The Neuroscience – Triage Lending

I talk a lot about the difference between the entrepreneur and the lender, both in terms of mindset and outlook. The fact that entrepreneurs and lenders see the world differently is no great surprise, however it gets more interesting when you look at the science behind it.

I use the term ‘triage’ as the process of assessing a patient and prioritising treatment has many synergies with how lenders look at credit applications and decide which deals to take forward and which to decline. When it comes to the science, the Prism profiling of a good triage nurse and a good credit underwriter are very similar.

Prism Brain Mapping

For anyone who has spent time in the corporate world or has undertaken some training in the neuroscience area then Prism will be a familiar process. Essentially the Prism system splits human behaviour into four quadrants with different weightings in each. Being able to move from one quadrant to another is a skill, it also starts to explain why lender and borrower often disagree.

The traits of the entrepreneur and traits of the lender sit in polar opposite areas.

Typically the business owner (or entrepreneur) has a great level of innovative thinking, is more optimistic, positive and actively seeks out the opportunity. The lender is more black and white, more judgemental and focused on the task in hand. This is typical, it doesn’t apply in every case as humans are, well, human.

The fact it doesn’t apply in every case can explain why sometimes the lender and business owner click, however it also explains why in many circumstances the business owner thinks their bank doesn’t understand them and the bank, even though they won’t say so, can’t understand why the business owner fails to provide the information they want.

How To Overcome The Difference

If there was an easy answer I would probably close the doors at Lime now. There isn’t an easy answer however the solution probably lies in appreciating the difference and trying to understand that it isn’t personal, it’s just human nature and how the different roles work.

It may be worth looking at Prism brain mapping to understand where your brain operates as a business owner versus those of the typical profile credit underwriter at the lender. I’ll leave that one with you.

By Dave Farmer