When uncertainty never ends: rethinking the entrepreneurial mindset in prolonged crisis

Purpose This study examines how entrepreneurial mindset (EM) is enacted and reconfigured under conditions of prolonged crisis, and how this enables entrepreneurs to sustain action and create value under persistent uncertainty. Design/methodology/approach Adopting a constructivist grounded theory approach, the study draws on 23 in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs operating in Palestine. Data were analysed iteratively through line-by-line initial coding and constant comparison, supported by a Gioia-informed analytical structure. Findings The findings show that prolonged crisis activates EM as an enabling system for action through the interaction of cognitive flexibility, emotional adaptability, and adaptive action. Rather than facilitating opportunity expansion, these dimensions support continuity-oriented decision-making, sustained engagement, and selective action under constraint. Value creation is reframed beyond growth to include economic survival, social responsibility, and community stability, supporting value preservation. Originality/value The study contributes to EM literature by conceptualising entrepreneurial mindset as a dynamic enabling system for action under prolonged uncertainty. In doing so, it extends entrepreneurship research beyond growth-centric and episodic crisis perspectives, highlighting forms of entrepreneurial action that are often overlooked in unstable contexts.