Feb
1
Discovering Entrepreneurship - Class Three
February 1, 2008 |
Today we had Professor Tina Seelig come to our class and talk about brainstorming, as well as a guest by the name of James Barlow from the Scottish Institute for Enterprise who talked about human nature. Most of the class was taken up by an activity by Professor Seelig, with some random bits of discussion thrown in to the mix. Overall, the class was very fun, and although there were some take-away lessons, I didn’t particularly enlightened. Instead, I was fired up and ready to start the business we came up with during our activity with Professor Seelig.
Brainstorming Ideas
The first ten minutes of class were spent brainstorming food ideas for next week’s snacks. One of the cool ideas that helped facilitate our brainstorming was looking at another person’s mindmap and adding to it. I think this is a great exercise that proves the benefits of teams and diversity of thought, and is simply fun because of the interesting maps other people come up with.
Don’t be Afraid to Share Your Ideas
It seems that every time I talk to someone about a business idea, they have an initial hesitancy towards sharing their idea because they are afraid the person they are sharing it with is going to “steal” it. Professor Seelig points out that this is mostly not the case and you are much more likely to benefit from sharing the idea and getting feedback versus having it stolen. On the flip side, of course you can’t just go around to VC’s pitching your idea because they could end up having a profile company that would be a competitor to your idea, and of course they would give your potential competitor the heads up to what you are doing. It’s all about context, but the general rule is sharing is more likely to help than hurt.
Brainstorming Session
Our first task in the brainstorming session was to come up with the best idea and the worst idea for something to do with animals. After we came up with the best and worst, Professor Seelig took the pieces of paper that they were written on and tore up the ones that were the best idea. Then, she handed out the worst ideas to everyone and we were then supposed to develop a business around this worst idea. What was impressive was the creativity used to come up with a company name, slogan, and pitch for these ideas.
Our Business
The business that we came up with (which I thought might actually work!) was called Algae Electric. Even though algae may not necessarily be an animal, our “worst idea” was to use animals to make electricity. The idea was to harness the sugars produced by algae much like ethanol from cellulose. After we came up with the business name, we came up with the pitch of “Our power doesn’t pollute, it’s sweet and salty.” Not exactly super catchy, but because we would be utilizing the sugars (which is sweet) from an ocean “animal” (ocean being salty), we decided it would work given our time crunch. The pitch we came up with though, is the most impressive. Because there are significant algae blooms in the Gulf of Mexico that are destroying the natural ecosystems there and creating dead spots, we thought that would be the perfect spot to set up the plant. We would then capitalize on the nitrogen runoffs coming into the Gulf of Mexico to continually feed our farm, and because we would be replacing the need for corn based ethanol, we could free up the farm land for other, more natural uses. Another benefit to utilizing algae is that they consume carbon dioxide, thus helping reduce greenhouse gases. Finally, the conclusive point is that the process would be as natural as possible, thus returning the environment to its pristine condition.
Idea Box and Idea Logs
After we completed that exercise, we moved on to receiving a virtual box that had a present inside. Professor Seelig instructed us to speculate what was in the box and then asked us to open it. When we looked inside, we were told that it was not what we were expecting, and then we were told to pull it out. Then we went around sharing what we got and were able to “trade” these virtual gifts with other individuals that wanted to trade. After going through this exercise, we were notified that we could actually continue to pull ideas out of this box until we found one we liked, which is the whole point. This, in combination with something called an idea log - a journal to record your ideas - could be extremely advantageous when looking for business inspiration. I personally have an idea log online and Kimber Lockhart, the class leader, has cofounded an online collaborating idea log called IdeaCV. I have an account for the website, but I haven’t gotten around to transferring my ideas to the site (maybe over my next three day weekend…)
Beliefs -> Attitudes -> Behaviors -> Results
We went through an exercise with the Mr. Barlow that helped elucidate the part of human nature outlined above. I have discussed this process with other summer camp people and psychology majors, and we definitely agree that it is valid. The example he used to prove this was very ingenious, too. He had slips of paper in envelopes and asked us to read it in a very short period of time and count the number of f’s that appear. Then he asked us to tell how many we saw (everyone had the same piece of paper, but he never said that) and then he asked us how sure we are. For those who were not 100% sure and willing to bet on it, he gave us a second chance to read the paper and recount the f’s. After that people were given the opportunity to change their answer, they were then asked to wager again. People who agreed to wager were ultimately proven wrong, but by the end all of them were adamant that they were right. People believed that they were right, and were given the second chance to view it only to reaffirm their belief in being correct. They then operated under the attitude that they were correct, and by asking them to wager, he was challenging their beliefs and compelling their behavior to act in accordance with their belief. Most times, though, when we have these behaviors that coincide with our beliefs, it’s not as easy to find out if we are right or wrong, and this is where many problems can occur in our day to day lives with our beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors.
Three Tips to Maintain a Healthy Level of Skepticism and Confidence
- Challenge assumptions and beliefs before coming to a conclusion, especially about what’s right and wrong
- Exhaust all reasonable options before making a judgement
- Act with conviction and confidence once the decision has been made, but continue to keep the other two ideas in mind.
Conclusion
A very productive class period that’s resulting in an amazing weekend. I love having this class as my last class for the week. It leaves me in an amazing mood and excited for the rest of the day, week, and general future. I am personally very much an idea guy and I thrive on the possibilities of the future. Conceiving of an idea and working through a possible plan of action is invigorating, and the next step is executing… So, now I’m going to go execute on another business idea… 
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[...] Tina Seelig, who I have mentioned before here and here, came to our class today. We spent the majority of the class period engaged in an activity designed [...]