The Innovation Hub was a holistic development program for a Fortune 50 financial institution. It was designed to help the organisation grow a self-sustaining network of creative thinkers and innovators. Our bootcamp approach provided a 25% average increase in participant's creativity and innovation skills, as well as significant improvements in communication and conflict resolution skills*. The participants were challenged with leading by example, spreading the Innovation Mindset, in order to build a network of Innovation Agents throughout the organisation.
* As indicated by independent survey carried out by Dr. Elaine Ramsey, School of Business, University of Ulster.
Purpose
The purpose of the Innovation Hub was to increase the number of creative thinkers and innovators throughout the organisation. The Innovation Hub drew out the latent creativity and innovation within the organisation, and transformed it into self-organising network of Innovation Agents. These Agents were heralded as champions who would lead by example, teaching and facilitating staff at all levels in the skills necessary to become innovators in their own area.
Intended Results
As part of the Innovation Hub, participants will learn...
- A systematic model for identifying innovation opportunities
- To develop an Innovation Agent Mindset
- How to overcome limiting beliefs that act as the biggest block to creativity
- How to identify and bring out the best in different personality types
- How to apply win-win thinking to generate more effective solutions
- Communication skills that will enable them to overcome the biggest innovation stopper
- Better approaches to idea generation, problem solving and finding solutions
- How to frame effective questions that generate more effective answers
- Enhanced listening skills that will enable them to get the most from their teams
- Coaching and mentoring skills that they can use with their own teams
- How to facilitate their own Innovation Hub sessions
- Next-generation decision making skills for groups
As a result of the innovation Hub, participants can also expect to...
- Increase their creativity and innovation skills by an average of 25%
- Develop a better appreciation of other peoples’ views
- Gain greater confidence in their perceptions of self
- Have greater confidence in their approach to both personal and business issues now and in the future
- Develop a more positive attitude towards the value of teamwork, communication, mutual understanding and appreciation in providing solutions to business challenges
Structure
The Innovation Hub went through 4 stages - Seed, Nurture & Grow, Bear Fruit, Re-Seed. The use of these terms reflected the importance of paying attention to the environment when establishing an Innovation hub.
Seeding started with the recruitment of new members for the Innovation Hub. An Innovation Hub needs a special kind of person, and so the initial selection process was important to the future success of the Hub.
Nurture and Grow provided the bootcamp training where participants received training in key creative thinking, communication, conflict resolution and innovation skills. During this time, participants were expected to apply what they were learning to their day-to-day roles. They also received their own Innovation Agent Toolkit. This toolkit provided details of all the techniques, concepts, models and tools that participants needed to learn in order to become an Agent.
By the Bear Fruit stage, participants took greater lead of the initiative, and qualifed as Innovation Agents. They organised Innovation Clinics to share learning's around specific projects and collaborated on organisation-wide initiatives. They also designed and implemented a plan for how best to extend the Innovation Agent network across the organisation.
Reseeding occured when the Innovation Agents start organising and facilitating others in the tools and techniques they have learned. New potential Agents were identified and recruited to the Hub, where they too go through the bootcamp program before joining the senior Agents.
Throughout the whole program, Innovation Agents received one-to-one coaching. This was provided by experienced facilitators who worked with participants to help them integrate and apply their learning in order to generate real results for the organisation. They also worked on addressing any personal blocks that may arise as a result of the program.
