HTE114
Entrepreneurial Mindset
Faculty
Daniel Kozlov
Co-Founder and CCO at Innovera.ai, Startup and Corporate Innovation Expert, Educator
Course length
Duration
Total hours
Credits
Language
Course type
Fee for single course
Fee for degree students
Skills you’ll learn
Overview
In a world that is increasingly defined by rapid technological advancements, geopolitical complexities, and unpredictable disruptions, the traditional ways of thinking and operating are no longer sufficient. As many professions are rapidly changing or even disappearing in the face of the AI revolution, the modern landscape demands a new breed of thinkers and doers - individuals equipped with an entrepreneurial mindset.
An entrepreneurial mindset is not just about starting businesses. It’s about a holistic approach to the world around us, characterised by adaptability, resilience, critical thinking, and a relentless pursuit of opportunity in the face of challenges. In the age of AI and automation, knowledge in isolation has lost its sheen. The ability to think critically, discern patterns, and make informed decisions is of paramount importance. The myths surrounding entrepreneurship often paint a picture of overnight successes, but in reality, the journey is paved with failures, rejections, and learning. This course aims to debunk such myths and provide a realistic understanding of what it takes to thrive in today’s world.
Today, to be successful, professionals must be able to pivot strategies, adapt to new environments, and, most importantly, anticipate and prepare for the unforeseen. Build the ability to turn adversity into an advantage, to not just withstand shocks, but to benefit from them!
Through a series of hands-on exercises, workshops, and real-world challenges, participants embark on a transformative journey. They are introduced to strategies for decoupling from traditional frameworks, harnessing mental plasticity, and embodying antifragility. Collaborative team exercises aim to foster understanding of diverse perspectives, while extracurricular evening sessions offer a platform for deeper philosophical discussions on global and local paradigms. By the end of the course, participants are not merely equipped with knowledge; they are empowered with a renewed mindset, ready to turn vision into actionable strategy and create impact through what they are building.
Individuals equipped with this mindset are not only better prepared to navigate the complexities of the modern world, but also play a pivotal role in driving innovation, creating jobs, and contributing to economic growth. They become change agents, leaders who inspire others, and architects of a better future.
Learning highlights
- The main goal is to ‘pivot’ the current student mindset and show them how to find agility, endurance, and strength, as well as give them a variety of mental tools to tackle everyday business issues. By the end of the course, the students should have improved in the following areas:
- Holistic Understanding: Gain a comprehensive understanding of the modern VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Accelerating) landscape and the role of AI in shaping today’s business environment.
- Critical Thinking: Develop the ability to think critically, discern patterns, and make informed decisions, thus navigating through challenges and capitalising on opportunities in business in particular.
- Resilience and Adaptability: Cultivate resilience to bounce back from setbacks and adaptability to pivot strategies as per evolving circumstances.
- Opportunity Identification: Harness the skills to identify, evaluate, and seize business opportunities, even in the most challenging environments.
- Global Perspective: Develop a global outlook, understanding the convergence of different business philosophies and integrating best practices from around the world.
- Continuous growth: Overcome their internal barriers, find their raison d’etre and instil a growth mindset that emphasises continuous learning, feedback, and self-improvement, pivotal for long-term business leadership.
- Collaboration and Stakeholder Management: Acquire the skills to manage and engage with various stakeholders, from employees and customers to investors and partners, ensuring alignment with business objectives.
- Ethical Decision-Making: Imbibe the principles of ethical decision-making to ensure long-term sustainability in business endeavours.
Course outline
15 classes
Introduction
Why do we need an entrepreneurial mindset and what is it?
Understanding the VUCA world, the role of AI.
The future of YOUR profession.
Debunking entrepreneurial myths.
Exercises “Why are you here?”.
Discussion on how this course will work - very different from most courses you took before hint, hint ;)
Introduction
Where the entrepreneurial mindset thrives?
Challenge set: Stepping into the ‘desert of the real’.Team based “Entrepreneurial challenge” simulation game.
Entrepreneurship in the Zero Comfort zone.
Jugaad.
The “Real Selling” - a key part of entrepreneurial mindset.
AI Tool mini session.
Decoupling
Challenging Existing Frameworks.
Learning to identify and challenge preconceived notions, traditional practices, and restrictive frameworks.
Understanding sociological mechanisms that guide our behavior.
Exercise – what are some frameworks we are ‘brought’ into (but shouldn’t be wrought into) – what societal norms/expectations do you question deeply (example via story of Dialogue group).
Guardrails and Restrictions: Understanding common restrictions in the entrepreneurial landscape and how to overcome them.
Critical thinking exercise - Spotting logical fallacies.
Decoupling
Our multiple “Voices” – decoupling from oneself.
Self-awareness and Role Patterns: Workshop to discover personal core beliefs and juxtapose them against recurring patterns in our decision-making and interactions.
How manipulations happen through sociological mechanisms and how do we prevent that from affecting us and/or our business.
Breaking the frame to succeed – interesting cases of big startups.
AI Tool mini session.
Finding purpose
Purpose Discovery: Engaging in guided activities and discussions to unearth one's raison d'être, helping participants align their entrepreneurial pursuits with their deeper life objectives.
The concept of Dharma and how it brings together different parts of our lives.
Expansion – does bigger mission mean bigger ambition: Cases of truly big companies and their founders.
AI Tool mini session.
Bridging Purpose to Market
Reflection
Problematization – 1st rule of plasticity for entrepreneur is being able to understand their customer!
Project Group Formation.
Ability to Learn – Understanding what I don’t know and how do I find out?
Hypothesis formation and verification as “modus operandi” for an entrepreneur.
AI Tool mini session.
Team and stakeholders
Team – the most critical unit of any company/startup/project.
Stakeholder Awareness: Learning to observe and understand your own and various stakeholder interests, identifying complementary skills and win-wins to explore. ○ Stakeholder types discussion.
Effective Team Collaboration: Nuances of team dynamics, communication, and collaboration. ○ Structuring communication ○ Managing upwards and managing laterally ○ Team leader types & qualities ○ Reciprocity principle.
Example of team assessment model – 7 radicals.
Team and Stakeholders
A few hands-on techniques to assess your place in the team and understand your teammates better ○ DISC ○ OCEAN ○ MBTI
Aggression management – how to handle aggressive or unproductive colleague behavior – a set of instruments.
Hire slow-fire fast: Recruiting into the team and finding partners for your next endeavor + letting go of people you have worked with.
Team motivation: Learning strategies how to convince, inspire and drive towards common goals.
Balancing & Plasticity
Relativism – what is the truth, is there truth and what is the source of truth?
Entrepreneurial Dilemmas Simulation Game.
East Meets West Outlook: Exploring the convergence of Eastern and Western business philosophies, emphasizing balance in approach.
Tactical reframing: Workshop, learning to reframe problems, viewing them as opportunities for growth.
AI Tool mini session.
Antifragility
Should adversity inspire and motivate?
What is Antifragility – understanding the concept and the application to business.
Building Resilience: Understanding the principles of antifragility and how to harness them in the face of adversity.
Exercise - finding your antifragility case.
Finding the weakest link.
Antifragility
Group discussion on how each team’s business model and value proposition can be fragile.
Antifragility setback challenge business game – learning how to quickly bounce back from challenges.
Strategic Reframing – How to turn failure into success.
Guest Speaker – Loriana Sardar – Founder – Belka Car.
Grit
Exploring the concept of Grit ○ Self-Assessment.
The basis for your Grit.
Case Studies: Analyzing real-world examples of people who exemplify Grit.
Power of failure.
Power of anger – how to use anger to your advantage.
AI Tool mini session.
Expansion
Capacity for the “unthinkable”.
Customer-centricity – as part of the entrepreneurial thinking.
Self-confidence: Bolstering belief in oneself and one's capabilities as well as one’s teammates.
20 Hour Challenge.
AI Tool mini session.
Expansion
Using Situational and Social Arbitrage: Learning how to spot and use your differences as levers to gain acceptance, momentum, resources.
Associative and lateral thinking.
Cultivating digital Resilience: Building the mindset that would protect you from the onslaught of the ‘synthetic’ world.
The importance of being future-ready in an AI-driven world.
Wrap up and Reflection
The concept of Flow – how to achieve more in 1 day.
Recap of Key Learnings: Reviewing the core concepts and skills acquired throughout the course.
Personal Growth Reflection: Engaging in introspective exercise, charting personal growth and identifying areas for further development.
Charting the Way Forward: Discuss and draft a roadmap of the next steps, potential challenges, and strategy for your new “venture”.
Course materials
Books
Prerequisites
Open-mindedness: A willingness to embrace new ideas, challenge existing beliefs, and engage constructively with diverse perspectives.
Self-motivation: An innate drive to learn, explore, and push boundaries, which is pivotal in the entrepreneurial journey.
Problem-solving: A proactive approach to identifying challenges and brainstorming solutions, laying the foundation for the course’s emphasis on innovation and adaptability.
Teamwork and Collaboration: Previous experience working in teams or group settings, emphasising the importance of collective effort in entrepreneurial ventures.
Effective Communication: The ability to articulate thoughts, ideas, and concerns, ensuring active participation and collaboration throughout the course.
Methodology
The course employs a multifaceted methodology designed to immerse participants in a rich learning environment. While the course will employ some written and digital materials and basic progress checks, the core of the approach is rooted in active learning, ensuring that every participant not only understands the concepts but also applies them in real-world context.
Interactive Exercises and Group Challenges: Throughout the course, participants will engage in a range of hands-on exercises tailored to simulate real-world challenges. For instance, exercises like “Figuring out a client crisis”; and “End-of-runway is tomorrow scenario” will push students to think on their feet, fostering quick decision-making and adaptability.
Practical Learning Through Case Studies: Real-world case studies will be dissected, offering participants insights into successful entrepreneurial ventures and, more importantly, the pitfalls and challenges faced. Analysing these cases will imbue students with practical lessons and strategies that can be applied in their entrepreneurial journey.
Role-Playing and Simulations: Role-playing activities, especially in the context of team dynamics and stakeholder management, will allow participants to step into different roles, fostering empathy and a deeper understanding of diverse perspectives. Challenges such as “Betrayal in a team”; and “Reconfiguring roles while maintaining the interests” will encourage teams to brainstorm, debate, and devise innovative solutions to complex problems.
Reflection Sessions: Periodic reflection sessions will be integrated, enabling students to introspect, share personal experiences, and gather feedback. These sessions will act as checkpoints, ensuring that learning is internalised and personal growth is achieved.
Salon Discussions: Extracurricular salons that allow students to voice their opinions on a specific topic (usually a work of art, literature, or a film) and discuss how this ties to their understanding of the world
Feedback Loops: Continuous feedback, both from peers and the instructor, ensures that students are always aware of their strengths and areas for improvement, facilitating ongoing personal and professional development.
Grading
Daniel is an internationally known expert on entrepreneurship, corporate innovation, education and startups.
Daniel has worked with over 2000 startups from 16 different countries and created 40+ acceleration and incubation programs including over 30 for large corporate and government clients (including global brands such as Mitsubishi, IKEA, Pepsico, IBM, True Telecom, Stena, Leroy Merlin, BCG and many others).
See full profileApply for this course
Entrepreneurial Mindset
by Daniel Kozlov
Total hours
45 Hours
Dates
Jul 08 - Jul 26, 2024
Fee for single course
€1500
Fee for degree students
€750
How to secure your spot
Complete the form below to kickstart your application
Schedule your Harbour.Space interview
If successful, get ready to join us on campus
FAQ
Will I receive a certificate after completion?
Yes. Upon completion of the course, you will receive a certificate signed by the director of the program your course belonged to.
Do I need a visa?
This depends on your case. Please check with the Spanish or Thai consulate in your country of residence about visa requirements. We will do our part to provide you with the necessary documents, such as the Certificate of Enrollment.
Can I get a discount?
Yes. The easiest way to enroll in a course at a discounted price is to register for multiple courses. Registering for multiple courses will reduce the cost per individual course. Please ask the Admissions Office for more information about the other kinds of discounts we offer and what you can do to receive one.