Selective Attention in Entrepreneurship

My conservative parents always told me

“Don’t bother studying business, it’s all common sense anyways, you can figure it out on your own”

I’ve come to learn that it’s true, business is mostly common sense. BUT, hindsight is 20/20.

It’s always easy to reflect on things in the past and say “Of course, that makes sense”

But then, why do we still so often fall into those “Crap, why didn’t I think of that” situations as entrepreneurs?

Borrowing from my background in psychology, there is this concept known as Selective Attention:

What does it mean in the context of entrepreneurship? When we’re faced with a problem or a challenge, as Kenny MacKenzie once told me, everything is either:

1. A tool to help us solve the problem
2. A distraction
3. Irrelevant (we’re not even considering it).

Because of this, it’s often easy to miss out on simple common sense ways to solve our problems if we’re working on our own.

This is why it’s so important to surround yourself with a network of people who can point out your blind spots.

1. Mentors
2. Advisors
3. Peers (Masterminds/Roundtables are a great option)
4. Consultants/Coaches if appropriate
5. And of course, don’t forget your customers. Listen to them, you’d be surprised by what they might suggest.