Helping Your Students Master Their Own Creativity in the Entrepreneurship Classroom: Helping Your Students Master Their Own Creativity in the Entrepreneurship Classroom by Jeffrey A. Stamp, PhD Assistant Professor and Chair of Entrepreneurship College of Business and Public Administration


Slide2: Are students creative? Can students create? What do they think about? Can they be taught to think entrepreneurially? Are they capable of experiencing serendipity?


Slide3: Dr. J’s children


Slide5: Entrepreneurship is the essence of advantage.


Slide6: The process of creating value by bringing together a unique package of resources to exploit an opportunity. Morris et al.


Slide7: Creativity: Is the art of expanding possibility. - Anthony Weston “Creativity for Critical Thinkers”


Slide8: Creativity: is the ability to cast a situation or challenge or problem in a new light and thereby open up the possibilities in it that were not evident before. - Anthony Weston “Creativity for Critical Thinkers”


Slide9: Creativity is the process of divergent thinking in search of an opportunity. Stamp The Entrepreneurial Context To search is about disciplining your mind to be alert to what you might find.


Framework Context: Framework Context “search” “pursuit” Creative Process Entrepreneurial Process


Slide11: All ideas deserve to exist. Ideas are not created equal! …but they are a part of your life. But not all ideas deserve to be in the marketplace.


Addressing Opportunity: Addressing Opportunity a b Conventional Thinking Entrepreneurial Thinking


Slide13: Problems: are our opportunities to change the world. Nothing less than that. - Anthony Weston “Creativity for Critical Thinkers”


Slide14: Serendipity Serendipity: unsought for accidental discovery (associated with chance, providence and luck). Serendipity: accidental sagacity. Looking for “A” and finding “B.” (Walpole, 1754) Serendipity: empirical research that is fruitful that yields unexpected useful results. (Merton, 1949)


Slide15: Serendipity Serendipity is the essence of creativity. Serendipity: “meaningful coincidence” Recognizing matching pairs of events that are meaningful rather than causally related. (de Rond, 2005) Serendipity: “controlled sloppiness.” (Bygrave, 1989)


Slide16: Creativity is the ability to look at the ordinary and see the extraordinary. DeWitt Jones Photographer, National Geographic What is Creativity? getting the students to see connections where they aren’t readily obvious


Slide17: Habits: become blinders to creativity. - Anthony Weston “Creativity for Critical Thinkers”


Slide18: The tree is not always brown!


Slide19: “Set” Thinking: Solutions to perceived stimulus derived from memory recall from past successful patterns. - Anthony Weston “Creativity for Critical Thinkers”


Slide20: Creativity is the process of removing the hurdles to perception that leads to a new awareness of reality. Stamp What is Creativity? getting the students over their hurdles to see connections where they aren’t readily obvious


Slide21: The Real Business Reality? People love to kill IDEAS!


Slide22: There are no PROBLEMS. Only Challenges Yeah But… OPPORTUNITIES


Slide23: Why do you kill ideas? Yeah But… Separate Creation from Evaluation Your first instinct is to apply your own personal scale! Definitely Definitely STUPID REALLY COOL 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10


Slide24: It all starts with an idea! So let’s create one! The Entrepreneurial Process What Does It Take To Be Successful?


Slide25: A hammer A spatula A flyswatter What’s The Idea? Look Past The Stereotype And Use Stimulus A Frisbie A Snowshoe A Device To Transport Aliens


Slide26: Never Give Up Don’t Kill The Newborn Idea Breakthroughs Contradict History Use Stimulus Fun is Fundamental Overlooking the Stereotypes Rules of Creativity


Slide27: 1.) Fire-proof insulation Top 5 Ideas for the Paddle National Student Competition 5.) Driver salutation gift set 4.) Cross-walk paddles 3.) CD Holder 2.) Velcro catch game


Slide28: Creative Rule of Thumb Create ideas that are fifteen minutes ahead of their time … not light-years ahead. Attitudes vs. Needs


Slide29: The Power of Stimulus And you already know, be ready for anything…


Slide30: Word Association “free association” Developing “Mental Fluidity”


Slide31: Think about your CONTEXT. Your first impressions are your guide. Do not over-think… it spoils the output.


Slide32: What do you see?


Slide35: Example Unrelated Stimulus Task: Invent A New Candy for Kids Client: VanMelle Candy Company Location: Netherlands Participants: 26 VanMelle Country Managers and Eureka! Trained Brains® WARNING: NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT


Slide36: Initial Stimulus: A Toy Gun Response: Make Candy You Can Shoot Response: Make Bullets Kids Can Bite With Red Blood Inside Response: Make Silver Bullets Like the Lone Ranger Had Response: Make Little Candy Bullet Wounds that Bleed Response: Make Candy Named After Famous Assassins Response: Make a Gun that You Shoot Into Your Mouth Response: Make a Gun that Shoots Sometimes and Other Times It Doesn’t Response: Make a Russian Roulette Gun Response: Make a Russian Roulette Candy With Surprises Inside Response: Make Candies that Are Like Fire Balls or Fruity Fruit Response: Make It So You Can’t Tell If It’s Hot or Fruity Unrelated Stimulus…


Slide37: Unrelated Stimulus


Slide38: The Creative Process The basis of Stimulus response


Traditional Model: Traditional Model Individual Brainstorming


Brand Building: Explore Stimulus: Brand Building: Explore Stimulus • Fuel Your Brain • Sights, Sounds, Smells • Stretch beyond your boundaries • Customer Needs & Aspirations Stimulus Available # of practical ideas invented Low Stimulus Medium Stimulus High Stimulus 22 38 47


Use your brain like a: COMPUTER Stimuli sets off a CHAIN Reaction!!! Use your brain like a


Stimuli Sets Off A Chain Reaction of Ideas: Stimuli Sets Off A Chain Reaction of Ideas


Where To Go On Spring Break?: Where To Go On Spring Break?


Where To Go On Spring Break?: Where To Go On Spring Break?


Slide45: Stimulus Response Method Imagery Relevance Asking the Right Questions Running your entr-code script Contingent Serendipity - looking for A, then finding B - two acausal events that have meaningful coincidence - effectuation among variables or events.


Slide46: Dynamic Framing Think (solve or find a problem) (isolate “set thinking” ideas) Search (reflect and look for connections) (de-contextualize via divergence) Discover (give yourself many options) (develop many “contingent hooks”) Live (look through the customer’s eyes) (change happens with real benefits)


Slide47: The Role of Problem Finding 1.) What is a product? 2.) What is a customer?


Slide48: What is This?


Slide49: HP makes more money on ink than printers. It starts with a Strategy HP Business Model 2. printers are static, they sit on desks. 3. printers print on paper and other 2-D stock.


Slide50: The Student Results


Slide51: Entrepreneurship is an aspect of action. The human brain is an “sensory” action machine. Use “time” and “change” as natural textures for sensory inputs to cue the need state for which the entrepreneur is “alert” to new possibilities. The “idea” must conform to external constraints. Exercising Your Entrepreneurial Alertness Why does Stimulus-Response Work?


Working with Stimulus: Working with Stimulus Two types: Related / Unrelated Acts as a proxy for cognitive sensory perception Produces an “mental image” Tells a story Elicits a memory Permission to “look” Protection from being “wrong” Provides “idea ownership”


Slide53: Strategic Overview: To force the mind to make associations that the “educated” brain would avoid. A practical way to do Divergent Thinking A collection of three strategically focused lists, each with six options, are smash associated by rolling three dice. It’s A Powerful Process For Mixing Stimuli Types • RELATED STIMULI • UNRELATED STIMULI


Example: Example Create A New Board Game Step 1: Define Task Write your task at the top of the page Be as specific as possible


Example: Identify three key areas to explore & write at top of the three columns STEP 2 Example THEME AUDIENCE MATERIALS Create A New Board Game


Example: 3. List 6 options for each area STEP 3 Example THEME AUDIENCE MATERIALS Create A New Board Game 1. Food, Food, Food 2. Family Reunion 3. Laughter 4. Best/Worst 5. Gossip 6. Sex and Rock & Roll 1. Seniors 2. Couples Only 3. College Age 4. Roseanne 5. Yuppies 6. Teens 1. Invisible Ink 2. Nylon 3. Bouncing Balls 4. Sponge Rubber 5. Kites/Gliders 6. Masking Tape


Example: THEME AUDIENCE MATERIALS This 666 Resulted In… Example 1. Food, Food, Food 2. Family Reunion 3. Laughter 4. Best/Worst 5. Gossip 6. Sex and Rock & Roll 1. Seniors 2. Couples Only 3. College Age 4. Roseanne 5. Yuppies 6. Teens 1. Invisible Ink 2. Nylon 3. Bouncing Balls 4. Sponge Rubber 5. Kites/Gliders 6. Masking Tape Create A New Board Game


Example: 6. Sex and Rock & Roll 6. Teens 6. Masking Tape Example


Slide59: What is a Concept?


Slide60: 1.) Consumer centric idea. 2.) An asset of opportunity. 3.) Contains the “3 Laws.” 4.) Testable hypothesis. 5.) Framework from which a feasibility plan emerges. The Concept


Slide61: Features Are NOT Benefits Features are the • Facts • Figures • Technology • and Details That make up your offering


The Real Keys To Sales Success: Law #1: Overt Benefit • What’s in it for me? Law #2: Real R.T.B. • Why should I believe you? Law #3: Dramatic Difference • Why should I care? • Will I care enough to change? The Real Keys To Sales Success Winning Customers Growing Profit Margins


Slide63: The missing piece is RELEVANCE Big ideas aren’t truly innovative until the customer displays the behavior of purchase. Relevance drives Response CONTEXT


Slide64: is relative to a Target Audience Target Occasion or Target Problem Overt Benefit


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Rating Concepts: Rating Concepts Reason To Believe (High, Medium, Low) Adoption Hurdle (High, Medium, Low) Overt Benefit (High, Medium, Low) Dramatic Difference (High, Medium, Low)


Slide67: Biz Plan Deficiencies 1.) No clear demonstration of need. 2.) Can’t define a realistic competitive advantage. 3.) Don’t understand path to profitability.


Slide68: If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. – unknown creative


Slide69: Those who wish to sing, always find a song. – Swedish proverb jeff.stamp@und.edu