Sunday, January 31, 2016
Week 4 Reading Reflection
I think that what surprised me the most was that the entire chapter read like a psychology book. It was pretty much entirely about the brain and different types of creativity. One thing that confused me a bit was the exercises for sparking creativity cause I don't think they work. They seem less practical than he makes them out to be. If I could ask the author two questions, the first would be if he really believes that dealing with different relationship is as straight forward as he makes them out to be and second I would ask what exercise for sparking creativity that he personally uses most of the time. I'd like to hear his answers to these two questions. There are a couple things that I don't completely agree with in this chapter. The main thing would be how something as subjective as creativity can be broken into specific processes and that he has his own list of things that hinder theses processes. I don't think there is much that can hinder true creativity.
Customer Interview No.1
There are a lot of issues when it comes to playing golf. There's always an issue whether it's the amount of time it takes to the weather conditions. I was thinking about how long it takes to play sometimes when I was talking to people and a couple of people shared the same sentiment.
Obviously the people who would have the unmet need would be the golfers of any age who like playing golf but sometimes it poses to be too much of a time commitment.
The questions I asked where very open ended questions because I wanted the potential customer to talk as much as possible to see if the opportunity existed without me coercing it out of them.
First I asked them about themselves, I asked "Could you tell me about yourself, like your name age and how long you've been golfing?"
Then I asked "What is a normal day out playing golf like for you?"
Then I asked "Are there any things that you don't like about your experience when you play golf?"
And finally I asked "Is there any way you can think of to improve your experience out playing golf?"
What I learned about this opportunity is that there are many ways to approach making golf more enjoyable for the players. I learned that many people share the same sentiment that sometimes it just takes too long to play an entire game.
What I learned about interviewing customers is that the younger demographic was more willing to talk to a random person than the older demographic. I think students are more willing to do so because it's more common to see this type of stuff on campus. I had gone to a couple courses to speak to people and it was clear that people didn't want to get interviewed during their leisure time and that the establishments didn't want me there. It took a while to figure out who to talk to.
Obviously the people who would have the unmet need would be the golfers of any age who like playing golf but sometimes it poses to be too much of a time commitment.
The questions I asked where very open ended questions because I wanted the potential customer to talk as much as possible to see if the opportunity existed without me coercing it out of them.
First I asked them about themselves, I asked "Could you tell me about yourself, like your name age and how long you've been golfing?"
Then I asked "What is a normal day out playing golf like for you?"
Then I asked "Are there any things that you don't like about your experience when you play golf?"
And finally I asked "Is there any way you can think of to improve your experience out playing golf?"
What I learned about this opportunity is that there are many ways to approach making golf more enjoyable for the players. I learned that many people share the same sentiment that sometimes it just takes too long to play an entire game.
What I learned about interviewing customers is that the younger demographic was more willing to talk to a random person than the older demographic. I think students are more willing to do so because it's more common to see this type of stuff on campus. I had gone to a couple courses to speak to people and it was clear that people didn't want to get interviewed during their leisure time and that the establishments didn't want me there. It took a while to figure out who to talk to.
Monday, January 25, 2016
Top 5 World Problems
This is my top 5 ranking for the global issues that I had listed
in my previous post.
1.
The diminishing sources for fresh water
throughout the world.
2.
Hunger around the world.
3.
The lack of availability of an education.
4.
Global Terrorism.
5.
The uneven distribution of global wealth.
And now these are the solutions that I believe to be the
most possible to implement.
1.
The invention of a faster desalinization
process.
2.
Countries taking responsibility for educating its
citizens.
3.
Nonprofits and charities giving more money to
their cause of fighting hunger.
4.
Understanding what breeds the growth of
terrorism and being able to take swift action.
5.
Larger nations helping grow smaller undeveloped
ones instead of taking advantage of them.
I listed these problems and solutions in this order based on
my own opinion of what I think the biggest issue are and the most possibly implemented
solutions. I ranked the diminishing
source of fresh water as the biggest problem because it’s an issue everywhere
in the world and it is quite possibly the fastest increasing issue. With the loss of drinking water to highly
populated areas the world will end up with mass death and disease. It’s also not hard to imagine war over
sources of clean drinking water when it is a scarce commodity. In short, I feel
that this issue will lead to and add towards many other of the world’s biggest
issues. I also put the solution to this
issue as the most possible. We already have a way to desalinize sea water. It’s
just not fast enough to help in terms of providing fresh water on a large scale
basis. The technology already exist and
I believe that when the issue becomes an immediate threat that it won’t take
too much effort from scientist around the world to increase the efficiency of
an already existing process. The rest of my list is as it is because the higher
the issue is ranked, the more problems arise from that specific issue. With the
solutions, they are ranked as such because the more possible ones are based on
creating or slightly changing things that don’t affect people or governments
and the less possible ones are based on changing human nature, which is much
harder.
Sunday, January 24, 2016
Week 3 Reading Reflection
My biggest surprise in the text is that generation x is the most entrepreneurial. If I had to guess before reading I would've guessed that perhaps millennials would've been the most entrepreneurial. They seem to not have realistic workplace expectations and I would've thought that would lead to innovation but I guess I was wrong. During the reading I thought that metacognition was a little confusing but then started to understand it. It seems like it goes to far in detail about this for something that seems to essentially be a philosophy logic circle. Also, the grief recovery part was a bit of a weird concept to me. I think I would ask the author why he thinks that all grief can be managed the same way. It's all situational and people tend to deal with it differently than one another. I would also ask if he was completely serious when he wrote about the dark side of entrepreneurship. Why write about something that discourages people to a concept he's trying to push. The only things I was maybe a little in disagreement about are the two questions I would've asked. Maybe I'm just looking for a different explanation than the ones that were given in the text.
Friday, January 22, 2016
Very Short Interview No. 1
The person I interviewed is named Robert Norton. Robert is a friend and business acquaintance of my step father. Robert has done claims adjusting and appraising for corporate insurance companies for more than ten years, which has built a strong knowledge base in the field. For the past ten years though, Robert has been doing independent adjusting, which is sometimes referred to as being an umpire. He is fulfilling a mass need for claims adjusting and damage appraisal done by a third independent party so that the consumer doesn't get an unfair appraisal by the company with which they have the policy. He is an entrepreneur because he not only owns and operates his own business successfully, but he had identified a need for a product/service and decided to leave a corporate structure to fulfill the need of the potential clients he foresaw. I asked Robert three short questions in our interviewed which he answered as follows.
What does it mean to you to be an entrepreneur?
-"What being an entrepreneur means to me is that you have a unique opportunity to present a product or service to your clients. In my case, it's a service that eventually renders a product in the form of a check for the client. Being an entrepreneur also give you a chance to focus on results instead of a single task. Part of being an entrepreneur is to see the results you are working towards and working towards the future results, as opposed to just being a worker and focusing on an individual task and having a majority of you responsibility being to just show up and conduct small tasks from 9-5. Being an entrepreneur means you don't have a schedule and that you have to put in the work when the inspiration and motivation hits you."
What do you think that I should learn in my entrepreneurship course?
-"Hopefully, you will learn how to distinguish between a hobby and a business. Too many people treat their endeavors as a hobby and not a business and doing so can lead to unnecessary failure. It would important to learn how to nurture an idea and mold it into an opportunity. If it's treated as a personal hobby and not a business then there is little chance for growth. By this I mean that as an entrepreneur you need to learn how not to work "in" your business, but learn how to work "for" your business as a whole."
What is something that you wish you had learned in school before setting out as an entrepreneur?
-"I think one of the most important things that I wish I had learned in school was social protocol in meeting and networking events. Not in the sense of which fork to use at dinner, but as in how to approach a potential client at a social event. I was in a coed business fraternity but unfortunately we didn't focus on the social aspect of things in this context as much. I had a lot to learn with this when I was in the corporate structure."
I think that I was surprised by how open and willing Robert was to share his insight and knowledge. He seemed very passionate about how he approaches his days. I also found it interesting that his answers, though slightly different, kind of fall in line with the mentality of what is being talked about in this class. Though he is not an inventor or the first in his field, he is fulfilling the needs of many people and works on his own schedule. He seemed to have a lot of insight and I look forward to interviewing him again in the future.
What does it mean to you to be an entrepreneur?
-"What being an entrepreneur means to me is that you have a unique opportunity to present a product or service to your clients. In my case, it's a service that eventually renders a product in the form of a check for the client. Being an entrepreneur also give you a chance to focus on results instead of a single task. Part of being an entrepreneur is to see the results you are working towards and working towards the future results, as opposed to just being a worker and focusing on an individual task and having a majority of you responsibility being to just show up and conduct small tasks from 9-5. Being an entrepreneur means you don't have a schedule and that you have to put in the work when the inspiration and motivation hits you."
What do you think that I should learn in my entrepreneurship course?
-"Hopefully, you will learn how to distinguish between a hobby and a business. Too many people treat their endeavors as a hobby and not a business and doing so can lead to unnecessary failure. It would important to learn how to nurture an idea and mold it into an opportunity. If it's treated as a personal hobby and not a business then there is little chance for growth. By this I mean that as an entrepreneur you need to learn how not to work "in" your business, but learn how to work "for" your business as a whole."
What is something that you wish you had learned in school before setting out as an entrepreneur?
-"I think one of the most important things that I wish I had learned in school was social protocol in meeting and networking events. Not in the sense of which fork to use at dinner, but as in how to approach a potential client at a social event. I was in a coed business fraternity but unfortunately we didn't focus on the social aspect of things in this context as much. I had a lot to learn with this when I was in the corporate structure."
I think that I was surprised by how open and willing Robert was to share his insight and knowledge. He seemed very passionate about how he approaches his days. I also found it interesting that his answers, though slightly different, kind of fall in line with the mentality of what is being talked about in this class. Though he is not an inventor or the first in his field, he is fulfilling the needs of many people and works on his own schedule. He seemed to have a lot of insight and I look forward to interviewing him again in the future.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
World's Biggest Problems
1. The language barrier
It's not a secret that not speaking the same language will make communication near impossible. With a world that is much smaller now that people travel so much this is an important issue.
- I think that better language education can easily lessen this issue
2. Diminishing sources of fresh water.
It may not be felt as much in our region of the world but for parts of Asia and Africa it's a daily crisis. Even some parts of the United States struggles with this, like southern California and other ares prone to droughts.
- I think the invention of a faster and more efficient desalinization process is long overdue.
3. Hunger around the world
You see people and children starving in those extremely long commercials so you are aware that there are people in that condition overseas. Unfortunately, this is an issue hear at home as well and just doesn't get promoted as much.
- More money from nonprofit charities could be used for food distribution as opposed to running the nonprofit(we all know the loopholes). This is a battle won inch by inch.
4. Garbage disposal worldwide
You the massive land fills that we create but unfortunately if you aren't around one it's not as obvious. If you travel a lot, you'll notice that there are several countries that don't even have an organized system of collection or disposal so trash is everywhere.
- More developed countries should create more efficient ways to decompose things like plastic and rubber. Less developed countries should organize a collection system.
5. Global terrorism
This is a relevant topic that gets discussed everyday almost. It's something that extends into every culture and religion across the world.
- I think governments being able to identify what conditions breed terrorism is key to stopping it. At the same time, I believe that being able to take swift action on budding organizations is key as well. This way you don't end up with a group that inhabits parts of several countries.
6. The uneven distribution of global wealth
I'm not speaking of any individuals personal wealth but countries that exploit undeveloped ones for their resources. Whether it's a cheap labor force or natural resources this is practiced by most developed countries in the world.
- This is just a form of modern day colonialism. I think larger nations should help cultivate and grow the smaller under-developed country and perhaps give advice about building an economy based on it's best resources.
7. Racism
It's not just an issue in the United States. Countries around the world discriminate against peoples and culture they deem "lesser". Some examples are western European countries discriminating against Turkish immigrants or South Korean civilian's attitudes towards North Korean deserters/escapees.
- I think that this is a long solution that will transcend multiple generations, but a good place to start would be proper education. I think the less ignorant people are to others struggles, the less they are likely to blindly hate.
8. Disease control
Many people in the world die daily from treatable diseases. Others live in environments that are more disease prone and they are more likely to develop something more serious and contaminate others.
- Identification and treatment are obvious solutions to this problem, but also in areas like Africa and China through southeast Asia the creation of more hygienic living areas would lessen the issue greatly.
9. The lack of availability of an education
This is an issue from top to bottom. In undeveloped and poorer countries there might not even be a way for someone to receive even a basic education let alone a higher one. In our country, many parents struggle to afford even the public state institutions for their child.
- Countries should take responsibility for education it's citizens and for higher education in this country, I still don't understand why I should pay a "public" institution a few grand a year when you can float not just the sports programs but most likely the whole university from the income off of the football program that we all love.
10. War
We have personally been at war for over a decade. This isn't even counting other countries having disputes. I think we all understand that war is extremely profitable for individuals in the right positions, but it is very costly for everyone involve in a multitude of ways.
- I think the only way to prevent or stop a war is for a countries people to express their disapproval and for for foreign governments to do the same.
It's not a secret that not speaking the same language will make communication near impossible. With a world that is much smaller now that people travel so much this is an important issue.
- I think that better language education can easily lessen this issue
2. Diminishing sources of fresh water.
It may not be felt as much in our region of the world but for parts of Asia and Africa it's a daily crisis. Even some parts of the United States struggles with this, like southern California and other ares prone to droughts.
- I think the invention of a faster and more efficient desalinization process is long overdue.
3. Hunger around the world
You see people and children starving in those extremely long commercials so you are aware that there are people in that condition overseas. Unfortunately, this is an issue hear at home as well and just doesn't get promoted as much.
- More money from nonprofit charities could be used for food distribution as opposed to running the nonprofit(we all know the loopholes). This is a battle won inch by inch.
4. Garbage disposal worldwide
You the massive land fills that we create but unfortunately if you aren't around one it's not as obvious. If you travel a lot, you'll notice that there are several countries that don't even have an organized system of collection or disposal so trash is everywhere.
- More developed countries should create more efficient ways to decompose things like plastic and rubber. Less developed countries should organize a collection system.
5. Global terrorism
This is a relevant topic that gets discussed everyday almost. It's something that extends into every culture and religion across the world.
- I think governments being able to identify what conditions breed terrorism is key to stopping it. At the same time, I believe that being able to take swift action on budding organizations is key as well. This way you don't end up with a group that inhabits parts of several countries.
6. The uneven distribution of global wealth
I'm not speaking of any individuals personal wealth but countries that exploit undeveloped ones for their resources. Whether it's a cheap labor force or natural resources this is practiced by most developed countries in the world.
- This is just a form of modern day colonialism. I think larger nations should help cultivate and grow the smaller under-developed country and perhaps give advice about building an economy based on it's best resources.
7. Racism
It's not just an issue in the United States. Countries around the world discriminate against peoples and culture they deem "lesser". Some examples are western European countries discriminating against Turkish immigrants or South Korean civilian's attitudes towards North Korean deserters/escapees.
- I think that this is a long solution that will transcend multiple generations, but a good place to start would be proper education. I think the less ignorant people are to others struggles, the less they are likely to blindly hate.
8. Disease control
Many people in the world die daily from treatable diseases. Others live in environments that are more disease prone and they are more likely to develop something more serious and contaminate others.
- Identification and treatment are obvious solutions to this problem, but also in areas like Africa and China through southeast Asia the creation of more hygienic living areas would lessen the issue greatly.
9. The lack of availability of an education
This is an issue from top to bottom. In undeveloped and poorer countries there might not even be a way for someone to receive even a basic education let alone a higher one. In our country, many parents struggle to afford even the public state institutions for their child.
- Countries should take responsibility for education it's citizens and for higher education in this country, I still don't understand why I should pay a "public" institution a few grand a year when you can float not just the sports programs but most likely the whole university from the income off of the football program that we all love.
10. War
We have personally been at war for over a decade. This isn't even counting other countries having disputes. I think we all understand that war is extremely profitable for individuals in the right positions, but it is very costly for everyone involve in a multitude of ways.
- I think the only way to prevent or stop a war is for a countries people to express their disapproval and for for foreign governments to do the same.
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Bug List
Things that bug me
1. The lack of available parking on campus during school hours.
Exists because UF only sell specific permits to specific people.
2. The old desks at Marston and the close proximity they are to each other
The university probably spends more money on improving Lib West
3. The Chipotle on University consistently gives more meat than the Archer one(C'mon!)
Possible lack of consistent training
4. The lack of good drink specials in midtown on Saturday night.
They know everyone is coming out so they lack the need to run any worthwhile specials
5. The lack of storage/passenger space in my small two-seater car
Bad judgement of my personal needs when I purchased the car
6. How the entrance to some parking lots in Gainesville have a high/steep grade
Gainesville is a hilly area and ACRs drive big trucks
7. Not being able to get near an outlet at Marston when you need it.
Assuming they think laptops run off of something other than electricity
8. The quick merge to one lane on university when you are heading east just before 2nd
Idk why they would choke traffic at such a busy area...I just don't know
9. Not enough scooter parking in the NE part of campus
A lot of students use scooters to get to their classes
10. When classes use more than one online site to complete assignments
The professors don't have the best logistics
11. When bus routes don't connect efficiently to each other
Another logistics issue
12. Chick-fil-a on campus doesn't serve breakfast
Unsure. I feel there would be a big demand for this based on the location
13. The number on the front of some buses don't work so you don't know which bus it was till it's too late.
Insufficient servicing by the bus company
14. When bikers don't follow the rules properly cause they can easily get away with it
It's convenient to not follow them if you think you'll get away with it
15. When a shirt fits well but the sleeves are too small around.
Quality control issue since it's not a normal occurrence but sometimes happens
16. When people chew with their mouth open very loudly
I was yelled at as a kid if I did this at the table, not everyone was taught manners
17. When Gator football games start too early in the afternoon
This bug consist because someone is inconsiderate of our gator spirit(we need to tailgate!)
18. The excessive amount of tickets UF parking services will give you and the cost
They're willing to ignore the fact that you received 8 a semester as long as you keep paying them which clearly shows that they're just fishing for extra income for the school
19. The fact that the county goes dry after 2am.
I'm from a place where bars are open till 4am and I'm unsure why any place would be different
20. When people talk in the library
I guess they do so because they know there are no repercussions
This took a lot longer than I thought it would. I guess I don't really focus on things like this in my dy too often but everything listed could be improved in some way. It was easy to think of the first few but then it took some reflection on my weekly routine and some critical thinking to come up with the rest.
1. The lack of available parking on campus during school hours.
Exists because UF only sell specific permits to specific people.
2. The old desks at Marston and the close proximity they are to each other
The university probably spends more money on improving Lib West
3. The Chipotle on University consistently gives more meat than the Archer one(C'mon!)
Possible lack of consistent training
4. The lack of good drink specials in midtown on Saturday night.
They know everyone is coming out so they lack the need to run any worthwhile specials
5. The lack of storage/passenger space in my small two-seater car
Bad judgement of my personal needs when I purchased the car
6. How the entrance to some parking lots in Gainesville have a high/steep grade
Gainesville is a hilly area and ACRs drive big trucks
7. Not being able to get near an outlet at Marston when you need it.
Assuming they think laptops run off of something other than electricity
8. The quick merge to one lane on university when you are heading east just before 2nd
Idk why they would choke traffic at such a busy area...I just don't know
9. Not enough scooter parking in the NE part of campus
A lot of students use scooters to get to their classes
10. When classes use more than one online site to complete assignments
The professors don't have the best logistics
11. When bus routes don't connect efficiently to each other
Another logistics issue
12. Chick-fil-a on campus doesn't serve breakfast
Unsure. I feel there would be a big demand for this based on the location
13. The number on the front of some buses don't work so you don't know which bus it was till it's too late.
Insufficient servicing by the bus company
14. When bikers don't follow the rules properly cause they can easily get away with it
It's convenient to not follow them if you think you'll get away with it
15. When a shirt fits well but the sleeves are too small around.
Quality control issue since it's not a normal occurrence but sometimes happens
16. When people chew with their mouth open very loudly
I was yelled at as a kid if I did this at the table, not everyone was taught manners
17. When Gator football games start too early in the afternoon
This bug consist because someone is inconsiderate of our gator spirit(we need to tailgate!)
18. The excessive amount of tickets UF parking services will give you and the cost
They're willing to ignore the fact that you received 8 a semester as long as you keep paying them which clearly shows that they're just fishing for extra income for the school
19. The fact that the county goes dry after 2am.
I'm from a place where bars are open till 4am and I'm unsure why any place would be different
20. When people talk in the library
I guess they do so because they know there are no repercussions
This took a lot longer than I thought it would. I guess I don't really focus on things like this in my dy too often but everything listed could be improved in some way. It was easy to think of the first few but then it took some reflection on my weekly routine and some critical thinking to come up with the rest.
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Introduction
Hi everyone, my name is Chris Hand and I'm from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I only have one sibling, an older brother and a few step siblings in the state. Most of my family is from Massachusetts and I have a very large extended family there that I visit on occasion. I'm a finance major and I want to work in banking, though I'm not sure if I'd prefer the investing side or the commercial side. I've had the opportunity to travel a little more than most because I was in the military for four years before starting college. I was stationed in Hawaii, deployed to Iraq for a year and did training missions in South Korea. I also took some time off to live with a good friend of mine in Germany where we traveled to a few other countries in western Europe. I transferred into UF from a smaller school in south Florida just last semester and I love it so far.
My Entrepreneurship Story
Growing up I hadn't known exactly what my uncle did for a living, as few kids really do. However this past year I was able to see what he did first hand. He is the president and co-founder of United Tranzactions, which is one of the biggest payment solutions companies in the South Florida area. He had been successful working for a company that guarantees checks. Even though many of these went out of business due to lowered use of checks, he still saw a need for some form of payment solutions. He mainly deals with businesses now, making sure that a company can pay it's employees on time or can order any supplies they may need on a timely basis. He recently merged his company with another in 2010 and was able to liquidate a good portion of his shares in the company. Regardless of having a personal wealth of about 40 million, you would never think that was the case by the way he works just as if he started the company yesterday. What's truly amazing about this is that even though he may seem like a highly educated expert in the field, he actually didn't graduate high school! He learned by doing and came out on top. To me he embodies the entrepreneur's spirit.
The reason I enrolled in ENT3003 is because I have heard it was a very insightful class and that everyone I asked said that they truly enjoyed it. What I hope to get out of taking this class is a changed mindset as far as how I approach tasks and other daily activities. I think this class can give me a new way to look at the world.
The reason I enrolled in ENT3003 is because I have heard it was a very insightful class and that everyone I asked said that they truly enjoyed it. What I hope to get out of taking this class is a changed mindset as far as how I approach tasks and other daily activities. I think this class can give me a new way to look at the world.
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
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