Chapter 4
Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind:
From Ideas to Reality
Masters Class, Fall 2020
Parts of this chapter had been taken from the book:
Scarborough, Norman M. and Cornwall, Jeffrey R. Essentials of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management. Eight Edition, 2016.
Creativity and Innovation
Creativity
The ability to develop new ideas and to discover new
ways of looking at problems and opportunities; thinking
new thinks.
Innovation
The ability to apply creative solutions to problems or
opportunities to enhance or to enrich people’s lives;
doing new things.
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship – the result of a disciplined,
systematic process of applying creativity and
innovation to the needs and opportunities in the
marketplace.
Entrepreneurs connect their creative ideas with the
purposeful action and structure of a business.
Creativity
Creativity is an important source of building a
comprehensive advantage.
Barriers to Creativity
Searching for the one “right” answer.
Focusing on “being logical”.
Blindly following the rules.
Constantly being practical.
Viewing play as frivolous.
Barriers to Creativity (cont’d)
Becoming overly specialized.
Avoiding ambiguity.
Fear of looking foolish!
Fear of making mistakes and failure.
Believing that “I’m not creative”.
Tips to Enhance Organizational Creativity
Include creativity as a core company value.
Embrace diversity.
Expect creativity.
Expect and tolerate failure.
Create an organizational structure that nourishes
creativity.
Tips to Enhance Organizational Creativity
(cont’d)
Encourage curiosity.
View problems as opportunities. (stones as stepping
stones).
Provide creativity training.
Provide support.
Develop a procedure for capturing ideas.
Tips to Enhance Organizational Creativity
(cont’d)
Talk and interact with your customers.
Look for uses for your company’s products or services
in other markets.
Reward creativity and celebrate it.
Tips to Enhance Individual Creativity
Allow yourself to be creative.
Give your mind fresh input every day. (Ideas?)
Observe the products and services of other
companies, especially those in completely different
markets.
Notice what is missing!
Tips to Enhance Individual Creativity
(cont’d)
Keep a journal to record your thoughts and ideas
(anyone tried this before?)
Listen to other people. (whom?)
Listen to customers.
Talk to a child.
Keep a toy box in your office.
Tips to Enhance Individual Creativity
(cont’d)
Do not throw away “bad” ideas.
Read books or take a class on creativity.
Take a break.
Be persistent.
The Creative Process
Preparation
Implementation Investigation
Verification Transformation
Illumination Incubation
The Creative Process - Preparation
Get your mind ready for creative thinking
Read a lot.
Clip articles.
Take time to discuss your ideas with other people.
Join professional associations. Prepar
ation
Travel to new places. Impleme Investi
ntation gation
Widen your experience
Develop your listening skills. Verific Transfor
ation mation
Eliminate creative distractions.
Illumin Incuba
ation tion
The Creative Process - Investigation
Gather information as much as you can.
Conduct market surveys.
Prepar
ation
Impleme Investi
ntation gation
Verific Transfor
ation mation
Illumin Incuba
ation tion
The Creative Process - Transformation
How can you transform information into purposeful
ideas?
Look at the “big picture”.
Rearrange the elements of the situation.
Remember that several approaches can be
Prepar
successful. If one fails, jump to another. ation
Impleme Investi
ntation gation
Verific Transfor
ation mation
Illumin Incuba
ation tion
The Creative Process - Incubation
Grow your idea.
Dream about the problem or opportunity.
Work on the problem in a different environment.
Prepar
ation
Impleme Investi
ntation gation
Verific Transfor
ation mation
Illumin Incuba
ation tion
The Creative Process - Illumination
Take your idea to the light
Prepar
ation
Impleme Investi
ntation gation
Verific Transfor
ation mation
Illumin Incuba
ation tion
The Creative Process - Verification
Prepar
ation
Impleme Investi
ntation gation
Validate the idea as accurate and useful
Is it really a better solution? Verific Transfo
ation mation
Will it work?
Illumin Incuba
Is there a need for it? ation tion
If so, which is the best application of this idea in the
marketplace?
Does this product or service fit into our core
competencies?
How much will it cost to produce or provide it?
Can we sell it at a reasonable price?
The Creative Process - Implementation
Proceed
Prepar
ation
Impleme Investi
ntation gation
Verific Transfor
ation mation
Illumin Incuba
ation tion
Techniques for Improving the
Creative Process
Brainstorming
To create a large quantity of novel and imaginative ideas.
Brainstorming Guidelines
Keep the group:
Small.
Diversified as possible.
Have a well-defined problem.
Limit the session to 40 to 60 minutes.
Appoint a recorder.
Brainstorming Guidelines (cont’d)
Use a seating pattern that encourages interaction.
(U- shape: everyone is equal)
Throw logic out of the window.
Encourage all ideas from the team.
(There is nothing as such a ‘bad idea’)
Shoot for the quantity of ideas over quality of ideas.
Forbid criticism.
Thank you.
