1

Pre-Work - Prof. Matt Allen

Self-Understanding

The purpose of this assignment is help you to gain a better understanding of who you are,
what strengths or abilities you possess, and how those strengths or abilities can be and
should be leveraged in taking entrepreneurial action. The broader purpose is to
comprehend the importance of self-understanding in the entrepreneurial process. The
assignment has three parts. Part 1 deals with using self-reflection in order to develop a
clearer understanding of who you are. Part 2 will build on your efforts in part 1 in order to
identify key skills and abilities you possess based on your self-reflection exercise. Part 3
involves taking your effort from parts 1 & 2 and developing some general themes about
yourself.

Part 1- Developing Information about Your Personal Accomplishments

For the purposes of this assignment, please complete the following:

1. List at least 4 of your most significant personal accomplishments. Personal accomplishments

should meet the following three criteria

a. Something that you are proud to have accomplished

b. Something that you enjoyed accomplishing
c. Something that you think that you did very well

For example, you may have worked on an entrepreneurial team to successfully launch a new
product. Alternatively, you may have trained for 6 months to do a century ride (100 miles) on a
bicycle for charity.

2. No one else needs to share your views of the significance of these accomplishments. Awards are
NOT accomplishments. As you consider your accomplishments, focus on the tasks accomplished
rather than the rewards that might have resulted from those tasks.

3. When considering your accomplishments, be sure to include accomplishments related to activities

outside of work such as hobbies or interests or even accomplishments from your childhood in
addition to accomplishments from your work. All of these as well as other categories of
accomplishments can and should be included as long as they meet the 3 criteria discussed above.

4. After you have listed your accomplishments, prioritize them based on their on their significance
to YOU. Your most significant accomplishment will be ranked number one and so on down to at
least 5. (You can use the attached template to list your accomplishments)

For an example of what a completed list of personal accomplishments might look at see the sample
template on page 7 of this assignment
 2

Personal Accomplishments Significance Rank

1. _________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

2. _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

3. _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

4. _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

5. _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

6. _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

7. _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

8. _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

9. _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

10. _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________
 3

Part 2- Charting Personal Accomplishments with Knowledge Skills and Abilities

This exercise will help you better understand your unique abilities that have contributed to your accomplishments. Having
this understanding may help you formulate strategies in the future or make discoveries of valuable venture ideas that fit
with you personally. Research has shown that “personal fit” leads to more successful ventures.

Instructions for Completing the Abilities List:

1. In the first column (see attached template), write a brief description or label for each accomplishment on your list. You
may want to list them in the ranking you noted on your Accomplishments List

2. For each accomplishment, ask yourself, “What was it about me, what particular knowledge, skills, or abilities did I
possess or demonstrate, that contributed to my success with this particular accomplishment?” Write the answers to
this question in column two next to the corresponding accomplishment. Use extra paper if necessary in order to fully
capture the knowledge skills and abilities that you feel contributed to your accomplishment.

For example, you may have listed something like: “Participating in and entrepreneurial team that successfully
launched a new product” as one of your accomplishments. Further reflection on this particular accomplishment might
help you to recognize specific knowledge such as a knowledge of product design software or knowledge of a specific
market segment that contributed to your success with this accomplishment. Similarly, skills such as programming
skills, or organizational skills and abilities such as the ability to work well within diverse groups or the ability to
communicate complex ideas in a simple manner also likely contributed to your success.

WARNING: If you find yourself listing personality traits or characteristics (when you say "I am passionate, caring,
sensitive, outgoing, friendly, etc.") STOP!!! You need to be listing your knowledge, skills, and abilities, NOT
describing your personality.

4. Once you have answered the question about knowledge, skills and abilities for each accomplishment, go back to your
list of knowledge skills and abilities for each accomplishment and circle the one or two that you think were most
important or had the greatest influence on your success with that particular accomplishment. When you are finished with
this step, you will have a list of your most significant accomplishments along with the knowledge skills and abilities that
were instrumental to these accomplishments. (Interpretation: All of the knowledge, skills and abilities that you list, but
most importantly those that you circled, indicate those areas of knowledge or abilities that you have relied on in the past
and may wish to rely on in the future as you strive to accomplish your objectives.)

For an example of what the completed skills and accomplishments template might look like, see the sample on
pages 8 & 9 of this assignment
 4

Charting Your Personal Accomplishments with Skills and Abilities

Accomplishment Knowledge/Skills/Abilities that contributed to the success of this accomplishment

Accomplishment Knowledge/Skills/Abilities that contributed to the success of this accomplishment

Accomplishment Knowledge/Skills/Abilities that contributed to the success of this accomplishment

Accomplishment Knowledge/Skills/Abilities that contributed to the success of this accomplishment

Accomplishment Knowledge/Skills/Abilities that contributed to the success of this accomplishment

 5

Accomplishment Knowledge/Skills/Abilities that contributed to the success of this accomplishment

Accomplishment Knowledge/Skills/Abilities that contributed to the success of this accomplishment

Accomplishment Knowledge/Skills/Abilities that contributed to the success of this accomplishment

Accomplishment Knowledge/Skills/Abilities that contributed to the success of this accomplishment

Accomplishment Knowledge/Skills/Abilities that contributed to the success of this accomplishment

 6

Part 3: Developing Themes

As this point it’s likely that you will have identified several accomplishments that have similar or
connected skills, abilities, talents, etc. Take a moment to look at and think about your entire list of
accomplishments with their corresponding knowledge and skill sets. This list is representative of your
prior knowledge and it is likely that you see overlap, connections, or interesting combinations. Take a
moment to make note of these connections or combinations by drawing arrows, or making notes in the
margins. Having done this, it is now time to categorize your accomplishment areas. There are several
ways you might think about this:

• You can use your list of accomplishments as indicators of categories where you think you possess
unique experience. For example, you may find a pattern of accomplishments related to
communication, social change, physical preparation and endurance, or artistic creativity. Any or
each of these could represent a category.

• You can use your list of skills and abilities to point to categories where you may have special
understanding of a specific activity or set of activities. For example, if you see that your ability to
motivate and encourage others through empowering them and connecting them, your category
might be “mentoring”.

• You can use your list of skills and abilities to identify a specific category of knowledge that has
been a recurring support for your life’s accomplishments. For example, in looking across all
accomplishments and skills/abilities you might note that quantitative, statistical and mathematical
knowledge has contributed to multiple accomplishments. Thus your category might be
“quantitative acumen”

Using one or all of these guidelines, identify three themes below. Remember, these themes should be
representative of who you are based your accomplishments, but more specifically, the knowledge, skills
or abilities that have contributed to your accomplishments. Themes should be evident across multiple
accomplishments in multiple contexts (work, school, hobbies, family etc.)

Themes

1. ___________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________

Bring your completed assignment with you to class!

For an example completed themes see the template at related discussion at the
bottom of page 9 of this assignment

Source: K. Bishop Based on Nixon, Bishop, Clause, & Kemelgor (2006) Prior Knowledge & Entrepreneurial Discovery. International Journal of
Entrepreneurship Education, 4: 1-18.
 7

Personal Accomplishments ***SAMPLE *** Significance Rank

1. Trained for and competed in a half

5
marathon_________________________________

2. Led the team that implemented a__

2
new software system across my______
entire company_________________________

3. Started a small web design__________

3
company as a high school___________
student___________________________________

4. Worked my way through college___

1
on my own______________________________

5. Learned to paint well enough that

4
I have hung one of my paintings__
in my home_____________________________

Continue until you have at least 10 accomplishments

Chart of Skills and Abilities *** SAMPLE*** Continued from above

Source: K. Bishop Based on Nixon, Bishop, Clause, & Kemelgor (2006) Prior Knowledge & Entrepreneurial Discovery. International Journal of Entrepreneurship
Education, 4: 1-18.
 8

Accomplishment Knowledge/Skills/Abilities that contributed to the success of this accomplishment

College Ability to organize my time, writing skills,
focus, multi-tasking, ability to work long
hours, ability to listen to instruction and
learn, come up with creative semester
projects, maintain high standards under
stress, computer skills, work well in project
teams
Accomplishment Knowledge/Skills/Abilities that contributed to the success of this accomplishment
Software Knowledge of software, computer
implementation programming, team player, confidence
under pressure, ability to work long hours,
ability to manage my schedule, managing
the schedules of others, motivating others,
ability to meet stringent expectations,
communication skills, work around
problems and come up with creative
alternatives
Accomplishment Knowledge/Skills/Abilities that contributed to the success of this accomplishment
Company in Managing time, communicating with
high school adults, computer programming skills, web
design skills, provide creative solutions,
work under pressure, maintain high
quality under pressure, work long hours,
manage conflict, understand customer needs
and desires, ability to learn new methods
quickly

Source: K. Bishop Based on Nixon, Bishop, Clause, & Kemelgor (2006) Prior Knowledge & Entrepreneurial Discovery. International Journal of Entrepreneurship
Education, 4: 1-18.
 9

Accomplishment Knowledge/Skills/Abilities that contributed to the success of this accomplishment

Learning to Ability to follow instructions, organize time
paint to allow for lessons and practice, attention
to detail, focus on goal, use creativity,
learning from others in group lessons, use
web resources to learn techniques outside of
class
Accomplishment Knowledge/Skills/Abilities that contributed to the success of this accomplishment
Half marathon Organize time to allow for training, ability
to work when tired, follow a training
schedule with exactness, ability to train
after long work days, ability to use the
internet to learn about and design training
program, multitask to complete work and
training,

Complete knowledge and skills for the remainder of your accomplishments (at least 10)

Themes ***SAMPLE*** Continued from above

1. ___Computer Expertise______________________

2. ____Time management and organization

3. ____Exactness in outputs (quality) _______

These themes do not represent all possible themes. Themes will depend on your interpretation of the significance
of your accomplishments as well as the significance of the contributing knowledge skills and abilities. For example,
in the above sample themes of: “Creativity in problem solving”, “Team player”, “Competent under pressure” and
potentially others could be drawn from the completed template

Source: K. Bishop Based on Nixon, Bishop, Clause, & Kemelgor (2006) Prior Knowledge & Entrepreneurial Discovery. International Journal of Entrepreneurship
Education, 4: 1-18.