Course Outcomes

This innovation skills course will:

  • Outline levels of innovation.
  • Recommend areas to look for opportunities to innovate.
  • Suggest over 100 innovation and change strategies.
  • Offer a framework for innovating.

Course Overview

Discovering new ways of doing things at work is essential for the success and growth of any organization. From streamlining processes to delivering a better customer or employee experience, new ideas are an essential part of staying competitive.

This three-part course focuses on the skills people need to practice innovative thinking. The interactive program includes an assessment, models, frameworks, and templates participants can use after the workshop’s conclusion.

Segment One Objectives

  • Differentiate creativity and innovation.
  • Define levels of innovation.
  • Describe examples of innovation errors that caused successful organizations to close their doors.
  • Identify areas where incremental innovation can often be found.
  • Explain the difference between reactive and proactive innovation.
  • Apply Porter’s Five Forces and PESTEL analysis within the context of innovation.
  • Discuss what innovative organizations do differently.
  • Complete an innovation profile. 

Segment One Modules

  • Little Steps to Big: Innovation Fundamentals
  • Motivation: Reactive and Proactive Moves
  • Embedded Success: What Top Organizations Do
  • Instincts and Preferences: Style Management

Segment Two Objectives

  • Ask good questions to understand the current state.
  • Explain proven innovation patterns.
  • Troubleshoot common roadblocks organizations encounter.
  • Discuss the importance of a balanced approach.
  • Describe various elements organizations use to measure the success of an innovation initiative.

Segment Two Modules

  • Homework: Three Areas to Explore
  • More Than 100: Innovation and Change Strategies
  • Getting There: Roadblocks and Balance
  • Measures: Tracking Success (or Failure)

Segment Three Objectives

  • Explain the creativity–innovation connection.
  • Define a problem.
  • Find root causes.
  • Practice multiple ideation techniques.
  • Apply several idea evaluation tools.
  • Describe high-level best practices for composing an innovation team.
  • Outline errors organizations make when interacting with their innovation teams. 

Segment Three Modules

  • The Creative Process: An Essential Element
  • The OP Process: Six Steps to Idea Success
  • Getting the Band Together: Forming an Innovation Team
  • Team Traps: Pitfalls to Avoid

By the end of this instructor-led training course, participants should be able to run innovation sessions when back on the job.