INSIDE THE ENTREPRENEURIAL MIND

INSIDE THE ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDFROM IDEAS TO REALITY

Lets Answer Some Key QuestionsExplain the difference among creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship?Describe why creativity and innovation are such an integral part of entrepreneurship.Understand how the two hemispheres of the human brain function and what role they play in creativity?What are the barriers to creativity?How entrepreneurs can enhance their own creativity?Describe the steps in creative process.Discuss the techniques for improving the creative process.

INTRODUCTIONEntrepreneurship is the ability to create new and useful ideas that solve problems and challenges people face everyday.Entrepreneurs achieve success by creating value in the marketplace when they combine resources in new and different ways to gain a competitive edge over rivals.

FREITAG BAGS22 years old MARKUS FREITAG with his brother DANIEL, design a waterproof bag.There are 127 rainy days in a year in ZURICH, SWITZERLAND.They used truck tarpaulins, seatbelts, bicycle inner tubes and airbags for making bags.Freitags came up with a creative product, one that has won numerous design awards and is sold worldwide.

CREATIVITY, INNOVATION &ENTREPRENEURSHIPCreativity involves generating something from nothing.Entrepreneurship is a constant process that relies on creativity, innovation and application in the marketplace.Entrepreneurship is the result of a disciplined, systematic process of applying creativity and innovation to needs and opportunities in the marketplace.Entrepreneurs are those who connect their creative ideas with the purposeful action and structure of a business.

CREATIVITYA NECESSITY FOR SURVIVALCreativity and innovation are integral parts of entrepreneurship.Entrepreneurs require to cast off the limiting assumptions, beliefs and behaviors and to develop new insights into the relationship between resources, needs and values.Entrepreneurs must always be on guard against traditional assumptions and perspectives about how things ought to be.A paradigm is a preconceived idea of what of the world is, what it should be like, and how it should operate.These ideas become so deeply rooted in our minds that they become immovable blocks to creative thinking.

CAN CREATIVITY BE TAUGHT?Research shows that anyone can learn to be creative.Every person can taught techniques and behaviors that help them generate more ideas. Says JOYCE WYCOFFInnovation and creativity are not just for artists. Says WYCOFF

CREATIVE THINKING LEFT BRAIN: RIGHT BRAIN:

BARRIERS TO CREATIVITYSearching for the one right answer.Focusing on being logical.Blindly following the rules.Constantly being practical.Viewing play as frivolous.Becoming overly specialized.Avoiding ambiguity.Fearing looking foolish.Fearing mistakes and failure.Believing that Im not creative.

ENHANCING ORGANIZATIONL CREATIVITY Entrepreneur must establish an environment in which creativity can flourish _ for themselves and for their workers. DEVELOPING A CORPORATE CULTURE THAT BOTH FOSTERS AND REWARDS CREATIVITY IS CRITICAL BECAUSE COMPANIES MUST BE ABLE TO CHURN OUT INNOVATIONS AT A FAST PACE SINCE TECHNOLOGY HAS SHORTENED PRODUCT LIFE CYCLES. Entrepreneur can stimulate their own creativity and encourage it among workers by: Embracing Diversity . Expecting Creativity.

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sc (s) - ENHANCING ORGANIZATIONL CREATIVITY (cont.) Expecting And Tolerating Failure. Encouraging Curiosity . Viewing Problems as Challenges. Providing Creativity Training . Providing Support . Developing a Procedure For Capturing Ideas. Rewarding Creativity.

10 Secrets For Leading Creativity leaders of innovation has identified the following characteristics: They Think. They are Visionaries. They Listen To Customer. They Understand How To Manage Ideas. They are People Centred. They Maintain a Culture Of Change. They Maximize team Synergy, balance and focus. They hold themselves and others accountable for extremely high standard of Performance. They Refuse to take no for an Answer. They Love what they do and fun doing it.

Enhancing Individual Creativity

Techniques of enhancing individual CreativityAllow Yourself To Be Creative. Recognize The Creative Power of Mistakes.Keep A Journal Handy To Record Yours Thoughts And Ideas.Listen To Other People .Talk To A Child.Keep A Toy Box In Your Office.Read Books On Stimulating Creativity OR Take a Class On Creativity.Take Some Time Off.

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THE CREATIVE PROCESSCREATIVE PROCESS INVOLES SEVEN STEPS:Preparation: This step involves getting the mind ready for creative thinking. Preparation might include a formal education , on-the job training, work experience , and taking advantage of other learning opportunities. Investigation: This step requires developing a solid understanding of the problem or situation , decision on hand. To create new ideas and concepts in a particular field , an individual first must study the problem and understand its basic components. Transformation: Transformation involves viewing the similarities and the differences in the information collected . This phase requires two types of thinking: convergent thinking. divergent thinking.

THE CREATIVE PROCESS (cont.)

Incubation: The subconscious needs time to reflect on the information collected. To an observer , this phase of the creative process would be quite boring; it looks as though nothing is happening. Incubation occurs while the individual is away from the problem, often engaging in some totally unrelated activity. Illumination: This phase of the creative process occurs at some point during the incubation stage when a spontaneous breakthrough causes the light bulb to go on.it take place after five minutes _or five years. In illumination stage , all the previous stages come to produce the Eureka factor-the creation of the innovative idea. Verification: Validating the idea as accurate and useful, for entrepreneurs, may include conducting experiments, running simulations, test marketing a product or service, establishing small-scale pilot, programs and other activities designed to verify that the new idea will work and is practical to implement. Implementation: The focus of this step is to transform the idea into reality. Plenty of people come up with creative ideas for promising new products ,but most never take them beyond the idea stage. What sets entrepreneurs apart is that they act on their ideas.

Techniques For Improving The Creative ProcessBRAINSTORMING: A process in which a small group of people interact with very little structure with the goal of producing a large quantity of novel and imaginative ideas. FOR BRAINSTORMING SESSION TO BE SUCCESSFUL ,ENTREPRENEUR SHOULD FOLLOW THESE GUIDELINES: Keep the group small- five to eight members. Company rank and department affiliation are irrelevant. Limit the session to 40 to 60 minutes. Appoint someone to the job of recorder. Use a seating pattern that encourages communication and interaction. Through logic out the window. Encourage all ideas from the team, even wild and extremes ones. Establish a goal of quantity of ideas over quality of ideas. Forbid evaluation or criticism of any idea during the brainstorming Sometimes you get a brainstorm , sometimes you just get the clouds..

Techniques For Improving The Creative Process Encourage participants to use idea hitch-hiking, building new ideas on those already suggested. Mind-Mapping A graphical technique that encourages thinking on both sides of the brain, visually displays the various relationships among ideas, and improve the ability to view a problem from many sides. The Mind-mapping process works this way: Start by writing down or sketching a picture symbolizing the problem or area of focus in the center of a large blank page. Write down every idea that comes into your mind, connecting each idea to the central picture. When the flow of ideas slows to a trickle, stop! dont try to force creativity. Allow your mind to rest for a few minutes and then begin to integrate the ideas on the page into a mind map. Rapid Prototyping : The process of creating a model of an idea, enabling an entrepreneur to discover flaws in the idea to make improvements in the design. The three principles of rapid prototyping are the three Rs : Rough Rapid Right

Protecting Your IdeasPatentsA grant from the federal governments Patent and Trademark Office to the inventor of a product, giving the exclusive right to make, use, or sell the invention in this country for 20 years from the date of filing the patent application.

The patent process:Establish the inventions novelty.Document the deviceSearch existing patentsStudy search resultsSubmit the patent applicationProsecute the patent application

TrademarksAny distinctive word, phrase, symbol, design, name, logo, slogan, or trade dress that a company uses to identify the origin of a product or to distinguish it from other goods on the market.

Trade Dress: The unique combination of elements that a company issues to create a products image and to promote it.

CopyrightsAn exclusive right that protects the creators of original works of authorship such as literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works.Registering copyrights does give creator greater protection over their work.A valid copyright on a work lasts for the life of the creator plus 7 years after his or her death.

CRUX:Creative process is a tenant of the entrepreneurial experience . Creativity results in value and value provides a competitive advantage. Entrepreneur protects their creative ideas with patents, trademark and copyrights to sustain a competitive edge.