They call it: ~~Easily distracted~~ We call it

Opportunity Spotter

Also known as seeing opportunities.

The short version You notice openings: the gap, the shortcut, the chance other people walked straight past.

Sounds like you?

You see the free table, the open lane, the side door.
You hear a complaint and think, someone should build that.
You find a use for the thing everyone else threw away.

Why it’s a power

A mind that keeps scanning keeps finding things. While you’re supposed to be looking at one thing, part of you is checking what else is possible. Sometimes that’s a distraction. Sometimes it’s the best idea of the year.

Adults with ADHD say this about themselves. In a study of 400 adults, those with ADHD rated themselves higher on “seeing opportunities” than adults without.^{Source 1} In a Dutch survey, 48 of 206 adults with ADHD called themselves resourceful, and 15 named spotting opportunities outright.^{Source 2}

Seeing the chance is the first half. Fourteen Swedish entrepreneurs with ADHD told researchers about acting on chances that others passed up. Some paid off and some didn’t.^{Source 3} The spotting is the power. Choosing which ones to chase is the skill.

Studied

Adults with ADHD rated themselves higher on seeing opportunities in a 400-person study. It was self-rated, and the gap was small.

Where it shines

Starting a side business
Sales, scouting, journalism
Finding the clever move in a game

The flip side

Every opening looks worth taking, and you can’t take them all. A new chance can cost you the one you were already working on.

Power-up: try this today

Keep one list called Later and park each new opportunity there for a day before you act.

Say it to a kid

You’re a treasure hunter. Where other people see a plain old beach, you see the shiny thing sticking out of the sand.

Someone who has this one

David Neeleman

Founder of JetBlue, Azul and Breeze airlines

I can think outside the box and look at a very complex situation and simplify it and figure it out. And I can look at the world just a little bit differently and figure out solutions to things that people would not have thought of.

Said in: Neeleman in TIME for Kids, 2024

David Neeleman has started or co-started five airlines, including JetBlue, Azul and Breeze. In 1993 his airline Morris Air became one of the first to fly passengers without paper tickets. He builds teams of organized people around him so the ideas get finished.

Facts from: Goldman Sachs, 2024, Deseret News, 1993, Neeleman in Forbes, 2023

Take-Apart Brain Idea Fountain

Where this comes from

Hargitai, L. D., Laan, E. L. M., Schippers, L. M., Livingston, L. A., Fairchild, G., Shah, P., & Hoogman, M. (2025). The role of psychological strengths in positive life outcomes in adults with ADHD. Psychological Medicine, 55, e278. Read it
Schippers, L. M., Horstman, L. I., van de Velde, H., Rodrigues Pereira, R., Zinkstok, J., Mostert, J. C., Greven, C. U., & Hoogman, M. (2022). A qualitative and quantitative study of self-reported positive characteristics of individuals with ADHD. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, 922788. Read it
Wiklund, J., Patzelt, H., & Dimov, D. (2016). Entrepreneurship and psychological disorders: how ADHD can be productively harnessed. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 6, 14-20. Read it

No. 13: Yes Mode

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