Why is Microsoft Teaching Innovation & Entrepreneurship Around the World?

Microsoft is helping people around the world develop the skills needed to be more innovative and entrepreneurial. I’m delighted to contribute to this effort. My involvement began with a phone call from Ed Steidl, who runs Microsoft’s Innovation Centers (MICs). After several discussions, Ed and his team decided to use my Invention Cycle framework in their workshops to teach participants how to move from ideas to actions.

Below is an interview with Ed Steidl about the MICs, focusing on why and how Microsoft is investing in this effort.

What are the Microsoft Innovation Centers, and where are they?

Microsoft Innovation Centers (MICs) help build and develop IT skills as well as to create real opportunities for entrepreneurs and start-ups, ensuring that the local ecosystem can successfully enable job seekers and to empower job creators. The network has 100+ locations across 34 different countries.

Why is Microsoft interested in developing entrepreneurial skills in the developing world?

Microsoft’s mission is to help every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Developing an entrepreneurial mindset is perfectly aligned to this mission. As we race toward the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we want to empower people to solve local problems through technology, and innovation plays a key part in this journey.

What motivated you to take on this challenge?

When I first took on the role of Global Program Manager, I spent significant time in the field, talking with MIC Managers and their constituents. I learned that there is an insatiable demand for programs that foster creativity and build an entrepreneurial mindset.

My two “ah ha” moments came in Nepal and then later in China. In Nepal, a student said that he wasn’t interested in getting a job but rather wanted to create jobs. In China, another student asked me if I could teach him how to become more like Steve Jobs.

Both of these students wanted to become more entrepreneurial but didn’t know where to start. I realized that this is a big problem in many societies, and became committed to helping people around the world develop these skills. I then met a colleague at Microsoft, Natasha Chornesky, who was the first teacher in the US to re-purpose Steve Blank’s Lean Launchpad content for K-12 students. I shared my vision of creating an entrepreneurial program with her and we were completely aligned. We’ve been working on this project together ever since.

What types of programming do you offer in these centers?

The Centers offer a wide array of programs, depending on the maturity of their respective ecosystems. In some regions there’s a focus on technology that helps round out a person’s skill-set. In other areas, we focus on the process of generating solutions to local problems and how to bring those ideas to fruition.

Why did you decide to include the Invention Cycle model in the program?

The Invention Cycle provides a framework for teaching people how to be more entrepreneurial, including a clear and reproducible pathway for progressing from ideas to actions. It also provides us with a terrific set of exercises that we’re using in each of the MICs, that foster the skills required to improve imagination, creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

How receptive are communities to the workshops, and what have they found most meaningful?

We’ve tested the workshops in 7 countries so far, including India, China, Nepal, Korea and Malta. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. In many cases, I’ve received unsolicited feedback from attendees highlighting how the content helped them understand the skills needed to become more entrepreneurial. In India, a 4th year engineering student wrote to me saying that the content literally “changed her life,” helping her realize she had an innate ability to develop a great idea and a compelling pitch to promote it. That type of feedback is inspirational, and a great indicator that we are onto something big.

Can you describe cultural differences between the MICs in different parts of the world?

Each MIC operates autonomously. This is necessary because of the differences in their respective ecosystems. The needs in Nepal are quite different from those in Belgium, for example. Overall, however, there isn’t an ecosystem or country in the world that doesn’t aspire to becoming more entrepreneurial.

What have you learned from doing these workshops?

Most people want to be entrepreneurial but don’t know if it is the right path for them, and if so, where to start. These workshops help participants determine which path is the best match for them. Independent of what they decide to do afterward — take a job or start a new venture — the tools they learn will be valuable. All employers want employees who know how to be more innovative! With this, we are fulling our mission of helping everyone achieve more.

What happens after and between the workshops? Are there other resources people can access?

The Invention Cycle workshop is the first step in a pathway. The following step is a workshop with content from our partner, the Lean Startup Machine. This workshop digs deep into the concept of customer development. Attendees learn the critical elements of the “lean” methodology, including experiment design and customer interviews. My vision is that meaningful ideas will be born during the Invention Cycle workshop, and thoroughly tested using the Lean Startup Machine methodology. We are also developing an accelerator boot camp, that will help companies that already have traction, take their businesses to the next level.

What are your goals going forward?

I hope that with all of our workshops and resources at the MICs we will help to create the next wave of entrepreneurs around the world who are able to solve local problems by creating local solutions and companies. It’s the formation of these innovations and ventures that will lead to further economic growth in the new digital economy.