I came across an interesting book the other day titled the The Da Vinci Method, not to be confused with the controversial bestseller of similiar name. I haven’t had a chance to read the book itself but I sure did read about it and found the argument it poses very interesting: entrepreneurs typically have ADHD - attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The primary characteristics of ADHD are inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.

The book’s website claims the following entrepreneurial and inventive people had it:

• Richard Branson
• Bill Clinton
• Albert Einstein
• P. Diddy
• Ben Cohen
• Thomas Edison
• George Lucas
• Bono
• Walt Disney

and of course many more. The core of the argument is that ADHD people have personality attributes that greatly aid in entrepreneurial success. I’m on the side that ADHD is overtreated and I’ve never been convinced that milder cases of it are necessarily a bad thing due to the positive attributes it can provide, the most important of which is a very different outlook on one’s situation. ADHD people tend to get deeply involved in things that interest them, but have difficulties focusing outside this sphere of interest. They are also prone to starting multiple projects and constantly coming up with new ideas. All good things for entrepreneurs. This about.com article by Eileen Baily has a nice correlation of how ADHD relates to entrepreneurship:

ADHD Distracted-Seems to always have something new to think about.
Entrepreneur - Constantly has new ideas for how to improve the business

ADHD - Starts several projects at the same time, may not complete any of them.
Entrepreneur - Flexible. Approaches problems from several different angles, always ready to change direction if that is what is needed

ADHD - Distorted sense of time. For example, will spend hours playing a video game without realizing how much time has passed.
Entrepreneur - Immerses him or herself in the job and often does not realize how much time has passed

ADHD - Visual thinkers
Entrepreneur - Visionaries who paint a picture for others

ADHD - Hands-on learners
Entrepreneur - Hands-on managers

ADHD - Hyperactive
Entrepreneur - Always on the go

I hate self-diagnosis but I definitely recognize these attributes not only in myself but other entrepreneurs I know. People are always shocked when they learn how terrible I am at math despite being great at other analytical and logical areas. The reason is very simple though - I have about as little interest in the subject as I humanly can. This creates a double attention problem as I am simulateneously not interested in the material and my brain starts pummeling me with great ideas for areas that do interest me, such as my business. For differential equations I had a tutor every weekend who was there just as much to keep me focused as actually explain concepts.

I did some more research (typing words into Google) and came up with a PDF titled ‘ADHD’ or ‘Latent Entrepreneur Personality Type’ that goes into things in greater detail. It has a terrific description of ADHD, a redefinition of ADHD as “hunter genes”, and explanations of how ADHD works. The hunter concept is really neat:

Hunters will take some personal risks to catch
their prey, while those with peasant farmer
genes would prefer to stop for a strategic plan.
This behaviour is seen as impulsiveness and
risk taking. These are both qualities that lead
to successful entrepreneurship. Too much
focus on business planning actually reduces the
likelihood of business success. Instead
successful entrepreneurs iterate between
doing a little planning and then taking
action in a constant process of learning
while doing.

The hunter may get hurt when they pull down
the prey, yet the next day they will do it again.
Consequences lead to awareness of the risks
but do little to stop them from taking those
risks. For ADHD children this means that the
normal behavioural modification technique of
applying natural and logical consequences has
little effect. This characteristic can also been
seen as resilience to setbacks, a critical quality
in entrepreneurship. Highly successful
entrepreneurs will typically have a string of
failures behind them, but they won’t perceive
them as failures. Instead they will see these as
a series of learning experiences.
2003 - Deb Gilbertson

It’s ironic that the same characteristics that make it difficult to succeed in school can also be the ones that lead people to do great things. Yet another reason why the education system in western civilization needs serious reform, a topic for another day.

Summary of Materials I’ve Found on Entrepreneurs and ADHD

• about.com - The ADHD Entrepreneur
• The Da Vinci Method
• ‘ADHD’ or Latent Entrepreneur Personality Type? (PDF) - very interesting

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This entry was posted on Monday, May 15th, 2006 at 5:50 am and is filed under Books, Entrepreneurship. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.