Bí Kíp "Phá Đảo" Sáng tạo khởi nghiệp

• Alex Osborn invented/developed brainstorming in 1953.
• Brainstorming được mô tả như “một hội nghị sáng tạo để các nhóm người cùng đưa ra nhiều ý tưởng và tìm ra những cách tiếp cận mới cho vấn đề.”
• It is a group-discussion technique for finding solutions to a specific problem by collecting participants’ ideas at the same time under certain principles.
• It is a method to generate multiple creative solutions to a problem.
• It no longer necessarily requires many people; one individual can carry it out.
• The ideal brainstorming group is 5–7 participants.

• Ideas often come when brains and bodies are relaxed and when alone; they may happen when least expected.
• Breakthrough ideas might come from a lot of ideas.

Top five catalysts for best ideas (Moore and Ditkoff, 2008):

1. when you’re inspired;
2. brainstorming with others;
3. when you’re immersed in a project;
4. when you’re happy;
5. when you’re collaborating with a partner.

DOs:

• establish the correct environment;
• keep an open mind;
• suspend judgement;
• brainstorm individually first, then in groups;
• involve others;
• focus on quantity;
• give yourself time for thought experiments / focused daydreaming;
• expand and build on ideas;
• link seemingly random ideas — connect the unconnected;
• capture all ideas;
• take breaks;
• listen to others;
• use multiple small ideation sessions rather than one long meeting;
• borrow another person’s point of reference;
• look outside for inspiration — mirror others and improve;
• sleep on it — allow incubation time;
• ignore discouragement from doubters;
• make it seriously fun.

DON’Ts:

• rush idea generation;
• create and evaluate at the same time;
• be negative at this stage;
• bully others with your ideas;
• try and be sensible;
• wander off topic;
• multitask when generating ideas;
• dismiss insane ideas as impossible;
• keep an “infeasible mindset”;
• fall foul of “listening to the experts” syndrome;
• lack confidence;
• brainstorm without structure.

Critical thinking is presented as the process of analyzing, evaluating, and questioning assumptions/suppositions so a person can form a way of thinking, give an opinion on an issue, prove and defend opinions logically/consistently, and refute opposing opinions.

People with critical thinking: do not accept problems only at the surface; dig deeper into related arguments/issues; see the world from different perspectives; adapt to change; handle situations more easily; and should actively own this skill for study/work instead of passively receiving information.

• Important for the economy: future dependence on technology, information, innovation means critical thinking is essential for developing economies to solve problems quickly/effectively.
• Promote creativity: supports rapid problem solving and innovative/creative ideas, then analysis/adaptation of those ideas in reality.
• Improve presentation skills and language capacities: clear/systematic thinking makes expression easier and improves analysis/thinking/understanding.
• Self-reflection: provides tools to justify/evaluate lifestyle and viewpoints and to evaluate oneself.

Design thinking is defined as “a thinking process most commonly used to solve complex problems, navigate uncertain environments, and create something that is new to the world.”

The chapter first distinguishes design contexts such as fashion, graphic, architectural, and industrial design.

The first step is to focus on — even become obsessed with — who you are designing for.

A human-centered Venn diagram shows Desirability, Feasibility, and Viability. “START HERE” points to Desirability, and final solutions are shown at the three-way intersection.

Một mô hình minh họa shows three broad phases:

1. Inspiration (Empathize): What is the problem?
2. Ideation (Create): How might we…? Brainstorming; work with a diverse group.
3. Implementation (Test): testing assumptions; transforming ideas into actions; fast, cheap experimentation.

The three-phase diagram additionally marks divergence from inspiration into ideation, then convergence from ideation toward implementation.

Stanford Design School Five Phases:

1. Empathy: get out and talk to customers directly.
2. Define: define a problem statement from empathy work.
3. Ideate: brainstorm many ideas that could solve the identified problem.
4. Prototype: build a crude version of the solution to test with users.
5. Test: get out and test with users.

Interviewing is a critical part of the inspiration phase; be open-minded and a good listener; interviewing improves with practice.

Preparing: determine whom to interview; determine interview goal; draft an introduction and open-ended questions; plan follow-up questions to “peel the onion.”

Peel the Onion for Deep Understanding:

1. What challenges are they facing?
2. How do they talk about it?
3. What are they doing about it?
4. How do they feel about it?
5. What emotions are driving their actions?

Conducting the interview: state purpose; take notes; obtain permission if recording; use questions as a guide while keeping the tone conversational; be an active listener.

Notes: stay away from people you know; tell a specific time length; do not seek validation for your ideas; record basic facts about the person such as gender, occupation, age, profession, industry, affluence.

Bad Questions vs Good Questions

After interview: review notes; record additional observations; look for themes; reflect; consider how a future interview could work better.

Marie-Odile Taillard is quoted: communication aims to be understood and believed; persuasion is the communicative act carrying out both goals. Thuyết phục được định nghĩa như một hành vi ngôn từ (“speech act”) — hành động được thực hiện thông qua lời nói.

Austin’s theory of language (1962):

• Locutionary act: a young woman holds up Coca-Cola and says “Coke is the real thing.”
• Illocutionary act: by saying it, she asserts that Coke is “the real thing.”
• Perlocutionary act: the utterance persuades viewers that drinking Coke is a worthwhile experience.

A Dale Carnegie quotation used in the chapter states that the way to get someone to do something is by giving them what they want; câu hỏi gợi mở là “What do you want?”

• Logos: to convince the audience, the addresser must consistently provide evidence and follow logic / a regular course of reasoning.
• Ethos: commonality of the speaker’s and listener’s moral norms, including justice, fairness, responsibility.
• Pathos: feelings expected from the audience; balance between speaker/listener emotions; ability to put oneself in another person’s emotional state, described as empathy.

• Academic definition (Stevenson & Jarillo): entrepreneurship is the process by which individuals pursue opportunities without regard to resources they currently control.
• Fred Wilson: entrepreneurship is the art of turning an idea into a business.
• Entrepreneurs assemble/integrate resources — money, people, business model, strategy — to transform an invention/idea into a viable business.

Corporate entrepreneurship is conceptualization of entrepreneurship at firm level. Firms exist on a continuum from highly conservative to highly entrepreneurial; position on this continuum is called entrepreneurial intensity.

Google example: innovation/risk-taking culture and “20% time,” allowing passion projects that led to innovations such as Gmail and Google Maps.

McDonald’s example: focuses on operational efficiency, standardized processes, gradual improvements rather than bold high-risk innovations; limited-time menu items; slow/methodical market expansion; cost control and franchise standardization over rapid experimentation.

1. Observing Trends
2. Solving a Problem
3. Finding Gaps in the Marketplace

Approach 1 — Observing Trends

Important trends: economic forces; social forces; technological advances; political action and regulatory change. Entrepreneurs should stay aware of changes in these areas.

Environmental-trend diagram:

• Economic forces: state of the economy; level of disposable income; consumer spending patterns.
• Social forces: social and cultural trends; demographic changes; what people think is “in.”
• Technological advances: new technologies; emerging technologies; new uses of old technologies.
• Political and regulatory changes: new changes in the political arena; new laws and regulations.
• These feed into a business/product/service opportunity gap — the difference between what’s available and what’s possible — which can lead to new business/product/service ideas.

Economic forces: help identify areas ripe for startups and areas to avoid. Example: weak economy favors startups helping consumers save money; GasBuddy.com is cited as helping save money on gas.

Social forces: alter behavior/priorities and open opportunities. Examples: aging baby boomers; increasing workplace diversity; interest in Facebook/Twitter social networks; focus on health/wellness; interest in green products.

Technological advances: frequently create opportunities. Industries/examples listed: computer industry; Internet; biotechnology; digital photography.

Once technology is created, products can emerge to advance it. H2OAudio is described as a company started by four former San Diego State University students making waterproof housings for Apple iPhone/iPod.

Political action/regulatory changes: also create opportunity; environmental laws can create firms helping other firms comply.

Ví dụ: a company created to help others comply with a specific law; specific example listed: Internet security law.

Approach 2 — Solving a Problem

Identifying opportunities can involve noticing a problem and finding a way to solve it. Problems may be identified via trends or through intuition, serendipity, or chance.

Example: finding alternatives to fossil fuels; entrepreneurial firms such as solar farms are launched to solve this problem.

Approach 3 — Finding Gaps in the Marketplace

A gap exists when a product/service is needed by a specific group but the market is not large enough to interest mainstream retailers/manufacturers.

Example: in 2000 Tish Cirovolv is described as noticing no guitars designed specifically for women and starting Daisy Rock Guitars to fill the gap.

Overview: Brainstorming; Focus Groups; Library and Internet Research.

Brainstorming: generate many ideas/solutions quickly; session typically involves a group and targets a specific topic. Rules: no criticism; freewheeling encouraged; move quickly; leap-frogging encouraged.

Focus Group: 5–10 people selected by common characteristics related to the issue; led by a trained moderator who uses group dynamics to understand why participants feel as they do; can generate business ideas.

Library Research: an underutilized resource for ideas; reference librarians can point to industry-specific magazines, trade journals, industry reports; browsing these can spark ideas.

Large public/university libraries may provide expensive resources. Examples: BizMiner, ProQuest, IBISWorld, Mintel, LexisNexis Academic.

Internet Research: search “new business ideas” for articles; set up Google/Yahoo email alerts for a topic; targeted searches are useful.

Customer Advisory Boards: companies may create boards meeting regularly to discuss needs, wants, problems that may lead to ideas.

Encouraging New Ideas: appoint a specific person to screen/track ideas; or create an idea bank/vault, physical or digital repository for ideas.

Protecting Ideas From Being Lost or Stolen:

1. Put the idea in tangible form (physical logbook/computer disk) and record the date first thought of.
2. Secure the idea.
3. Avoid inadvertent/voluntary disclosure that forfeits rights to claim exclusivity.

One definition: entrepreneurship is the attempt to create value through recognition of business opportunity, management of risk taking, and communication/management skills to mobilize human, financial, material resources needed to bring a project to fruition.

It can also be understood as one or more people starting to build their own business model — creating and growing a new business. Entrepreneurs connect creative ideas with purposeful action and business structure.

Một định nghĩa khác: entrepreneurship là quá trình starting and operating your own business and entrepreneurs as people who create, launch, organize, manage a new business and take its risk.

Examples given: Henry Ford introduced mass vehicle production to make vehicles affordable to average people; William Hewlett and David Packard started a small business in Packard’s garage; ví dụ nêu rằng họ đã phát minh floppy disks and the first pocket calculator.

Definitions:

• a set of beliefs, knowledge, and thought processes equipping people to recognize opportunities, take initiative, and succeed in diverse settings;
• the set of attitudes, skills, and behaviors entrepreneurs need to succeed personally and professionally.

Around the center “Entrepreneurial Mindset,” the diagram shows: Critical Thinking; Flexibility & Adaptability; Communication & Collaboration; Comfort with Risk; Initiative & Self Reliance; Future Orientation; Opportunity Recognition; Creativity & Innovation.

Entrepreneur: a person who tries something new, visualizes a business opportunity, organizes required resources, and bears the risk.

Characteristics-of-entrepreneur infographic:

• Ambitious: have a vision and a strong need to see it through.
• Hardworking: wear many hats; expect long hours, especially at the beginning.
• Self-Confident: must believe in yourself and your business.
• Persuasive: need to sell your business and yourself to others.
• Adaptable: plans may not work; think on your feet.
• Comfortable With Risk: accept calculated risk because you make the decisions.
• Humble: check your ego and ask for help when needed.
• Unwavering Passion: passion carries you through tough days.

Mô hình minh họa: Startup business idea → Business model and strategy → Implementing strategy.

Standard Business Models: manufacturer; retail; franchise; service (examples: advertising, education, health care).

Disruptive Business Models: online sales and multi-level marketing; Dell allowing remote customer configuration/purchase; Google online advertising; “Grap” technology taxi-booking service.

Mặc dù chưa có sự đồng thuận tuyệt đối về mọi thành phần của mô hình kinh doanh, hầu hết các chuyên gia đều nhất trí rằng các mô hình thành công đều chia sẻ những thuộc tính chung có thể trực quan hóa mối quan hệ tương hỗ.

Bill Gates — The Myth: visionary who saw a future where all PCs would run Windows; built Microsoft into the biggest software company in the world “by himself” because of vision/talent.

Bill Gates — The Facts: family was very wealthy; attended a gifted high school for children of rich families; learned programming in high school in the late 1960s; did not “drop out” of Harvard but took a leave of absence and could return; mother introduced Micro-Soft to IBM’s CEO; weeks later IBM signed an MS-DOS deal allowing Bill to retain the IP. Tài liệu tham khảo: Leap, by Rick Smith.

Mark Zuckerberg — The Myth: visionary who saw online social networks as the future of online media; built Facebook by himself from the beginning; strong vision/character made it easy to raise millions.

Mark Zuckerberg — The Facts: learned programming from age 10; worked on many projects including Facemash and The Facebook, many failed early but he learned; started The Facebook with $2,000; had a strong core team before external funding; met Sean Parker, who helped raise money. dòng chú thích: The Facebook Effect, by David Kirkpatrick.