Teaching with an Entrepreneur's Mindset

1. Teaching with an Entrepreneur’s
Mindset
Matt Horan
High School Math Teacher
Dallas, TX

2. Theme
• If an entrepreneur became a teacher…
• How would they think?
• What would they do?

3. Relatable Premise
• I’m asked a lot “Can you look at my resume?”
• And I’ve listened to a lot of complaints about
Administrative and Bureaucratic burdens
teachers were feeling

4. Relatable Premise
• “Can you look at my resume?”
• My response “Read this book!”

5. Relatable Premise
• Because the mindset of “I need a good resume
and that will help me get a job” is incomplete
and short-sighted

6. Teaching Premise
• Likewise, the pre-occupation with the
demands of Administration and The
Bureaucracy a lot of my fellow teachers made
me realize

7. Change in Mindset
• Intrapreneur
• Intrapreneurship is the act of behaving like
an entrepreneur while working within a large
organization

8. Recognize Your Autonomy
• Entrepreneurs realize: This is YOUR classroom
• As a teacher, you are an intrapreneur already
• But… Are you acting like one?
• You have more leverage than you realize
• The fact that you are here investing in yourself
and caring this much about education, you are
probably a teacher hard to replace
• And if you’re in a place that doesn’t realize
that….

9. You Can LEAVE!
• Teachers have a natural disposition to be martyrs
• Entrepreneurs are the exact opposite – constantly
looking for opportunities to exploit
• Where are the opportunities?
• WHEN YOUR OBSERVER ISN’T THERE
• 70-90% of the time!!
• Where else are opportunities?
– In your classroom at your current school?
– Maybe in a classroom at another school?

10. MOST IMPORTANT SLIDE
• You have to recognize your Autonomy
• THE SECOND YOUR OBSERVER LEAVES YOUR
CLASSROOM IMMEDIATELY GO INTO
– Acton Academy Mode
– Khan Academy Mode
– Socratic Discussion
– Blended Learning
– Whatever YOU think is “Best for Your Kids” Mode
(which may very well be what Admin is pushing)

11. 2nd-MOST IMPORTANT SLIDE
• If doing this even occasionally:
– Acton Academy Mode
– Khan Academy Mode
– Socratic Discussion
– Blended Learning
– Whatever YOU think is “Best for Your Kids” Mode
(which may very well be what Admin is pushing)
• Gets you into a lot of trouble from your
Administration
• Why are you choosing to continue to work in an
environment like that?
• An intrapreneur wouldn’t

12. BE BOLD!
• Entrepreneurs and Intrapreneurs take risks!
• I’m giving this presentation for one reason:
• I was in the private sector with a lot of risk-
averse attitude during the financial crisis of
2009
• With No Child Left Behind, state testing, and
now Common Core, a lot of teachers are
becoming more risk averse
• That is exactly when we NEED bold risk-taking!

13. LEAVE!
• Teachers have the inclination to be martyrs
• Intrapreneurs are the exact opposite
• We desperately need teachers to think more like
entrepreneurs
• Look at what happened when doctors became too risk
averse and decided to completely abdicate – to
insurance companies! – who could be their clients and
how much services cost
• The exact same things are happening to teachers as we
abdicate both measurements and methods of learning
to people far away from OUR classrooms
• Risk-taking by teachers is the only way the trend is
going to be reversed

14. THANK YOU!
Matt Horan
matthew.c.horan@gmail.com