Gregg Fraley

80% Of Brainstorming Sessions Don’t Work Seven Idea Generation Fails Redefine Brainstorming and Get Better Results I might be getting to old to hold back on saying this about ideation, aka idea generation, aka brainstorming. My inner skeptic and snarky soul wants to scream it. Based on my experience, about 80% of idea generation doesn’t work. It might be worse than that. In spite of the efforts of many people to train others in how it ought to be done, it’s getting worse, not better. The Failure Rate is partly because the game’s changed, again. Also partly because the lessons of how it ought to be done have simply never been learned. As the drawing suggests, please, let’s redefine brainstorming.

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Innovation Training “Innovation Intensive, beyond Design Thinking” Public Course* With Master Trainer Gregg Fraley Comprehensive Immersion Course for: Innovation Project Managers, Teams, Executives, Facilitators Keith House* — Chicago, Friday April 5, 2019 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

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Do Purpose First, Select a Framework, Then Do Projects Without a Clear Purpose, Innovation Drifts Off Course It may seem obvious but unless you know who you are, and what your purpose is, as an organization you will flounder. Innovation Leaders sometimes get it backwards. This wastes Time and Money. In the innovation space there is endless discussion about frameworks. Which is best? Can I blend frameworks? If everyone else is jumping off the Design Thinking bridge shouldn’t we? Just kidding, Design Thinking can be a good choice, as can Agile, or Lean, or your own blended system. Using a structured innovation framework is a project success factor. There is also a lot of yakking about culture. Nothing wrong with

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Innovation Learning Points From the Great Faucet DIY Fiasco DIY is a Form of Innovation I’m the Abraham Lincoln of home fix-it DIY projects. Like Lincoln, I ultimately win, but painfully fail many, many times before I “git-er done”. (FYI: DIY = Do It Yourself.) As an innovation consultant who is a facilitator, team builder, idea person, and strategist, my need for hands-on engineering skills are minimal. I’m not bad at prototyping and am excellent in concept development, but I’m horrible when it comes to hands-on maker skills. As a home owner, this is really Not Good. But I try. And I learn. So after I finished the bleeding on my latest DIY effort, it strikes me that, on a larger

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It’s fall and it’s time to go back to school. If you’re in the Chicago or Denver areas, check out these innovation training course offerings. Gregg Fraley Innovation (GFi) is offering three public courses in late October and early November. Click on the course title to register. Don’t wait to register, these are popular offerings.  Chicago Innovation Intensive, Beyond Design Thinking Friday October 26 at Catalyst Ranch, 8:30 to 4:00 pm CST REGISTER NOW This deep-dive immersive course in innovation could change the direction of your organization – or career. Do you seek sustained growth? A truly innovative culture? How do you get there? This essential training for leaders and project managers provides answers, and from an industry thought leader.

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Innovation Intensive  Thursday, September 13, 2018, The Keith House, Chicago Master Innovation Trainer: Gregg Fraley Register Now: gregg@greggfraley.com Course Description: Innovation Intensive is a one day, deep dive, into fundamental and advanced concepts in innovation. It immerses participants in the relevant theory and systematic practices critical to organizational growth. It examines culture assessment, strategy, and on-going project management. It includes an overview of key frameworks (Design Thinking, Agile, Lean, TRIZ, Synectics, Stage-Gate, CPS) and their essential tools. Participants learn classic pitfalls and how to avoid them using best practices and emerging advanced practices. In addition, it covers management mandates, project cycles, resourcing, idea management systems, idea generation, concept development, prototyping, and pitch presentations. Innovation team leaders and project managers learn what it

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Training Accelerates Innovation 94% of managers are unsatisfied with their companies innovation performance. 70% of CEO’s see innovation as a key driver of growth. That’s what McKinsey says in this article. Why then is corporate America so woefully undertrained in innovation fundamentals? Energy is Not Enough, Get Training in Innovation  When I step into a room to facilitate a strategy, innovation, or idea generation session I usually find a great deal of energy. Almost always. People really want to do good work. What I also often find is inexperience that cripples their desires. Specifically: No fluidity in free-associative divergent thinking necessary to innovate — people do not know how to think like innovators! And yes, this can be trained. Inappropriate

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New Service Offering for Digital Technology Innovation Discover Ideas for Long Term and Tactical Innovation Projects Chicago, IL, August 1, 2018 — The MoshPit Innovation Service is an innovation project discovery service marketed by GFi (Gregg Fraley Innovation). It’s designed to uncover unlikely, but useful, combinations of technologies, products, services, trends, and insights that lead to breakthrough innovation. GFi is now offering a new version of MoshPit to discover ideas that exploit new digital technologies. The new service is called Digital Technology MoshPit. The primary benefit of Digital Technology MoshPit: Faster and more creative integration of new digital technology, leading to efficiencies and growth. The MoshPit system finds combinations of concepts that lead to innovation. From the printing press to the iPhone, “concept blending” creates value.

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Innovation Fundamentals for Leaders First of Seven Blogs Invest in Frameworks, But First, Establish a Culture Where Innovation Thrives Leaders — How Are You Doing With These Basics? Success is built on doing the basics well. For results, leaders need to foster innovation fundamentals and integrate them into organizational culture. More structure is needed as fundamentals take hold, and that means an innovation process framework. This series of posts on innovation fundamentals is not about frameworks. It’s about the cultural basics underlying them, and all innovation. Innovation has a lot of frameworks (and theories, methods, tools) that leaders can choose from, and you’ll want to choose. However, frameworks have built-in assumptions, such as, there’s motivation to innovate, and that the culture is aligned with an

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Learn 4 Ways to Amplify Digital Innovation in 2018 Alignment, Team Diversity, Knowledge & MoshPits The challenges facing innovation leaders, as we confront the reality of 2018 is — how do you integrate new digital capability? This is not innovation as we once knew it. This is not your Dad’s innovation. It’s not even Your Innovation of five years ago. How do you innovate across your entire value chain? If you’re just focused on products you’re going to miss the boat. How do you integrate all this new fancy stuff into strategy and ideation to create actual projects? Why is this challenge so different from previous innovation challenges? Has there ever been a moment in time when so many new

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