mathematical thinking for entrepreneurial success presentation

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28 March 2015This document is solely for the use of MathsGenius Leadership Institute personnel and Advisory Board. No part of it may be circulated, quoted, or reproduced for distribution without prior written approval from MathsGenius Leadership Institute..

Mathematical thinking for entrepreneurial success

Gaussian Mind Trading and Projects

T/A MathsGenius Leadership Institute

Phone: +2778 585 8937

Title: Chief Genius

Website: www.mathsgenius.co.za

Email: [email protected]

Presenter: Edzai Conilias Zvobwo

MathsGenius Leadership Institute

Twitter: @edzaizvobwo

What is mathematical thinking?

MathsGenius Leadership Institute 2015 ©

Are you an architect if you:

•Dig trenches•Pour concrete•Bricklaying•Carpentry•Do Plumbing•Do electrical wiring•Roofing



“Mathematical thinking is the equivalent of architecting. You need all of those individual

house-building skills to build a house. But putting those skills together and making use

of them requires a higher-order form of thinking. You need someone who can design the building and oversee its construction.” –

Keith Devlin



Mathematical thinking is a whole way of looking at things, of stripping them down to

their numerical, structural, or logical essentials, and of analysing the underlying patterns. Moreover, it involves adopting the

identity of a mathematical thinker.

How does a mathematician think?

Why mathematical thinking?


1.Prepares you for optimal complex problem solving and decision making (e.g. knowledge of key ratios and other magic numbers) 2.Builds resilience and confidence.3.Promotes resourcefulness(effectual thinking vs. causal thinking)4.Helps you become more creative and critical.


Thinking like a mathematician - Steps

1.Identify the correct problem to solve.2.Understand the problem.3.Devise a plan.4.Carry out the plan.5.Evaluate.

In 1994, Saunders Mac Lane, offered intuition, trial, error, speculation, conjecture, proof as the sequence in which we come to understand and develop mathematics.

Why school maths sucked


• A series of rigid rules and methods.• No meaning in everyday life• Timed exams• No room for risk-taking and faith.• Failure/wrong answer frowned upon• Too much emphasis on neatness.• Too abstract.• Many teachers don’t appreciate the

subject

What can be improved?


• Emphasis on brain platform development.• Mathematical modelling and application.• Room for creativity, open-mindedness and

versatility.• Design and art thinking + faith• Embracing of failure as critical to learning• Efficiency in problem solving• Frameworks for achieving first principles• Appreciation of maths as a language

What can be improved?


• Role playing e.g. Hackathon• Root-cause analysis (Appreciation of

cause and effect)• Presentation of problem solving as a

continuous process• Framework driven success.• Redefinition of genius• Change in mathematical blueprint

“Maths is to the mind, what love is to the heart” – Edzai Conilias Zvobwo


Effectual thinking is a heuristic way of reasoning that requires imagination and risk-taking. And it this heuristic attribute of the entrepreneurial reasoning that makes mathematical training advantageous to any aspiring entrepreneur.


mathematical thinking for entrepreneurial success presentation

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