Entrepreneurial Competencies

Abstract

How do entrepreneurs do what they do? Are there competencies that enable some human beings to be better at entrepreneurial jobs than others? These and related questions will be explored in this dialogue-based class. We will review the academic literature and pop-culture wisdom about what it takes to successfully build innovative products, services, and companies.

Objective

This course is designed to provide insight into key behavioral underpinnings and mindsets that enable human beings to create new businesses and to bring novel ideas to the market. At the end of this course, participants will: #1 – Have developed a comprehensive understanding of key behavioral competencies and skills that enable humans to excel in the entrepreneurial profession and understand the practical ramifications. #2 – Have been exposed to a range of behavioral tools relevant to entrepreneurial actors and draw their own conclusions as to which behaviors they want to further develop to prepare themselves for their professional careers. #3 – Have obtained a more comprehensive and critical appreciation for what it takes to be a successful professional in entrepreneurial settings. The insights from this course will not only be useful if you consider starting your own company but might also be of value if you choose a corporate or a research career. In all of these settings, high-functioning human behavior leads typically to higher performance.

Content

This course is designed as a mix of conversations (provoked by the preparation material) and in-class activities (individual or group-based), geared to help participants reflect and decide which competencies they want to build up for their own professional development. While we will spend quite some time reviewing and discussing the notions and evidence brought forward by both practice and academia, I also aspire to have participants critically reflect upon and experiment with their own behavioral approaches. To this end, this course is a complement to the many more project-focused courses offered in entrepreneurship. We start from the assumption that beyond the mechanics (or technical competencies) around ideation, lean validation, or fundraising, it is behavioral competencies that play an important role in a person's ability to create value and bringing new ideas to life. A typical class in this course departs from a set of questions relevant to the entrepreneurial phenomenon. In a dialogue form, we will review what the academic literature and practitioners have to say. We may not always like the answers we find, and sometimes the knowledge about important questions is sketchy at best. That will provide room to debate and build on the collective wisdom in the class. Typical questions we will explore in this course: - Can entrepreneurship be taught? How important is knowledge versus context? - What separates the more successful companies from the less successful ones and how does the answer impact entrepreneurial ventures? - What are the functions of an entrepreneurial team and what makes for an effective entrepreneurial team? - How can you effectively organize team production under uncertainty? - When and how should entrepreneurs experiment? Is there such thing as experimental capability and can it be developed? - Are there better or worse decision-makers and what can you do about it? - What role does rhetoric have in entrepreneurial ventures? And is starting with "why" always helpful in entrepreneurial ventures? - Never let the truth get in the way of a good story? Where are the ethical boundaries in entrepreneurial companies? In exploring the topics outlined above, we will also study or revisit domain-general concepts such as habits, self-regulation, cognitive biases, communication skills—all within the context of entrepreneurship. Studying at an institute of higher education usually compels rigorous scientific standards of knowledge creation and reasoning. At the same time, much of the current practice in entrepreneurship has emerged from practitioners rather than the academic environment and is subsequently infused with colorful stories and selective case examples. In this class, I aim to combine both a solid review of the scientific evidence and a critical appreciation of pop-culture references. I understand that it is often more palatable and interesting to listen to a podcast or watch a youtube video but one of the tasks in our class will be to make sure to be critical and not to fall for each fad just because it makes us feel good.

Resources