Enterprise Skills session 2

• What’s your T shirt ?

Action Plan presentations – self study from last session

• I asked you to produce a short action plan identifying actual steps you could take to put your plan into action. Your plan should identify how you would overcome the major barriers, what you would actually do, who you would speak with, what further information you might need, the timescale for this for this.

• Now some of you will present a brief summary of your action plan and we will then see if the action plan is realistic. We will act as critical friends

Review Skills Audits – discuss, did people come up with different ones to the NGCE criteria?

• How do we really know how good we are at those things? Work in 3s on your skills audit to clarify, question and expand. One person at a time.

• The other two people take on different roles; one acts as a positive constructive friend, the other one plays a role of devil’s advocate or slightly negative critic e.g. Asks the questions “how do you know?”, “what evidence do you have?”, “give me an example off that”.

Opportunity Identification

• Every one of us is a creative person!

• We can have ideas and do things with them!

Some of the things enterprising people do

• Generate ideas• Solve problems• Innovate• Start ventures• Create, recognise, develop & exploit

OPPORTUNITIES.• Convert ideas into opportunities

A question

• What is the difference between an idea and an opportunity?

• A ‘probertunity’ – combination between a problem which the idea solves and an opportunity?

• What percentage of ideas actually make it into the market as a product? Nobody really knows, we can only guess.

Difference between an idea and an opportunity?

• Who is it for – the customer?• What will it do for them? How will they benefit?• What will it do for you?• Can you do it?• Is it feasible?• Is it new? What makes it special? • Has it got potential/actual customers or market?

What you/we will do today

• Experience approaches to creating opportunities

• Distinguish between ideas & opportunities • Reflect on opportunity exploration as a

creative learning process

Hmmm ?

• Problem and need? • Who is it for? • Innovations and solution• How do you make it happen?

All products & services are combinations of needs

• As an example of this we will demonstrate it by carrying out a brainstorm on the possible needs you think a settee/sofa could meet in the minds of potential customer.

Tool and Technique

BRAINSTORMING

Brainstorming

• Brainstorming was coined in the 1940s by Alex Osborne a US advertising executive. Later famous for co-developing Osborne-Parnes problem solving process.

• It works by temporarily removing the social blocks which we all have which prevent us from being creative. Blocks such as:– Feeling our ideas will be ridiculed– Feeling we don’t know enough to voice an opinion– Focusing on simple solutions rather than taking a risk

Brainstorming

• Brainstorming is essentially a method for being creative in groups, particularly useful for creative problem solving.

• Note however that Yakl’s research (1998) found that brainstorming did not necessarily generate more or better ideas that individuals working on their own did.

The rules of brainstorming

• No judgement or criticism of an idea• Quantity of ideas is more important than quality • Freewheeling - rapid a spontaneous ideas• Mutating and combining ideas – one person’s idea

stimulates ideas from another person• No answer or idea belongs to a person, they belong

to the group• Answers and ideas must be produced rapidly

Brainstorming how to do it

• 1 question or problem is posed• 2 people in a group take turns to answer• 3 each suggestion is written down by a note

taker• 4 repeat the process until the group run out of

ideas• 5 Select, filter and choose the most

appropriate ideas.

Caution

• When Osborne developed brainstorming he envisaged it as a 2 day process, not the short process we typically follow.

• Variations – go through alphabet A-Z and try and come up with 5 ideas for each letter

Do brainstorm !

• The question for your brainstorm is:

• What are the possible needs a settee/sofa can meet?

Possible needs a sofa can meet• Filling space• Somewhere to sit• Looks nice• Comfortable• Has storage space underneath• Compatible with the room• Gets through the door okay• Warm• Tactile• Orthoaepedic• Can be converted to a bed

Possible needs a sofa can meet• Cheap• Durable• We can sleep on it• Watch TV on it• Eat on it• Resists dirt • Easy to sit on and get up from• Looks quality and expensive• Massage chair• Colour-coded• Good to sit on whilst playing card games

Possible needs a sofa can meet• Washable fabric or leather• Study for the kids• Doesn’t show dirt• Easily moved• On wheels• Soft or firm seat• Non flammable• Stain resistant• Will last few years• Resists pet hairs and paw prints

What’s the significance of this ?

• Different sofas meet different combinations of needs and are aimed at different sets or types of customers.

• For example young married couple might have different needs to a retired couple with arthritis, who might have different needs to a large family with young children.

• A settee is not just for sitting on!

So....

• What new possible combinations of needs for a sofa can you identify?

• How might these meet the needs or requirements of new types or sets of customers?

• SCAMPER acronym

SCAMPER• SCAMPER is an acronym for useful list of words that can be

applied as stimuli to make you think differently about something when being creative.

• Substitute• Combine• Adapt• Modify (magnify, minify)• Put to other uses• Eliminate• rearrange

SCAMPER creative tool• Substitute• What can you substitute? What can be used instead? Who else

instead? What other ingredients? Other material? Other process? Other power? Other place? Other approach? Other sounds? Other forces?

• Instead of ... I can ...• Combine• What can you combine or bring together somehow? How

about a blend, an alloy, an assortment, an ensemble? Combine units? Combine purposes? Combine appeals? Combine ideas?

• I can bring together ... and ... to ...

SCAMPER creative tool• Adapt• What can you adapt for use as a solution? What else is like this? What other

idea does this suggest? Does past offer a parallel? What could I copy? Who could I emulate?

• I can adapt ... in this way ... to ...• Modify• Can you change the item in some way? Change meaning, colour, motion,

sound, smell, form, shape? Other changes?• Also: Magnify: What can you add? More time? Greater frequency? Stronger?

Higher? Longer? Thicker? Extra value? Plus ingredient? Duplicate? Multiply? Exaggerate?

• And: 'Minify': What can you remove? Smaller? Condensed? Miniature? Lower? Shorter? Lighter? Omit? Streamline? Split up? Understate?

• I can change ... in this way ... to ...

SCAMPER creative tool• Put to other uses• How can you put the thing to different or other uses? New ways to use as

is? Other uses if it is modified?• I can re-use ... in this way ... by ...• Eliminate• What can you eliminate? Remove something? Eliminate waste? Reduce

time? Reduce effort? Cut costs?• I can eliminate ... by ...• Rearrange• What can be rearranged in some way? Interchange components? Other

pattern? Other layout? Other sequence? Transpose cause and effect? Change pace? Change schedule?

• I can rearrange ... like this ... such that ...

For example (from http://creatingminds.org/tools/scamper.htm)

• I want to invent a new type of pen.• Substitute - ink with iron, nib with knife• Combine - writing with cutting, holding with

opening• Adapt - pen top as container• Modify - body to be flexible• Put to other uses - use to write on wood• Eliminate - clip by using velcro• Rearrange - nib to fold outwards

You will now look at new sofa/settee uses combinations

• What new possible combinations of needs for a sofa can you identify? – Brainstorm using the SCAMPER acronym

• Once you have identified a number of possible opportunities from the problem, idea or challenge we can see if it has DIFA.

An opportunity has DIFA

• Demand - actual or potential customer need, ability to pay - viability

• Innovation - a product, service or technology can be provided

• Feasibility - technology & resources exist & can be sourced

• Attraction - benefit & interest for you/others

Typically a new product or service enters the market by one of four ways

1. Meeting previously unmet needs2. Better at meeting existing needs3. More needs being met4. Different combinations of needs being met

• The iPod is a good example of something which did all of these.

• Chocolate fondue fountain is an example of 1• Swiss Army knife or Leatherman multitool is 3, 4• What examples can you think of?

Exercise• In groups of four to six people.• I have identified some problems, challenges, issues – you

have to pick one and then see how you can make/convert/SCAMPER them into opportunities to meet needs.

• Choose from: Unemployment, Credit shortage, Rising energy costs, new graduates’ lack of job market experience, water shortages, Environmental problems, pollution.

• Or perhaps identify your own problem, challenge or issue? DO A BRAINSTORM

Next - DIFA

• Once you have identified a number of possible opportunities from the problem, idea or challenge you can see if it has DIFA.

• Demand - actual or potential customer need, ability to pay - viability

• Innovation - a product, service or technology can be provided

• Feasibility - technology & resources exist & can be sourced

• Attraction - benefit & interest for you/others

DIFA – an opportunity has DIFA

• Demand - actual or potential customer need, ability to pay - viability

• Innovation - a product, service or technology can be provided

• Feasibility - technology & resources exist & can be sourced

• Attraction - benefit & interest for you/others•

Now

• Select what you feel is the best opportunity from your brainstorm – could use flip chart &/or post it notes for this?

• Review it against DIFA.• Think about what needs it might meet for

potential customers – see next slide.

From a customer’s perspective

• Who is it for – the customer?• What will it do for them? • How will they benefit?• Can you do it?• Is it feasible?• Is it new? What makes it special? • How many needs does it meet?

How many different needs does your opportunity meet?

Is the opportunity NAF ?

• New • Appealing • Feasible

• Produce a simple action plan for creating your opportunity

• What might you do, who might you need to speak with, what is needed?

Opportunity Selling

• 1 Prepare in groups an A3 annotated picture to sell your opportunity to a potential customer(s) clearly identifying their needs, even if they themselves may not be aware of them.

• 2 ‘Define’ your opportunity in no more than 30 words.

• 3 Prepare a sheet which states what the problem, challenge or issue or needs your opportunity was trying to solve was.

Now present (sell) your opportunity

• Using your A3 picture sell your opportunity to the other group.

• You can answer questions about it from the other group, but you cannot talk about it other than answering questions.

Review of different group’s opportunities

• How well did they meet potential customer needs?

• Would you be interested in it?• If not why not? – what else would be needed

to make you want to be interested in it?

Personal reflections after today

• How well do your existing enterprising skills and knowledge meet the needs of employers?

• How well do they meet your own personal needs?

• Perhaps include this within your learning log?

Self study – to be done prior to session 5 you have <3 weeks

• Before session 5 – so you have 3 weeks to do this Interview of an enterprising person – someone who has set up their own business recently for the first time. If you don't know anyone in this situation then you will have to enterprising yourself and go find someone – it’s important that you do this exercise.

• The aim of the interview is not to find out about the person's business but to find out about the person and to find out how they feel that life has changed in moving from their previous employment or unemployment to being self-employed. See handout.

• And you should try and find out from your perspective and, without asking specific asking questions about this. What are the enterprising/entrepreneurial values/attitudes/characteristics which they personally display? And what are the enterprising/entrepreneurial values/attitudes/characteristics which their business displays?

Self study

• Also• A learning log on today’s session• Revisit and if appropriate add to your Skills

Audit• Revisit and if appropriate add to your

Knowledge Audit

Website with resources

• My email A.G.Holmes@hull.ac.uk

• The wiki website for the course• http://enterpriseskillsuniversityofhull.wikispac

es.com/