On October 29, we facilitated a session called “The Creative Process of Entrepreneurship”, held at the Emerge Conference at the Said Business School in Oxford, England (see www.theemergeconference.org). One hundred and twenty participants attended the mini-workshop. The purpose of the session was to introduce them to an experience of the U-Process and for them to create physical models of their ideas of social enterprises.
After a brief taste of the U-Process, participants began prototyping. We supported them in forming teams around interest in collaboration or in a shared topic. They created physical models and then “pitched” them to the wider group. Teams came up with ideas ranging from prisoners learning skills so they can pay back the cost of their prison fees to a business plan competition for African university students. Dell also provided funding so that teams who were committed to their ideas could develop them and then later in the day propose them for start-up financing.
Participants said that they “loved the session” and that it “set the tone for the rest of the event”. We were pleased to hear that the groups that formed during this program in October are still collaborating on their projects in December. This staying power demonstrates that even a few hours of prototyping can produce lasting relationships, ideas, and capacities!