrepreneurs
I really don't know the right type of entrepreneurship since I don't have much experience with this.
I don't think I can be a entrepreneur myself. For me it's too risky, too difficult and it takes a lot of patience and time out of my life. I notice (especially these days) people need a good amount of money, knowledge and back bone to really be a effective entrepreneur. I do give full credit for entrepreneurs that succeed.
I think so. It certainly
I think so. It certainly isn't for me as I am very risk averse but kudos to the people who can make a go of running their own business.
Reward vs. Personal Satisfaction
I think that there is another angle to this.
I have been prompted to write following an article I read in The Sunday Times (major UK weekend spreadsheet), about a guy who worked in the film industry.
He was very high up in a major studio in Hollywood but got stale with it all - "burnt out" to use his words - and also dejected with what he described as the ruthlessness of the movie industry and how all the glamour and associated trappings of wealth eventually became meaningless to him.
Between jobs he took a break in Cambodia and discovered - literally - a rubbish dump with your children scavenging on it. It moved him so much that, when he went back in Hollywood, it made him realise "how vacuous it all was" - and so he jacked his high-flying job in! He started a charity helping the children and now works solely on that without earning much money - but is great deal happier.
I think that the same applies ot having Asperger syndrome, largely because of our honesty and values: simply earning money for money's sake will never provide motivaton of satisfaction.
However, that doesn't mean that people with Asperger shouldn't or cannot be entreprenueurial; in fact, it can mean quite the opposite.
I feel the key is doing something that you are passionate about and relates to purpose or our values. If this is present then the motivation will be also - and the spur to really be creative and develop successful business propositions.