Don’t abort what should be nurtured! Don’t nurture what should be aborted!
The command is to be fruitful, occupy and multiply. It does not only mean to do so biologically. Logically, it does mean also to be productive intellectually. Intellectual fruitfulness is a product of investment in knowledge. Intellectual barrenness (brain drain) is real also. Knowledge sustains creativity. Without creativity, productivity drops. The source of a thing is its sustenance. Knowledge drives creativity, while creativity drives productivity. Knowledge is also the food of the soul (the mind). Without relevant and useful knowledge, a brain child will be mal-nurtured and unfit to exist as an economic value. To occupy means to find your place and dominate. If you don’t know how to do that, ‘occuspy’ before you occupy (work as an intrapreneur). To be fruitful means to produce something of value. If you don’t know how to do that, ‘imitaste’ before you imitate (copy and taste before you copy and paste). However, it is important to think and come up with original and unique ideas without a need for ‘DNA’ test…Laughing out loud. You will understand my point from the narrative of the recent lawsuit against the pop singer Ed Sheeran who was alleged to have copied Marvin Gaye’s classic “Let’s Get It On” for his 2014 hit “Thinking Out Loud,” – the music industry’s highest-profile copyright case in years.
Have you just created or produced something of value? A brain child is an idea or invention which is considered to be a particular person’s creation. Creativity is not the same thing as productivity. Knowledge is the bridge between creativity and productivity. Knowledge transforms a creative idea into a lucrative opportunity. Just like a nursing mother nurtures her newborn, an entrepreneur’s joy is to develop an idea up to the stage where it becomes a full-blown intellectual property (IP).
According to World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce. IP is protected in law by, for example, patents, copyright and trademarks, which enable people to earn recognition or financial benefit from what they invent or create. By striking the right balance between the interests of innovators and the wider public interest, the IP system aims to foster an environment in which creativity and innovation can flourish.
It is important to note that not all ideas are potential intellectual property, but all IP started as an idea. Also, an IP may be patentable but have little or no economic or commercial value. Nurturing an idea from conception to fruition is taking an idea from conceptualization to commercialization. This requires a lot of resources (time, energy, money, technology, etc). It therefore, takes entrepreneurial intelligence to know the right ideas to nurture and the ones to abort. When it comes to conceiving an idea which may potentially become a brain child, abortion is not a crime. Terminating the progress of an idea early may be a smart way to prevent waste of resources. But how does one know which idea will lead to fortune and which one will end as an effort in futility? The Six Thinking Hats is a good decision making technique that helps in making the right decisions when it comes to recognizing and seizing entrepreneurial opportunities.
Dr. Edward de Bono is widely considered the father of modern creative thinking. He pioneered numerous practical thinking tools, used worldwide in schools and businesses. One of the most famous is the “Six Thinking Hats”. Edward de Bono’s Six Hats is a good decision making technique and method for group discussions and individual thinking. It is a means to organize thinking processes in a detailed and cohesive manner.
SO WHAT ARE THE SIX HATS? THEY ARE AS FOLLOWS:
- The white hat is the information hat. It requires the wearer to seek out hard, factual information related to the project or question at hand. Look at the information that you have, analyze past trends, and see what you can learn from it. Look for gaps in your knowledge, and try to either fill them or take account of them. The white hat is objective and implies no judgment of the value of the information.
- The red hat invites the wearer to focus on their intuition, gut reaction, and emotion. Think how others could react emotionally. Although emotions and intuition aren’t easily explainable, feelings play an important role in thinking and decision-making. Seek to understand the responses of people who do not fully know your reasoning.
- The black hat is for judgment, to look at a decision’s potential negative outcomes. It’s an opportunity to be critical or skeptical without inhibition, a useful technique to avoid mistakes and guard against excess optimism. This is important because, it highlights the weak points in a plan. It allows you to eliminate them, alter them, or prepare contingency plans to counter them.
- The yellow hat is devoted to benefits. It helps wearers to think positively about potential outcomes, seek the merits of an idea, and reach an optimistic assessment of how it can work. This hat helps maintain momentum and a positive spirit in the face of a challenging situation.
- The green hat represents creativity. It explores possibilities, alternatives, and new ideas. This hat can be intimidating, because many people tell themselves that they’re not creative. Like a muscle, creativity can be developed and strengthened with practice. The green hat gives people a safe space in which to think creatively.
- The blue hat is the organizing hat. It controls the process of using the other hats and clarifies the objectives. It can also be used to explore the process of implementing an idea. How will it be done? In what sequence will actions need to be taken?
The six hats are divided neatly into pairs. The white hat is about information, while the red hat is about emotions. The black hat is negative, while the yellow hat is positive. The green hat encourages creativity, while the blue hat focuses on process.
The entrepreneurial process
In recent years, entrepreneurs have been involved in so many things hence an entrepreneur:
- is an innovator or developer who recognizes and seizes opportunities,
- converts those opportunities into workable/market ideas,
- adds value through time, effort, money, or skills,
- assumes the risks of the competitive market place to implement these ideas, and
- realizes the rewards from these efforts. Entrepreneurial actions include turning a business idea (BI) into a business opportunity (BO) and developing a business plan.
A business idea is a concept that can be used for financial gain that is usually centered on a product or service that can be offered for money. An idea is the base of the pyramid when it comes to the business as a whole. It is the smallest unit of a product. The characteristics of a promising business idea are: Innovative, Unique (creative), Problem solving and Profitable (lucrative).
A business opportunity on the other hand is a business idea that has been refined and well packaged for exploitation. A business idea is an intangible asset while a business opportunity is a tangible asset that is scalable and saleable, practicable and profitable, marketable and bankable.
Entrepreneurship is about decision making, and a bout of decisions can either make or mar an entrepreneurial undertaking. An entrepreneur therefore must be a thorough thinker and be guarded by a plan before swinging into action.
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