Field Note #85. On "Effectuation Deux"

Source: Stuart Read, Saras Sarasvathy, Nick Dew, and Robert Wiltbank, Effectual Entrepreneurship ed. 2 (2017)

The Main Ideas.

"If opportunities are created, as opposed to found, then taking action is more important than doing research." (Read et al., 5)

Because entrepreneurship tends to fit into the "complex" domain on the Cynefin Framework (see Field Note 50), action bias trumps research bias.  

The opposite is true in investing--viz. public market / liquid investing--where research bias trumps action bias given that opportunities are found, not created by the investor as such.

The Errors.

Most entrepreneurs bias research (underpinned by fear, discomfort with uncertainty) over action.  

Most public market investors bias action (underpinned by over-trading, reflexive moves, YOLO, FOMO, etc.) over research (underpinned by depth, rigor, understanding, and patience).

The Details.