As the title says: “the new age of innovation, driving co-created value through global networks” will be the way to work and create value for our customers. During this academic year, we have had 2 Learning Journeys to Finland and one to San Francisco. Even though they have been developed successfully, I believe that working more closely with local partners would have created way more value for our customers as well as less work/time or energy consumption for us.

They simply put this formula in the book: N=1 and R=G. N=1 means that we need to create unique experiences for our customers and R=G that our resources to create these experience must be found from any locations in the world. In our case, it would probably be in Finland, San Francisco, China and India.

We have had some talks about spotting some “scouts” locally who would actually work with us to open doors to certain companies, get them ready for the experiences and learning processes we want to create, as well as having the local tacit knowledge or understanding of the culture. If you happen to be from any destination written above and you are willing to co-operate with us do not hesitate to contact us I think our next challenge will be as well how to create personalized co-created experiences for the travellers, how to match them with the work done by the scouts locally and define the channels to work together.

At the same time I believe that these services or experiences (Learning Journeys) and projects (creating of new Team Academy initiatives around the world) will need to happen through different institutions or networks, that by themselves cannot create what they can do all together. The Hub for example has been a great network that has helped both the Learning Journeys and the ignition of Team Academy in Brazil. It has been of great help, but at the same time what we or TA offers is something that the Hub as a network cannot offer but can actually benefit from it and get a radical educational programs for social entrepreneurs. As I write these paragraph I accidentally realize how the triangle of Team Academy, Learning Journeys and the Hub might be great partners to work together.

Take this book to the beach with you.

Liher

Sincerely,

The whole team of Mondragon Team Academy

30.5.2011

Garaia, Arrasate

11-14.00

The goal of the trip was to develop and deepen the friendship with the two universities. The visitors wanted to see how the similar education model works in a different culture and environment. One important goal of the trip was sharing the best practices and knowledge between the two communities.

During ten days in Basque Country the 14 Proacademy students and two professors got a nice overlook of student life in Mondragon LEINN-program. The young entrepreneurs of Suuntaviitta were able to take part in different occasions of the special Team Academy studying methods, such as Houston Calls, practical workshop about the art of pitching run by Aitor Lizartza and training sessions of the local team companies. The coaching team had also a successful time making decisions considering the next autumn when two Basque teams will spend one month in Proacademy.

Suuntaviitta team entrepreneurs were very excited about their stay. Besides the educational side they also enjoyed the lifestyle and atmosphere of the Basque Country. “The most memorable moments of the trip were watching the game of Athletic Bilbao and visiting the best places in Donostia in the game of Ginkana.”, says Kalle Heltonen, the web developer of Suuntaviitta.

What is Proacademy?

Proacademy is a special unit in entrepreneurship at TAMK University of Applied Sciences in Tampere, Finland. It’s located in the city center of Tampere in the beautiful and historical area of Finlayson. Proacademy students begin their path of entrepreneurship by starting their own cooperative companies after the first year of basic business/computer science lectures. Learning is based on learning-by-doing, reading the latest business world publications and sharing and generating knowledge with the community.

Students at Proacademy become professionals by working while studying. The cooperative companies run various projects for a wide range of customers. The main focus is on marketing campaigns, web design, customer base studies, marketing studies, graphical design, events, promotions, training and other services. Also, many Proacademy teams develop their own services or products.