Bird In Hand Principle
When expert entrepreneurs seek to build a new venture, they start with their means. These means can be grouped into three categories:
- Who I am—my traits, tastes, and abilities
- What I know—my education, training, expertise, and experience
- Who I know—my social and professional networks.
Using a combination of these means, the entrepreneur begins to imagine possibilities and take action. Most often, she starts very small with the closest means and moves almost directly into implementation without elaborate planning (fire, aim versus aim, fire). With each action, possible outcomes are reconfigured. Eventually, certain emerging effects coalesce into clearly achievable and desirable goals—landmarks begin to appear on the blank map. The end goals are the combined result of the imagination and aspirations of the entrepreneur and the people she has interacted with during the process.