Entrepreneurial learning and creativity in the moment

1. Entrepreneurial learning and creativity in the moment Professor David Rae Lincoln Business SchoolUniversity of Lincoln drae@lincoln.ac.uk

2. Professor David Rae • Entrepreneurship researcher, educator & writer • Career in small business, government & higher education • Entrepreneurial learning: PhD & publications 1999-2012 • Director of Enterprise & Innovation, Lincoln Business School, • University of Lincoln • Editor, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research: ‘human & social dynamics of entrepreneurship’ • Optimist, based on human creativity & potential for learning davidrae.org.uk drae@lincoln.ac.uk ‘Warycat’ on Twitter

3. Recall a ‘special moment’ • Think back to a significant moment in your experience of life, learning or work • This may be anything memorable for you: • An event • A meeting • A conversation • An idea • A decision • A good or bad experience

4. Recall a ‘special moment’ • Thinking of that significant moment…. • What happened? • How did you feel? • What makes it special/memorable? • How did it affect you subsequently? • What did you do as a result? • Share your story

5. How Entrepreneurs learn and create new business opportunities The ‘moment’: A point in time when we experience conscious mental awareness of what is going on within our mind, or around us, and we are aware and able to remember our thinking and responses. Its meaning is related to the human experience and generation of meaning in a conscious attention span of subjective duration. Entrepreneurial Learning

6. Moments: truth & lightbulbs…. Ernest Hemingway: The moment when the matador confronts the bull prior to the kill ‘momento de la verdad’ (‘Death in the Afternoon’) ‘Lightbulb’ or ‘aha’ moment: Conscious realisation of creative inspiration

7. Why moments matter • We focus much of the time on ‘the future’ or ‘the past’ • Most decisions and actions happen ‘now’- often without time to think! • We behave authentically in the moment: intuition & instinct • The ‘aha’ or ‘Eureka’ discovery moment • Recognising opportunities • ‘Moments of truth’ - interactions, customers, competitors • Value created & captured by digital eye-brain interactions: • Twitter messages • Website visits • Email, social media, messaging • Moments can become critical turning points in personal narratives of learning & identity • ‘Momentary perspectives’ increasingly matter in understanding entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, behaviour & learning

8. A range of theoretical perspectives on the moment… • Philosophy & time: Bergson, James, Husserl, Adam • Literature & narrative: Polkinghorne, Sartre,Ricoeur • Education & learning: Pillemer, Giordano, Bedeian • Cognition & neuroscience: Banks & Isham, Damasio, Beeman & Kounios • Organisational studies: Czarniawska, Shotter, Weick • Entrepreneurship: Cope, Rae, Dew, Krueger, Kollmann & Kuckertz These are examples from a wide field of knowledge

9. Research framework • Moment: ‘a point in time, an instant’; ‘a turning point in a series of events’. Q1: Is the moment significant in relation to processes of entrepreneurial learning and creativity? Q2: Can a useful model be developed to understand ‘momentary perspectives’ in entrepreneurial learning?

10. Entrepreneurial learning Enterprise & entrepreneurship are increasingly prevalent at all educational levels but hard to ‘teach’. Entrepreneurial learning is a natural & social process within both everyday practice and formal education. Centred on creating, discovering, recognising and acting on opportunities. Connects personal emergence (confidence & identity) and capability development (skills & behaviours). Moments of serendipity, ‘discovery’, ‘crisis’ & ‘decision’ fit well with a naturalistic approach to entrepreneurial learning

11. Enterprise and entrepreneurship education: Guidance for UK higher education providers Final version issued September 2012 http://www.qaa.ac.uk/Publications/InformationAndGuidance/Documents/enterprise-guidance.pdf

12. Entrepreneurial effectiveness

13. Research method Online survey of entrepreneurs & educators Questions Recall a ‘special moment’ from your experience This may be anything memorable, such as: An event, meeting, conversation An idea, seeing an opportunity, a decision A good or bad experience Can you remember what happened? What makes it special/memorable for you now? How did it affect you at the time? What did you do as a result? Share your ‘special moment’

14. Quick survey: types of moments reported by entrepreneurs

15. Common types of entrepreneurial moments • Creativity – inspirational association forming a new idea • Innovation – application of idea to a practical situation • Opportunity – potential or actual position of advantage • Problem – disadvantage, mistake or setback • Encounter – social interaction, meeting or social connection • Insight – realisation of new knowledge • Intuition – ‘knowing’ at a subconscious or ‘gut’ level • Judgement – making a decision or choice • Resolution – intention to act

16. Entrepreneurial moments & responses Incident! Judgement!

17. Generating meaning Perceiving Conscious attention Acting Subconscious awareness Conscious awareness in the moment

18. Meaning Acting Perceiving Being in the moment Prospective imagination Experiential memory Future anticipations Past recollections Narrative time What is likely to happen? What future possibilities & opportunities are there? What action can I take? How do past experiences help make sense of the moment? Kairotic time: events Chronos time: linear

19. Social interactions Subconscious Instinctive Intuitive Emotion Feeling Conscious Realisation Reflection Intention Instant Deferred Verbal Physical Talk Behaviours Meaning Acting Perceiving Sensory perceptions Visual, hearing, touch taste, smell Being in the moment Prospective imagination Experiential memory Future anticipations Past recollections Narrative time What is likely to happen? What future possibilities & opportunities are there? What action can I take? How do past experiences help make sense of the moment? Kairotic time: events Chronos time: linear

20. Moments in teaching & learning • Can educators create ‘special moments’? • The value of learners reflecting on special moments & building these into their narratives: • Enabling learners to capture, share, learn within & from special moments • And to perceive, judge & act effectively in the moment? • Using technology to share moments – twitter, blogs • Building understanding of entrepreneurial behaviour through momentary perspectives

21. Conclusions • Momentary perspectives can offer new understandings of entrepreneurial learning behaviour, creativity, & transformative action • Connects with philosophical & cognitive science perspectives • ‘Moments of truth’ are often turning points in learners’ narrative accounts • Unconscious processes of intuition, instinct & emotion are significant in creativity, decision-making & opportunity recognition behaviours • Educators can elicit & use momentary perspectives in entrepreneurship education

22. Comments & questions welcome….. Research paper available at: http://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/7088/ Slides available from: drae@lincoln.ac.uk Entrepreneurial Learning