Brinkerink, J. (2025). Negative Capability and Entrepreneurial Action. _Strategic Change_. ## ABSTRACT Entrepreneurs operate in environments marked by uncertainty. Existing theories of entrepreneurial action largely emphasize an entrepreneur's ability to make judgments and take decisive action despite ongoing uncertainty—competencies primarily supported by what we term positive capability (PC). In contrast, this paper introduces negative capability (NC), a concept originating in the work of John Keats, describing the ability to remain in uncertainty without the immediate need for resolution. We conceptualize NC and PC as interdependent meta-capacities that co-regulate entrepreneurial competencies and shape how individuals internally and externally engage with uncertainty. Integrating these meta-capacities into Zellweger and Zenger's model of the entrepreneur as scientist, we demonstrate how their dynamic interplay enables more deliberate and effective entrepreneurial action. The framework offers new insights into how entrepreneurs form, test, and update opportunity beliefs, and highlights the importance of cultivating NC alongside PC in aspiring entrepreneurs. ### Summary - The entrepreneurship literature emphasizes how entrepreneurs act under uncertainty but underexplores how they internally engage with it. - This paper introduces negative capability—the capacity to remain in uncertainty without premature resolution—as a critical complement to positive capability. - Negative and positive capability are conceptualized as interdependent meta-capacities that co-regulate entrepreneurial competencies. - Their dynamic interplay is theorized across Zellweger and Zenger's stages of belief formation, testing, and updating in entrepreneurial action. - The framework offers new directions for understanding and cultivating more deliberate, adaptive entrepreneurial action.