Back within the nineteenth century, Thomas Alva Edison created the one who was most likely the primary steady innovation house in historical past, removed from hunched areas and lengthy earlier than Google found the bonanzas of designing places of work with slides, basketball courts or capsules to throw a restore sown. In the laboratory that the American inventor had in Menlo Park (California) there was an organ of tubes with which they performed and interpreted songs of the time, along with a bear as a pet (Bruin was referred to as) that every now and then he escaped and supposed, you’ll know why, another drawback. This is how Eduardo Jáuregui, creator of ¡Dale al Play! (Larousse, 2025), instructor, entrepreneur and one of many first groups of Teamlabs/, the Learning and Innovation Laboratory of the University of Mondragón. Today, April 16, World Entrepreneurship Day is widely known.
“When talking about” pondering outdoors the field ” (thinking outside the box, In English), we refer to getting out of the usual way we have to think, and that is very difficult when you are in a very grid environment, full of norms and procedures. Because, as much as you decide to do a brainstorming, It is possible that anyone dares to say anything that may not please the boss, ”Jáuregui adventure madness and consider how much it would really cost. ” The rest, immortalized for years in the popular tool of this technology, is history.
¡Dale al Play! It is not, therefore, a book to use, of those who are read from beginning to end, but rather a guide or “labyrinth guide” that, in the style of those popular stories of Choose your own adventure, Redirect you in one way or another as you make decisions and assume a series of challenges. But it is intended to be, above all, a realistic and practice awareness of your strengths, values and capacities; as well as the factors that will play a relevant role throughout any process of innovation and entrepreneurship. Aspects such as fear; Failure (and fear of failure); The conflict and the mindfulness; the importance of the team; Learning or prototyped. And a notice for navigators: do not do anything that tells you if it does not convince you 100 %: instead, turn around and do it yours. After all, it’s your big fucking idea.
Ask. One of the first issues addressed in ¡Dale al Play! It is that of fear. Why is it an important factor?
Answer. Fear is something that always accompanies you when you try to do something new, here or in life in general. In fact, it is through fear as they manipulate us, because there are two basic ways of manipulating: through fear and desire. We must know that he will be there and that he will accompany us, but that we can look for ways of living with him; to listen to his message but also laugh at him and put him in place. He mindfulness, For example, it gives us a series of practices that help us manage challenging stress and emotions.
P. Attracts attention that, in a book on entrepreneurship, it is clear that the innovation stinks (Innovation sucks!). Can you explain it to me?
R. It is very easy. We do it because, when you get into something new (and all stories talk about it), the history of the hero, be the hero, does not cool anything. Seeing it from the outside is pretty, but when you are you get in a lot of trouble. Innovating implies a lot of work, many problems, conflict within the team and uncertainty. And it fails a lot. We flee from the idea that entrepreneurship is wonderful, but of course it can be fun, and we want it to be; But the truth is that, in addition to the beautiful moments, you have to mess with your eyes wide open and know that you are going to fight and you will fail continuously. Because if not, when you fail one, two and three times, you will give up, when those who really end up doing things are the people capable of continuing to get up and laugh at it. That, if you want to do something worthwhile.
P. Tell me about failure.
R. It is a natural part of the process. When you try to do something, it is normal to fail. In the book we cite The alchemistthe popular fable of Paulo Coelho, because his central message is that “if you actually need one thing to occur, your complete universe conspires in order that your want turns into a actuality.” But reality looks more like this: “When you actually need one thing to occur, the entire universe goes out of your want and your mission goes to the garete.” It is beautiful to undertake, but you don’t have to romanticize it: The normal thing is that the first time you try (and the second, the third, the fourth … and so on until a lot of times), will not work. The first time I tried to publish a book, I received a beautiful collection of 40 cards of rejection.
Failure is inevitable, it is a law of life. But, as is the case with fear, you have to accept it as inevitable and take it as learning, as do boys and girls. We are very afraid of failure, because we are used to being constantly evaluated and we get note of everything we do. Look at everything that people put on Instagram: only successes are seen, and it is very rare that someone put the time when something did not come out. You see someone put an incredible shot in a basketball court, but not 17,000 times the ball did not go through the hoop.
P. Is the conflict within a team inevitable?
R. Definitely. However well -known we have a team, and even if we are all friends or have a certain relationship, the reality is that each person has different interests, visions and different personalities. And, when we work, when we try to do something together, differences, friction and conflicts, both small and large, will occur. In Teamlabs/ we have also fought. That is why it is important to keep it in mind and know that it will be difficult, and resort to certain tools such as dialogue, a word that is used a lot but that few people really practice. Dialogue means really listening to the other and reflecting, not being there to impose your story. We practice the art of dialogue in our training sessions.
P. Mentioned before the importance of mindfulness When managing difficult moments.
R. It has to do with the presence and with a type of open listening. Because what we do is going through life resisting the things that arise. And the idea here is to go with an open attitude, and that is something that requires practice. [Practicar el mindfulness] It helps you cultivate that ability to listen and self -control (for example, in the face of fear). People usually think that mindfulness is a way to reduce stress, when the reality is that this will always accompany you. What does help you is to manage it (as with conflicts), and to appreciate the things we have.
P. Can you undertake alone?
R. We believe that the team is the natural environment to undertake. Because, even if you start a personal project (such as writing a book or making a podcast), in the end you will always need other people, especially when the project continues to grow and acquire a certain dimension. The team gives you other perspectives, other skills and abilities and more effort, because obviously there are things that a person alone cannot cover, because you do not have the hours of the day or the necessary energy. And then, the team gives you something very important, and you have fun doing it. It seems nonsense but it is not. Because if you are in a complicated situation, it is only easier for you to come down. In addition, you are going to laugh more, and you can celebrate the good times, because doing so is only difficult.
We talk about team and cooperation creation, in a process where the answer to practically all questions is “give to play”, I mean, get doing it without knowing how you are going to do it. This is a book prepared for you to start undertaking even if you do not have a damn idea how to do it. It helps you get to create, solve problems, to pursue your dreams without knowing how to do it, because the truth is that we live in an absolutely uncertain world.
P. To undertake a good idea is necessary, but you go further: it is not about the idea, but about the question.
R. People usually think we have to find a brilliant idea. But really the key is not that, but to find a brilliant question. You have to start looking at the world and ask questions about how things work and what is missing. And, in the end, finding a precise response to a specific challenge that affects a category of specific people.
P. What is the learning contract mentioned in the book?
R. It is basically a contract to know where you are in your learning process and what are your goals at all times. You promise to do everything you need to learn and then, every six months or every year, you are reviewing it to update what you need, and share it with the team. Each one has the individual, but then they also put themselves in common and the idea is that we learn between them everything we need so that this project can take off and continue in time.
That is, on the one hand there is the individual, who has to be known and have a path of development and learning. Then there is the team, which has to coordinate in this way. And finally is the methodology of Design Thinking, which serves to create prototypes, or small evidence of what that could be. They can be as simple and fast as a sheet of paper or a false ad that you teach people, and that can act as an interview process so that you understand what attracts you and what you do not, what you do not understand, and so on. And little by little you complicate them and approach the final version more and more, to something that will be useful and respond to a need. And here also the issue of listening also enters, because if you do not pay attention to what society requires, in the end you will get something very nice but nobody is going to buy you.
P. What message would give a person interested in undertaking?
R. Easy. Give to Play. Try it even if it is difficult.
https://elpais.com/economia/formacion/2025-04-16/para-emprender-dale-al-play-y-pasa-a-la-accion.html