This one day course consistently receives high marks from innovation executives and training professionals.

Innovation Intensive, beyond Design Thinking is comprehensive in its approach and provides compelling methods, insights, tools, and stories from master trainer, Gregg Fraley. If you are seeking to enhance innovation culture and jump-start or improve innovation efforts, this is the course to attend. Send new project leaders, managers, facilitators, and essential innovation team members. This public* course is at a significant discount to on-site courses delivered directly to organizations by Gregg Fraley Innovation (GFi).

The emphasis of this training is a firm grounding in innovation concepts and best practice. It builds awareness of the how and why of innovation programs. The focus is on the front-end-of-innovation, where challenges are identified, ideas are generated, refined, and pitched to management for further development and resourcing. It provides a complete framework for innovation project management, as well as a compare and contrast of the most commonly used frameworks (useful for those in framework selection mode, including Design Thinking, Agile, Lean, TRIZ, Synectics, CPS, Theory of Constraints, and others). The course explores longer term innovation road-mapping and links to organizational strategy and purpose.

Two key areas of instruction are 1.) essential project management steps and, 2.) the “how-to” of innovation facilitation. It addresses the basics of why innovation is so important to an organization’s survival and growth. Gregg instructs ways to blend frameworks and use the best tools within frameworks. Approaches to the new challenges related to Digital Technology Innovation are discussed.

The course includes extensive take home materials, including: a shell innovation cycle and innovation mandate document, idea development templates, post-session coaching, and post-session strategy and ideation session design consultation.

Gregg Fraley has trained innovation professionals around the world. His training clients include: Coca-Cola, Georgia Pacific, AbbVie, W.R. Grace, Sanofi, and many others. His experience as an entrepreneur and product inventor sets him apart from most innovation trainers. Contact GFi for pricing and registration information. Or just click here to register. 

*The Keith House is a historic mansion in Chicago’s Prairie Avenue district, convenient to the loop or McCormick Place.

The Innovation Intensive course outline (subject to small changes):

• Approaches to innovation (Design Thinking, Lean, Agile, TRIZ, CPS, and blended systems)
  • Why innovation?
  • Frameworks compare, and why Design Thinking or any specific framework is just a starting point
  • Connection to strategy, purpose, mission
  • Innovation culture assessments
    • informal
    • formal
• Getting an innovation initiative started
  • Negotiating a mandate (materials include a shell mandate document)
    • Typical Innovation Project Cycle (materials include a shell process)
    • Cycle metrics
• Managing innovation projects
  • Innovation team formation
    • Importance of thinking diversity
    • Measuring creative thinking preferences
  • Challenge/Project identification
    • Long term innovation road-mapping
  • Working with market research and insights
    • Use of stimulus tools and global trends
    • Looking for innovation opportunities in new digital technologies
  • Involving and engaging a wide group (Open innovation concepts and use of virtual ideation platforms)
• Ideation sessions (how to plan and execute, also known as “brainstorming”)
  • Tools for problem framing
    • Challenge Mapping
  • Tools and techniques for generating ideas
    • Brain Writing
    • Brain Walking
    • Use of graphical and story-based tools
• • Concept development and writing
    • Story Based tools for narrative development
    • Tools for positive evaluation and idea enhancement with critique
  • Management pitches
    • The keys to getting resources
    • Essentials of a powerful pitch
  • Meeting and workshop facilitation
    • How to up your game over time
    • When and how to use a professional facilitator

Benefits to the Innovation Intensive course:

• Deliberate innovation project cycles that produce growth
• Proactive addressing of emerging challenges and opportunities
• More efficient management of innovation projects, including team formation
• Measurable processes and results, and smarter risk taking
• More ideas, better ideas, and tools for amping and refining ideas
• Cost savings by not paying outside consultants to facilitate innovation process
• Hands-on practice of advanced innovation tools and techniques
• How to plan and execute training, ideation, strategy, road-mapping, and brainstorming sessions

Comment from a recent training by GFi:

“The tools were useful and readily applicable to our work challenges, and we are planning to put them into practice quickly. It is tough getting people to think differently and create ideas that are really novel. The methods and process shared by Gregg Fraley will help “shake” things up and drive increased energy and enthusiasm around innovation.”

Innovation Director at a Major Chemical Company

*This course is available as an on-site course or workshop, and can be tailored to specific organizational needs.