Modern world requires entrepreneurs to think like creatives, says KU’s Innovator in Residence

Editor’s note: The University of Kansas’ School of Business is a partner of Startland News.

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LAWRENCE, Kansas — Building a skill set around creativity is critical to entrepreneurship — especially at a time when careers can be short-lived, said Josh Wexler.

“Jobs are no longer for life,” explained the Innovator in Residence at the University of Kansas School of Business.

This fall, Wexler — armed with a product technology background and experience as the former head of insights and strategy at Tetra Insights and chief product officer at Chopra Global — is teaching his second semester of Boundless Creativity, a six-week co-curricular session on how creativity fuels innovation.

He believes business students need new strategies to compete in the modern world.

“Knowing how to be creative is also a part of learning how to take matters in your own hands — or not be a victim about things — and learning how to really build better relationships,” explained Wexler, a former adjunct professor at New York University and guest lecturer at Harvard.

[Editor’s note: Josh Wexler also serves on the board of Startland, the nonprofit parent organization of Startland News.]

Ryan Rains, University of Kansas School of Business

Launched in spring 2024, the innovator in residence program is part of the KU School of Business’ effort to reimagine and relaunch the student entrepreneurial experience, noted Ryan Rains, director of entrepreneurship co-curricular programs. The initiative began a couple of years ago when Brian Anderson — now the executive director of entrepreneurship initiatives — came to the school as the management and entrepreneurship academic area director.

“We started thinking through, ‘Why are students taking entrepreneurship classes? What are they interested in entrepreneurship?” Rains said. “‘And how can we start to drive interest in a way that might shape the culture so that over time we start to have more of a cultural pull towards innovation and entrepreneurship and trying something new while there are a student here at KU?’”

Flexing mental, creative muscles

With this east coast academic background as a student and professor, Wexler — a New York City native who graduated from Dartmouth — has been “blown away” by what’s happening within the KU School of Business, he shared, especially as a state-run institution.

“I think it’s incredibly innovative,” Wexler continued. “That sounds self-serving because of my title, but it has nothing to do with me. The program itself, they’re getting really great talent in there to teach these students.”

Brian Anderson, University of Kansas School of Business

Wexler — who moved to Kansas City four years ago with his wife, a KC native — was convinced by Anderson to join the KU team as its first innovator in residence.

His experience flexing his creativity muscles as a product builder, Rains noted, makes him a perfect candidate for the innovator in residence. On top of teaching the Boundless Creativity session, Wexler also has helped students with their ventures and led an AI workshop during the Startup Jayhawk summer event series.

“I think just having a conversation with Josh you quickly realize Josh has lots of ideas, which is great, and he’s excited,” Rains said. “The students are really receptive to Josh, which has been encouraging to see. In the spring, the program went really well. It was one of those things where it was a pilot, but we could tell we’re really on to something here that students are connecting with. We’re excited about how things unfold in the fall.”

Branch out of your comfort zone

Within the Boundless Creativity co-curricular course, Wexler emphasizes the concept that creativity isn’t just for artists. Over the six weeks, the small class — just eight students — is taught how to hone practices and skills — like listening, seeing, awareness, and curiosity — and charged with completing an audio journal after each class that will then be presented at the end of the semester.

“It’s a set of practices that help you build your intuition for better problem solving,” he explained. “I really want to try and build a more institutional drive toward being creative in this sense because I just think that’s what’s missing.”

For those students who want to be entrepreneurs, Wexler said, he is hoping these practices and skills help them branch out from their comfort zone, which he has noticed is often not as easy for those in the Midwest.

“I think there’s a lot of good to living here,” he continued. “What that does not lend itself to — or where that’s not optimal — is when you’re trying to build something from scratch.”

Wexler encourages students to look to the community around them, bringing in guest speakers from the business and nonprofit world, as well as from art and music spaces.

“A wide range of people that lightly touched on the theme of the class but also just talked about how they themselves have honed some of these practices throughout their lives and brought into their own problem solving,” he added.