Jan
16In an effort to finish my program my next December, without having to take summer school or finish 1 class next year at this time, I chose to do the MBA winterterm class…a good choice, but it feels too soon to start the semester!
That said, I’m taking “Creativity and Innovation,” a.k.a. corporate entrepreneurship. My school, Chapman University, likes to focus on “reality-based education,” so while this class may sound kind of vague and an “entrepreneur” can really be anyone, this class seems to be good as it focuses on honing creativity & innovation even if you’re working for someone else. (FYI, if your school is #9 for graduate entrepreneurship programs, chances are a majority of your opportunities & even class electives will have this focus, in case you were wondering).
So far, our creative assignments for the class really are “real,” involving PR and promotion of both the entrepreneurship center and Chapman University. (FYI, my professor is also the director of the entrepreneurship center, so will be gleaning from our ideas.)
All in all, creativity & innovation does seem to be an extremely important topic for the next wave of business leaders. A recent BusinessWeek article highlighted the downturn of Silicon Valley, long the hotbed for innovation and new techie products, citing that there haven’t been any NEW big players that are really making a mark…Google, Apple, Microsoft, Intel, etc. are the most recent. Most companies are just improving on existing technologies.
Obviously, if the U.S. is to succeed in keeping up with global competition, we need to figure out a way to improve our level of creativity and innovation in bringing new, market-changing products to the table…food for thought as I undergo this 4-week class.
