ABSTRACT
The work of Shane/Venkataraman has been crucial in confirming the centrality of opportunity identification to a better understanding of entrepreneurship. To understand the links between entrepreneurial cognition and creative thinking and consider why they are important to opportunity identification. The work of McClelland was particularly influential with traits such as tolerance of ambiguity, the need for achievement and risk-taking supposedly associated with entrepreneurship. The concept of creativity, similar to entrepreneurship, is widely misunderstood to be associated with a small number of highly creative individuals. A starting point might be to consider how your close friends or family would react to your intention to become an entrepreneur rather than following a more traditional career path. Thinking about problems from the perspective of other people can be a trigger to creative solutions by helping you adopt a different mental frame. Creativity can be understood as a balance between ideas that are original and at the same time useful.
