Ever wondered why London is ridiculously expensive to live in? Well, the answer is obvious – because everyone wants to be in London. If you’re living in London or are bound to come, congratulations! You have gotten yourself a corner in one of the most popular places in the globe. However, if you want to keep it, you’ve got to earn it! London is not a place to lay back and be passive, waiting for work to come. It is the centre of Entrepreneurship and every single resident must look up for the right offers, take the right opportunities as soon as they come and also create own chances to make it and stand out from the crowds.
As a member/ambassador of LUIP, I was offered the chance to take part in an Entrepreneurial workshop, at Kingston University, lead by Dr. Martha Mador. Although I have been very lucky to be studying in a school that trains us to the highest level of entrepreneurial thinking, this workshop made me reflect on some aspects that lead to success at the present time. We are on a post-modern society that is desperate for new IDEAS, and new ways of exploring what already exists.
1. Problem/Solution
Every idea that aims to be a good, valid and successful idea must come from a necessity – it is originated through a process of problem-solving thinking. Therefore, in order to think creatively, we must start by problematising.
2. Collaboration makes Genious
Nowadays, although the individual voice is praised in its unique character, the most effective way to grow, sustain and develop ideas is through team building and discussion. Collaboration allows several unique voices to generate problems and solutions that can be debated in order to check whether they can be applied to a wide population. The more varied the backgrounds of team members are, the wider the possibilities. Different philosophies can converge in a single powerful idea, accepted by various examples of population.
3. Network/Discussion
Building a team for discussion is naturally a strong step towards entrepreneurship. It can happen casually through networking, by debating a certain common theme of interest in a cafe, or it can be officially set up according to common areas of specialisation and variety of backgrounds.
4. Recycling makes New
The Era of inventions has sadly come to an end (in theory), and the best we can do today is to recycle ideas and make them new again, as there is so much that has already been invented so far (and so many necessities that have luckily been fulfilled). The present trend is to solve a problem using pre-existing solutions to other problems. That’s why networking and collaboration are again so important – they allow that people share problems and solutions from different areas of specialisation, creating possible common solutions.
5. The Accordion Effect
This is the complete process of creativity thinking – a flow of air with expansion and contraction of motion, just like the movement that is necessary to play an accordion. We brainstorm and accept all discoveries at first, so that we have then a wide range of material for selection in the second part of the process.
Dr. Mador called it a Diamond Effect. As a musician, I see it as accordion playing.
As this is an art/music-related blog, this is my cue to insert here a bit of an artsy element. Take a look (and a listen) at the Crazy Accordion Trio. A very suggestive name for a group of 3 entrepreneurs, who decided to apply their classical training in Accordion in covers of pop songs, appealing to young people who wouldn’t normally care about acoustic accordion playing. This video has more than a quarter of a million views. Not bad for an accordion trio!
Working and/or studying in London can be mentally hard, as we struggle to get positive figures at the end of each week, when subtracting rent and expenses to all our income. But it is the ideal place for achievers and it can be really rewarding (both financially and socially) once we put our projects into practice. START NOW!
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