Instructor Resource
Neck, Neck, & Murray, Entrepreneurship: The Practice and Mindset
SAGE Publications, 2018
1
Experiential Exercises
Chapter 1: Entrepreneurship: A Global Social Movement
Source: Teaching Entrepreneurship: A Practice-Based Approach (p. 285–289), by H. Neck, P.
Greene, & C. Brush, 2014, Northampton, MA: Elgar.
Exercise: Passion Cube
Author: Bradley George
Description
Passion has long been considered to be an important aspect of entrepreneurial behavior. More
recently, researchers have built on identity theory to develop a theoretical basis for better
understanding the role of passion and its importance in various outcomes. Passion can foster
creativity and aid in identifying new information patterns that can lead to the discovery of
entrepreneurial opportunities (Baron, 2008; Sundarajan & Peters, 2007). In empirical research,
passion has been associated with entrepreneurs’ ability to raise funds from investors (Cardon et
al., 2009; Mitteness et al., 2012; Sudek, 2006) and to hire and motivate key employees (Cardon,
Learning Objectives
Reflect on and assess personal passions.
Expand thinking around potential opportunities related to personal passions.
Connect passion to skills as part of entrepreneurship.
Materials List (Include Handouts)
Six squares of white paper (about 2 inch × 2 inch or 3 inch × 3 inch each) for each student—
Instructor Resource
Neck, Neck, & Murray, Entrepreneurship: The Practice and Mindset
SAGE Publications, 2018
2
Theoretical Foundations
Baron, R.A. (2008). The role of affect in the entrepreneurial process. Academy of Management
Review, 33, 328–340.
Cardon, M.S. (2008). Is passion contagious? The transference of entrepreneurial emotion to
employees. Human Resource Management Review, 18, 77–86.
Cardon, M.S., Wincent, J., Singh, J., and Drnovsek, M. (2009). The nature and experience of
entrepreneurial passion. Academy of Management Review, 34(3), 511–532.
Time Plan (25 minutes)
Step 1 0:00–0:03 (3 minutes)
Start by passing around the square cards and have each student take six cards. You can also pass
around some tape and tell them to tear off eight small pieces of tape.
Step 2 0:03–0:05 (2 minutes)
Instruct the students to take one of the cards and write down something they are passionate
Step 3 0:05–0:10 (5 minutes)
Have them put that card aside and take two more cards. On each card, have them write one thing
that describes why they are passionate about what they wrote on the first card. You should give
them a few minutes for this, because students have often not been asked to reflect on what drives
Step 4 0:10–0:12 (2 minutes)
Instructor Resource
Neck, Neck, & Murray, Entrepreneurship: The Practice and Mindset
SAGE Publications, 2018
3
On each card, they should write a skill or strength that they feel they have.
Step 5 0:12–0:14 (2 minutes)
Next, have them take all six cards and put them face down so that they cannot read what is on
them and have them mix them up. Once they have done that, have them lay the cards out (still
face down) in a “T” or cross pattern, as shown in the figure below, and tape the edges.
Step 6 0:14–0:15 (1 minute)
Have them make a cube with all the writing on the outside by folding the “T” into a box and
taping the final edges.
Step 7 0:15–0:20 (5 minutes)
Have them examine the various intersections of their skills, passion, and the drivers of their
Instructor Resource
Neck, Neck, & Murray, Entrepreneurship: The Practice and Mindset
SAGE Publications, 2018
4
0:20–0:25 (5 minutes)
Ask a student for an example from his or her cube. It is often helpful to build on this and add
Post-Work
As post-work, the students can be asked to develop business concepts that build on what they
have captured on their cube. It’s also nice to tie the exercise to later work in the class on idea
generation.
Key Takeaways
• Understanding what drives your passion can open up a host of new ideas you might find
attractive.
Teaching Tips
The biggest thing to keep in mind in running this exercise is to emphasize that only the students
will see what they write unless they choose to share it with others. It is also important to
encourage them to feel free to write down what they feel they are good at, not what they feel
Attribution
This is a variation of an exercise originally created by Mary Pinard at Babson College.