THE ORANGE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP©
A methodology to teach and train
the entrepreneurial attitudes
by
Carla Fiorio & Debora Ferrero
The action plan "Entrepreneurship 2020" published in 2013 by the European Commission believes that growth and jobs are directly related to the number of entrepreneurs in business. Starting from this premise, it outlines three areas of intervention of which the first is the development of education and training for entrepreneurship, a subject on which the European Commission insisted with various documents and researches over the past decade.The Flash Eurobarometer findings in December 2012, also claim that:
- Between 2009 and 2012, the entrepreneurial propensity of Europeans has decreased from 45% to 37%;
- Only 28% of Europeans say that the school has interested them to the entrepreneurship career;
- 58% have never opened a business because THEY NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT IT.
These data suggest the urgent need for action to raise awareness of children, teachers and the whole society about the importance of "light and enhance" the spirit of enterprise, initiative and pro-activity, in order to train those entrepreneurial skills that allow everyone to become "entrepreneurs of themselves”.
The attitudes’ formation process, a concept developed by experts in cognitive psychology, is strongly influenced by factors external to the person, among of which training plays a key role. Researchers who have focused on the features that characterize the entrepreneur - the ability to recognize opportunities and to take coherent actions to achieve a certain goal - argue that the formation of personal attitudes (which in turn give rise to intentions, and these in turn lead to actions) takes place through two main channels of influence: family and school. The school (and, more generally, all the education ecosystem, including business incubators and accelerators) can then play a crucial role not only in providing "knowledge" but also and above all in providing those stimuli to train the attitudes related to proactivity, initiative, courage, accountability, resilience, motivation, behavioral attitudes that lead to have that special mindset that is able to turn ideas into actions, visions into something real.
There are paths that tend to rediscover the potential of productive initiative that each of us has, an approach inspired by the Anglo-Saxon methodologies: in many countries the "entrepreneurial mindset" subject has been included in schools curricula with very positive results. A very virtuous example concerns the region of Halland, in Sweden, where the county together with local stakeholders has invested in creating a favorable business environment, providing young people with training and motivation. The schools have included in their programs teaching hours of "entrepreneurial mindset" with the possibility to involve the students them in projects. The result is that 44% of young people between 18 and 30 years in the region now intends to become an entrepreneur, a record in the whole of Sweden. In 2004 this figure was only 26%.
The attitudes’ formation process, a concept developed by experts in cognitive psychology, is strongly influenced by factors external to the person, among of which training plays a key role. Researchers who have focused on the features that characterize the entrepreneur - the ability to recognize opportunities and to take coherent actions to achieve a certain goal - argue that the formation of personal attitudes (which in turn give rise to intentions, and these in turn lead to actions) takes place through two main channels of influence: family and school. The school (and, more generally, all the education ecosystem, including business incubators and accelerators) can then play a crucial role not only in providing "knowledge" but also and above all in providing those stimuli to train the attitudes related to proactivity, initiative, courage, accountability, resilience, motivation, behavioral attitudes that lead to have that special mindset that is able to turn ideas into actions, visions into something real.
There are paths that tend to rediscover the potential of productive initiative that each of us has, an approach inspired by the Anglo-Saxon methodologies: in many countries the "entrepreneurial mindset" subject has been included in schools curricula with very positive results. A very virtuous example concerns the region of Halland, in Sweden, where the county together with local stakeholders has invested in creating a favorable business environment, providing young people with training and motivation. The schools have included in their programs teaching hours of "entrepreneurial mindset" with the possibility to involve the students them in projects. The result is that 44% of young people between 18 and 30 years in the region now intends to become an entrepreneur, a record in the whole of Sweden. In 2004 this figure was only 26%.
The Orange of Entrepreneurship ©
An experiential and educational journey
The Orange of Entrepreneurship© is an experiential and educational journey, than can be directed to teachers, students, startuppers and potential entrepreneurs who intend to rediscover the potential of productive initiave that each of us has with a methodoly inspired by the Anglo-Saxon approach. The teachers work with the participants to develop their entrepreneurial mindset through reflection on the importance of the features that over the centuries have distinguished entrepreneurs and training them.
The Orange of Entrepreneurship© is a journey of introspection, discovery and awareness of the entrepreneurial attitudes and introduces a series of techniques and exercises to train them, providing participants with the tools to strengthen them, at any time in their lives.
Why The Orange of Entrepreneurship©? Because just practicing together the skills you can develop harmoniously the propensity for entrepreneurship, filling each segment in order to generate a rich and "vitaminic" squeeze, the juice of entrepreneurial success.
This is not the usual course that provides the main skills for aspiring entrepreneurs: how to write a business plan, how to build a marketing campaign, how to raise enough financing, and so on. This is something that goes before and implement those skills: The Orange of Entrepreneurship© goes deep in mind to provide a real toolkit to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. And is also excellent for entrepreneurs that would like to revitalize their attitudes and would be more aware of them in order to be mentors or tutors for startuppers and aspiring entrepreneurs.
The Orange of Entrepreneurship© is a journey of introspection, discovery and awareness of the entrepreneurial attitudes and introduces a series of techniques and exercises to train them, providing participants with the tools to strengthen them, at any time in their lives.
Why The Orange of Entrepreneurship©? Because just practicing together the skills you can develop harmoniously the propensity for entrepreneurship, filling each segment in order to generate a rich and "vitaminic" squeeze, the juice of entrepreneurial success.
This is not the usual course that provides the main skills for aspiring entrepreneurs: how to write a business plan, how to build a marketing campaign, how to raise enough financing, and so on. This is something that goes before and implement those skills: The Orange of Entrepreneurship© goes deep in mind to provide a real toolkit to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. And is also excellent for entrepreneurs that would like to revitalize their attitudes and would be more aware of them in order to be mentors or tutors for startuppers and aspiring entrepreneurs.
Who we are
Carla Fiorio is a Italian journalist and expert on economic dynamics of territorial development. As part of its activity, carried out for fifteen years as head of the research department of the Biella Chamber of Commerce, has edited more than thirty socioeconomic monographs studying entrepreneurial behavior within the industrial cluster areas. She graduated from the University of Pavia, Political Science faculty. She works with the publishing group Techniche Nuove in Milan.
She is currently involved in economic journalism, training and implementation of specific training projects related to entrepreneurial culture. With Debora Ferrero she has published a book focused on entrepreneurship "Human Spirits and entrepreneurship culture", published in 2012 by Italian publishing house Guerini e Associati, released in English in June 2014 as an ebook by Austin Macauley.
Debora Ferrero is an Italian journalist, blogger and writer; expert in communication and entrepreneurship. She graduated in Communication Sciences the University of Turin; currently is working with the study and communication departments of the Biella and Vercelli Chambers of Commerce. She is collaborating with the Young Entrepreneurs Group of Confindustria Ivrea, with Italian and foreign magazines of textiles and fashion. He began writing at age 17, he met and interviewed more than a hundred entrepreneurs.
The essay on entrepreneurship "Human spirits and entrepreneurship culture," co-authored with Carla Fiorio, has been published by Guerini e Associati in 2012 and was released in ebook version in English in July 2014 by the publisher Austin Macauley. The collaboration with Carla Fiorio continues in the development of projects and training programs of the entrepreneurial mindset for schools, firms, incubators, accelerators and employment offices.
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