Dueling Banjos: Harmony and Discord between ADHD and Entrepreneurship

Abstract

The past half century has witnessed a steady and diverse flow of scholarly research to understand the role individual differences play in determining entrepreneurial pursuits and new venture outcomes. Quite recently, the search for micro-level drivers has led scholars to investigate the role of diagnosable conditions such as Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The potential influence of ADHD looms large in the field of entrepreneurship as a spate of recent studies reveals the extent to which the condition is associated with creativity, entrepreneurial orientation and new venture initiation. While offering significant progress in de-stigmatizing aberrant conditions, extant scholarship has left unanswered questions regarding when and how ADHD exerts positive or negative influence on entrepreneurial action, execution risk, management acumen, operational excellence and new venture outcomes. Accepting that ADHD should be neither stigmatized nor romanticized in the context of entrepreneurship, we develop a framework offering a more integrated and veridical assessment of ADHD across the complete lifecycle of business venturing. Research propositions and opportunities for future lines of inquiry are elaborated.