Entrepreneurial Thought and Action

Entrepreneurial Thought and Action

A unique, two-day experiential seminar that
enables you to think, act, and be entrepreneurial.

Anyone is capable of entrepreneurial thought and action… unfortunately most do not try. Popular perception is that entrepreneurs are idiosyncratic, fearless, self-confident, creative, visionary, risk takers—a special breed of superhumans to be lionized. Recent research of serial entrepreneurs refutes these stereotypes and instead shows a way of acting based on different reasoning and a different set of assumptions about the future.Where most of us have been raised to prefer analysis, prediction and control, these serial entrepreneurs generally love situations where the future cannot be predicted or very well controlled and where opportunities are not so much discovered as they are created as a consequence of their actions.

Yet, every one of us operates successfully in situations of uncertainty. So you already know how to be entrepreneurial; you simply need to understand and apply what is now intuitive. The aim of this course is to provoke the insights into entrepreneurial reasoning that will ignite or enhance your latent entrepreneurial capability.

Who is this course for?

Anyone engaged in or starting a new business or social venture, thinking about it, or helping or supervising someone who is. People can come as individuals or, if they are engaged in an entrepreneurial venture with others, they may want to come as a team.

• People, young or older, who are looking for a job but see few opportunities and know that they need to take responsibility for their own future.
• People within corporations challenged to grow entrepreneurial businesses or who wonder how to advance their careers in a low growth environment.
• Leaders or would be leaders of non-profits and other social entrepreneurs.
• People in mid-career, thinking “it's now or never” or retired, looking for a second act.
• Senior executives, management, parents and other supporters of the above.

Course Characteristics

This course is unusual and innovative, drawing on the latest research and proven contemporary learning methods. There is a rich mix of lectures, case discussions, small group activities and simulations, individual coaching and reflection, and spontaneous participant/faculty discussion.

Results

You will:

• Leave excited. A "mental switch" will have been thrown. You will have realized your inherent ability to think and act entrepreneurially.
• Have (re)discovered who you are, what you are intrinsically committed to, what you love doing and the power of doing what you love. And why this is more important than an idea in getting started.
• Know how to:
  • see opportunities everywhere.
  • maintain self-confidence and sustain natural commitment.
  • enroll others in helping you achieve your vision.
• Have a basic, practical understanding of an enormously powerful yet simple logic and a set of methods and tools that are applicable to entrepreneurial activities, more broadly in business, and potentially all aspects of life, including:
  • how to act in the absence of extensive data and/or a detailed plan
  • how to transcend and manage risk
• Be impelled and equipped to immediately begin using these ideas.

Teams will leave with a common language and understanding that form the basis for aligned action.

Senior executives will be far better equipped to support entrepreneurial ventures and far less likely to inadvertently make decisions that defeat them.

Faculty:

Len Schlesinger, President, Babson College
Charlie Kiefer, President, Innovation Associates, Inc

February 18 & 19, 2010  (Thursday Friday)
April 5 & 6, 2010 (Monday Tuesday)

Day 1 8:30 am – 6:00 pm
Day 2 8:30 am – 5:00 pm
Babson College, Wellesley, MA

Tuition
$275, $175 for students or graduates of the class of 2009
Includes breaks (coffee, tea, soda and juice).
Tuition is fully refundable until three days before the course.
Full refund less $25 until the start of the second day.

To enroll click here and use this password:
ET&A
or write to ETA@InnovationAssociates.com.

Download a pdf of this description here.