Trimester 3 Begins! Week 1. Eye of the Entrepreneur

Skills Focus this Week:  

• Ideation
• Brainstorming / Brainwriting
• Experimenting
• Design Thinking (end-user empathy)
• Creating Idea Groups and Space

Challenges:   Open the eyes and ears of the entrepreneur (training our minds to watch and listen continually for ideas opportunities). Fill your notebooks with as many ideas as you can, starting with at least 50 this week.

Summary of Pillars Perspective Discussions:   Culture is a key part of a business, and all businesses try to create a culture where their employees can thrive and consumers will choose them over their competitors to buy.  We examined several of our students' favorite businesses (Google, In-n-Out, etc.) starting with an examination of their mission statements.  Then we considered whether those businesses stay true to the mission statements. Also examined: What are some innovative steps the company takes to stay ahead of competition?  How does the business operate?  How do they resolve conflicts How does the culture create a more productive team?

Skills Focus Discussion Material:  Students lead these discussions at QLP.

How to Find Business Ideas - The Ultimate Guide  (4 min)

Epicster

https://youtu.be/cIsA1s9SwEU

(“Build your idea muscle like a bodybuilder builds his muscles.”)

Where Good Ideas Come From  (4 min)

Steven Johnson

https://youtu.be/NugRZGDbPFU

(What are your environments that lead to creativity and innovation?  “Chance favors the connected mind.”)

Brainwriting (Instead of Brainstorming)  (4 min)

Leigh Thompson, Northwestern Kellogg School

http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/news_articles/2014/06262014-video-thompson-brainwriting.aspx

(Virtual bowties, giraffe disco, unicycle built for two)

Design Thinking Plus Agile  (6 min)

IBM Think Academy

https://youtu.be/pXtN4y3O35M

(“Put your end user first.”)

Activities 

• Brainstorm / Brainwrite:  as many ideas as possible around four common items from your backpacks.  
• Design Thinking:  Build a better backpack / book bag.  Deep focus on user empathy and experience.  
• Create a space where ideas, within the subject you’re interested in, can emerge.  
• Go to a place where you can generate a lot of ideas fast (dollar store, Walmart, etc.).

Guest / Trip:  We visited a Dollar Store as a class, an excellent place for cheap, easy idea generating across many categories.

Congrats / Call Outs

Many of our QLP students passed the 100 mark for ideas in their notebooks!

Rebekah, our first AISU student, was admitted to USU this week!

Here is our course plan visual map for the trimester: