This article explores how conceptualizing ‘the moment’ in entrepreneurship contributes to understanding entrepreneurial processes of learning and creativity. The significance of ‘the aha moment’ in entrepreneurial behaviour is widely used at a popular level but has not been well explored in relation to knowledge of human learning. The ‘moment’ is taken to be a point in time when we experience conscious mental awareness of what is going on and are able to generate meaning from this awareness, and to remember our thinking and responses. The aims of the article are: (a) to explore the connections between the concept of the moment in entrepreneurship and processes of learning and creativity; (b) to develop a framework that can be used to understand momentary perspectives in entrepreneurship; and (c) to explore the implications for entrepreneurial education and practice.
BakerA. (2004), ‘Seizing the moment: Talking about the “undiscussables”’, Journal of Management Education, Vol 28, pp 693–706.
2.
BanksW.IshamE. (2009), ‘We infer rather than perceive the moment we decided to act’, Psychological Science, Vol 20, No 1, pp 17–21.
3.
BartlettF. (1932/1967), Remembering, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
4.
BaumardP. (1999), Tacit Knowledge in Organizations, Sage, London.
5.
BedeianA. (2007), ‘Critical moments in learning: A teacher's ultimate reward and glory’, Journal of Management Inquiry, Vol 6, pp 408–411.
6.
BeemanM.KouniosJ. (2009), ‘The aha! moment, the cognitive neuroscience of insight’, Current Directions in Psychological Science, Vol 18, No 4, pp 210–216.
CableV. (2010), The Storm: The World Economic Crisis and What It Means, Atlantic Books, London.
9.
CarlstedtR. (2004), The Theory of Critical Moments: A Mind–Body Model of Sport Performance and Mastery of Pressure Situations, American Board of Sport Psychology, Capella University; Harold Abel School of Psychology, Integrative Psychological Services of New York City.
10.
CopeJ. (2005), ‘Toward a dynamic learning perspective of entrepreneurship’, Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, Vol 29, No 4, pp 373–397.
11.
CopeJ.WattsG. (2000), ‘Learning by doing: An exploration of experience, critical incidents and reflection in entrepreneurial learning’, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research, Vol 6, No 3, pp 104–124.
12.
CsíkszentmihályiM. (1996), Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, Harper Perennial, New York.
13.
D'ArgembeauA.ComblainC.Van der LindenM. (2003), ‘Phenomenal characteristics of autobiographical memories for positive, negative and neutral events’, Applied Cognitive Psychology, Vol 17, pp 281–294.
14.
DamasioA. (2000), The Feeling of What Happens: Body, Emotion and the Making of Consciousness, Heinemann, London.
15.
DamasioA. (2012), Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain, Vintage, London.
16.
de HaanE. (2007), ‘I doubt therefore I coach: Critical moments in coaching practice’, APA Journal and Ashridge Business School, Berkhamsted.
DraycottM.RaeD. (2011), ‘Enterprise education in schools and the role of competency frameworks’, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research, Vol 17, No 2, pp 127–145.
19.
FrickW. (1990), ‘The symbolic growth experience: A chronicle of heuristic inquiry and a quest for synthesis’, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol 30, No 1, pp 64–80.
20.
GiordanoP.J. (2004), ‘Teaching and learning when we least expect it: The role of critical moments in student development’, in SavilleB.K.ZinnT.E.HevernV.W., eds, Essays from E-xcellence in Teaching, Society for the Teaching of Psy–chology website: http://teachpsych.org/resources/e-books/eit2004/index.html.
21.
GiordanoP.J. (2010), ‘Serendipity in teaching and learning: The importance of critical moments’, Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, Vol 21, No 3, pp 5–27.
22.
GladwellM. (2005), Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Penguin Books, London.
23.
GleickJ. (1987), Chaos: Making a New Science, Penguin Books, New York.
24.
GrégoireD.BarrP.ShepherdD. (2010), ‘Cognitive processes of opportunity recognition: The role of structural alignment’, Organization Science, Vol 21, No 2, pp 413–431.
25.
IzardC. (2009), ‘Emotion theory and research: Highlights, unanswered questions and emerging issues’, Annual Review of Psychology, Vol 60 pp 1–25.
26.
JamesW. (1884), ‘What is an emotion?’, Mind, Vol 9, pp 188–205.
27.
KaletskyA. (2010), The Birth of a New Economy, Bloomsbury, London.
28.
KnellerG. (1965), The Art and Science of Creativity, Holt Rinehart and Winston, New York.
29.
KollmannT.KuckertzA. (2006) ‘Venture archetypes and the entrepreneurial event: Cross-cultural empirical evidence’, Journal of Enterprising Culture, Vol 4, No 1, pp 27–48.
30.
KruegerN. (2007), ‘What lies beneath? – the experiential essence of entrepreneurial thinking’, Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, Vol 31, No 1, pp 123–138.
31.
KruegerN.BrazealD. (1994), ‘Entrepreneurial potential and potential entrepreneurs’, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Vol 18, No 3, pp 91–104.
32.
LehrerJ. (2009), The Decisive Moment: How the Brain Makes up its Mind, Canongate, Edinburgh.
33.
LewisM. (2004), ‘The emergence of mind in the emotional brain’, in DemetriouA.RaftopoulosA., eds, Cambridge Studies in Cognitive and Perceptual Development. Cognitive Developmental Change: Theories, Models and Measurement, Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 217–240.
34.
LodgeD. (2001), Thinks, Penguin Books, London.
35.
LumpkinG.T.HillsG.E.ShraderR.C. (2004), ‘Opportunity recognition’, in WelschH.P., ed, Entrepreneurship: The Way Ahead, Routledge, London, pp 73–90.
MitchellR.BusenitzL.BirdB.GaglioMarie C.McMullenJ.MorseE.SmithJ. (2007), ‘The central question in entrepreneurial cognition research 2007’, Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, Vol 31, No 1, pp 1–27.
38.
PenalunaA.CoatesJ.PenalunaK. (2009), ‘Seeing outside the box: Creativity based assessment and neural understandings’, article presented at 2009 ISBE conference, Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, London.
PittM. (1998), ‘A tale of two gladiators: “reading” entrepreneurs as texts’, Organization Studies, Vol 19, No 3, pp 387–414.
41.
PolkinghorneD. (1988), Narrative Knowing and the Human Sciences, SUNY Press, New York.
42.
RaeD. (2005), ‘Entrepreneurial learning: A narrative-based conceptual model’, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol 12, No 3, pp 323–335.
43.
RaeD. (2007), ‘Achieving business focus: Promoting the entrepreneurial management capabilities of owner–managers’, Industry and Higher Education, Vol 21, No 6, pp 415–426.
44.
RaeD. (2010), ‘Universities and enterprise education: Responding to the challenges of the new era’, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol 17, No 4, pp 591–606.
45.
RaeD. (2014, forthcoming), ‘Towards a momentary perspective in entrepreneurial learning and creativity’, in KnudsenB.T.ChristensenD.R.BlenkerP., eds, Enterprising Initiatives: Approaches to Transformations of Social Worlds, Routledge, London (in preparation).
46.
RaeD.CarswellM. (2000), ‘Using a life story approach in researching entrepreneurial learning: The development of a conceptual model and its implications in the design of learning experiences’, Education and Training, Vol 42, No 4/5, pp 220–227.
47.
RaeD.PriceL.BosworthG.ParkinsonP. (2012), ‘Business inspiration: Small business leadership in recovery?’, Industry and Higher Education, Vol 26, No 6, pp 1–17.
48.
SanitiosoR.ConwayM. (2006), ‘Autobiographical memory, the self, and comparison processes’, in GuimondS., ed, Social Comparison and Social Psychology: Understanding Cognition, Intergroup Relations and Culture, Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 55–75.
49.
SarasvathyS. (2001), ‘Causation and effectuation: Toward a theoretical shift from economic inevitability to entrepreneurial contingency’, Academy of Management Review, Vol 26, No 2, pp 243–264.
50.
ShaperoA.SokolL. (1982), ‘Social dimensions of entrepreneurship’, in KentC.SextonD.VesperK., eds, The Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurship, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NY, pp 72–90.
51.
ShawP. (2010), Defining Moments, Navigating Through Business and Organizational Life, Palgrave Macmillan, London.
