Coleman Center: What is your specialty?

Dr. Gundry: Creativity and innovation in entrepreneurial organizations

Coleman Center: Do you have any unique teaching techniques that have proven impactful with your students?

Dr. Gundry: Learning is a discovery process, and I believe that it can be fostered with a variety of methods. In my courses, I use experiential techniques to help students become more adept at creative thinking. I teach them tools, and then they apply those tools by digging deeply for ideas and solutions they otherwise would not have reached. For example, teaching students how to use the creative solving process for product invention (or reinvention) is done in part by having them use the methods they’ve learned on a real product. They are frequently amazed at how well they’ve done at this. I think that’s one of the best outcomes of teaching – seeing students who went into the course not very confident of their ability to be innovative and three months later they are generating breakthrough ideas. I also bring in an entrepreneur or manager for an in-class ideation session. The students are given an innovation challenge for the business, and in teams they use the tools they’ve learned to come up with ideas and opportunities for the business. It’s creativity in real time with the chance to make an impact on an organization. I also take my class to the Art Institute of Chicago for an exercise I developed: “ArtWork,” in which they get ideas from many art forms they observe to solve business problems. Students expand their sources of ideas and learn that sometimes getting away from the everyday routine leads to more creative approaches for business and career.

Coleman Center: Why have you chosen to become a professor of entrepreneurship?

Dr. Gundry: I’ve always been interested in how organizations are formed, how founders launch and build their ventures around an innovative idea. At DePaul, students in the entrepreneurship program and courses are passionate about new venture creation. As a member of the faculty, I have the opportunity to coach some of these students, and it’s very rewarding when their efforts lead to successful start-ups. Teaching and conducting research in this field for the past two decades has enabled me to interact with many businesses and business owners, and I attempt to guide students based on what works so they can benefit from the experiences of those who have already entered the world of business start-ups. The intersection of entrepreneurship and innovation is receiving increased attention in business schools as business leaders look for creative ways of responding to market changes since the economic downturn. Entrepreneurs often seek growth through innovation, so this field is growing by leaps and bounds and I’m excited to be part of it.

Coleman Center: Outside of research and teaching, how else are you involved in entrepreneurship?

Dr. Gundry: I direct the Center for Creativity and Innovation at DePaul, and activities include the Student Innovation Awards, showcasing the ideas of our students, some of which will lead to new business formation, as well as workshops and other events on topics related to entrepreneurship. I’m a contributor to the Small Business Tips column in Business Week.com. I also help some of our student entrepreneurs with their business start-ups, and have served in various community organizations and boards to help foster entrepreneurship in Chicago.

Coleman Center: We’re sure you hear inspiring business ideas from your students all the time. Would you share one or two that you have found to be most compelling?

Dr. Gundry: Yes, there are many ideas with great potential. Increasingly, students’ ideas are having social impact as well. Ideas include eco- tourism and new concepts in the hospitality industry in which travelers work in the communities they visit. An idea in this category was a winner in the 2011 Student Innovation Awards. Students are developing ideas for customization across many business categories – from beverages, such as vending machines that enable consumers to create their own nutritious drinks with selected vitamins and minerals, health and fitness for people and their companions (a doggy treadmill for under-exercised pets!), a privacy shield for cell-phones that keeps conversations from being heard and from being annoying to others around us, ways of integrating social media into apparel, technology that identifies exactly where our lost luggage is, to a new container for peanut butter that allows us to get every last bit out of the jar - now why hasn’t anyone thought of that before? There is no shortage of novel and useful business ideas among our students.