FIE 301: Fundamentals of Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Module 1: Design Thinking

The focus of this module is to learn about the creative mindset and particular practices that enable innovation and entrepreneurship. After establishing the mindset, we will explore creativity and the sources of innovative and entrepreneurial ideas. Because believing that one can be creative is the first step to becoming an innovative thinker and leader, we delve into strategies for enhancing creative confidence and instilling it in others. From there, we will introduce the design thinking process, which is a time-tested approach for practicing innovation.

The next sessions will explore the various aspects of the design thinking process, from needfinding and empathy to generating insights to prototyping and experimenting. Lastly, we will delve into how to create and implement an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset in a work environment and how to influence and inspire others. This module concludes with a project that allows students to put design thinking into practice in a project of their own.

Session 1A: The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Mindset

In this session we will define entrepreneurship and design thinking and then explore the difference between the innovation mindset and the routine mindset. While both mindsets are important, the emphasis of this course will be on situations where you want to apply an ethical, innovative, and entrepreneurial mindset to do something new.

Session 1B: Where Ideas Come From

While it is easy to speak about being creative, coming up with creative ideas can be a difficult process. In this session we will investigate how innovative and entrepreneurial ideas come about.

Session 2A: Creative Confidence

This session explores why believing that a person can be creative is the first step toward becoming a creative thinker and innovation leader. Students will learn and develop strategies for enhancing their creative confidence and instilling it in others.

Session 2B: The Design Thinking Process

Design thinking is a time-tested approach for practicing innovation. This session outlines the basics of design thinking and allows students to practice innovation through a classic design thinking exercise.

Session 3A: Design Thinking: Needfinding and Empathy

Empathy is central to and one of the first steps in innovation. The goal of this session is to delve into ways to develop empathy and uncover needs to fuel innovation. The focus is on using needfinding methods, such as observations and interviews, to understand what possibilities might drive the design of a new product, process, or service and lead to a creative solution to an identified problem.

Session 3B: Design Thinking:

Generating Insights and Reframing Being able to generate insights from needfinding and to frame a problem in a new and novel way is central to innovative design. In this session students will gain experience reframing a problem and considering the implications for innovating new processes, services, and products.

Session 4A: Design Thinking: Idea Generation

Part of successful innovation processes include generating a wide variety of ideas and expanding the solution space beyond the obvious. Brainstorming is one technique for identifying numerous solutions to a given problem in a short time frame. In this session students will learn how to set up a brainstorming session and the rules to follow for effective results. The technique of "brainwriting" will also be introduced as an alternative.

Session 4B: Design Thinking: Prototyping and Experimentation

Prototyping and experimentation are also central to successful innovation processes. In this session the focus will be on using prototyping to develop, refine, and evaluate ideas throughout the design process. Students will also be introduced to experimentation as a way to test whether designs (prototypes) have the intended effects.

Session 5A: Influencing and Inspiring Others

This session will explore the importance of influencing and inspiring others in innovative and entrepreneurial enterprises. In particular, the focus will be on charisma, its components, and how to use charisma to engage others.

Session 5B: Leading for Creative Confidence and Going Global

This session will cover how to create and implement an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset in a work environment. Students will consider what it means to be a great leader and delve into tools that leaders can use to motivate people.

Session 6A/B: Design Thinking in Practice

In these sessions, students will present the results of their Design Thinking in Practice projects.

The project is designed to give students an opportunity to apply their understanding of the design thinking process to solving a problem in an organization they are familiar with.