Driving Innovation Today in the Corporate Environment
A Unique and Powerful Course
Course registrants are blown away, not just by the new insights and understanding they achieve in taking Driving Innovation, but also by the practical methods, lessons, and case studies imparted by an instructor who doesn’t just get it, he’s done it. With this course, you don’t just learn theory, you are taught how to do it by someone who has done it with dozens of real world examples of game changing innovations.
Lesson 1: Understanding the Basics of Innovation
One of the problems organizations have in the area of innovation is that many people think they understand innovation intuitively but lack a shared language for communicating about it or even clearly defining what it is. This causes unnecessary confusion and disorder. Lesson 1 solves this problem by teaching participants to understand, define, and describe true innovation and contrast it with creativity, technology, invention, and architecture. This is a critical step in cutting through the clutter and misunderstanding that exists related to innovation and developing a clear language for dealing with innovation. In addition, participants will learn the key principles of the leading model of organizational psychology related to innovation, how this model allows organizations to evaluate thinking styles related to innovation, and how to build the type of intellectually-diverse teams that innovate better for the bottom line.
Lesson 2: Analyzing Innovation and the Organization
To be successful in innovation you must understand when to apply innovation, obstacles to innovation in the organization, the means to overcome obstacles to innovation, and the values as evidenced in action that drive innovation. Enablers are the tools, including incentives, penalties, organizational structures, and resources needed to perform. Outstanding leaders use enablers to shape organizational culture and performance. This lesson provides the background needed to plan and execute enablers to drive successful innovation in the organization
Additional topics in this lesson include:
(All topics below are discussed in the light of proven examples and case studies.)
- The value and power of innovation
- Why we need innovation now
- Problem versus requirements-based acquisition
How the requirements and market surveys can destroy innovation
Knowing when innovation is, and is not appropriate
The Innovator’s Dilemma
- The innovator's perspective
- The organization's perspective
- Long term v.s. Short term
-Values needed by the innovator and the innovative organization
Courage over conformity
Performance over stability
Speed over rules
Competence over credentials
Mission over organization
Enablers for successful innovation business and government
Flexible contracting
HR supporting great people
Empowerment
Agility
Lesson 3: Implementing Innovation at Your Organization, NOW
On completing this section of the course, participants will be able to lead or contribute to highly-innovative teams that can deliver innovative products and process quickly in today’s environment
Additional topics in Lesson 3 include:
(All topics below are discussed in the light of proven examples and case studies.)
- How to perform the dozen practical habits for successful innovation
Embrace risk
Field products that customers don’t ask for, but demand once they see them
Solve problems, not requirements or survey responses
Cut six times and measure once, or never (Why measure twice and cut once doesn’t work any more)
Learn from what works
Learn from what doesn’t work
Remember that lightning always strikes in the same places over and over
Pay for product, not work
Move fast, no really fast
Change your customer's life by changing what your customer does before your competition does
Reward good failures and punish bad successes
Analyzing leading innovators and how their practices can work in real organizations
◦Steve Jobs
◦Werner von Braun
◦Isambard Kingdom Brunel
◦Hyman G. Rickover
◦Kelly Johnson
How to contract for innovation
Putting it all together to deliver innovative solutions
Practical Exercises
During this one and a half day course, participants will perform two in-class exercises. These exercises will be done in teams by groups of four or five individuals who will develop solutions to problems provided by the instructor. After each exercise, the instructor will facilitate the process of each group sharing their results with the whole class and will provide feedback.
The first exercise, halfway through the class, will be a diagnosis of your organization’s current approach to innovation in the light of the class lessons. Teams will assess the degree to which innovation is appropriate within their organization and will list ways in which that organization enhances or destroys innovation.
In the second exercise, each group will develop an action plan to enhance or optimize innovation within their organization. The last activity in the class will be a facilitated discussion of each draft action plan. The instructor and all participants will review each action plan and comment on how to improve or implement elements of the plan.
Instructional Approach
The course will meet the adult learning theory principles of high interactivity, peer engagement, and frequent application of knowledge. Dr. Sercel, the instructor, excels in utilizing highly interactive teaching methodologies. For over 20 years he has based his approach on the Socratic method - routinely resulting in high course evaluation ratings and high participant retention of the knowledge conveyed through the course. The method has proven effective for facilitating skills, knowledge and attitudinal change.