Innovator’s Accelerator: Imparting the Skills of the Innovator

By: Innovation Management

Is it possible for companies to teach the skills of innovation to leaders and teams to help secure a marketplace advantage? The six-week Innovator’s Accelerator™online program is designed to do just that: impart the skills of the innovator–as taught by industry leaders and demonstrated through case studies–in as little as one hour per day.

Since innovation is critical for a company to outshine its competition and succeed in today’s marketplace, one would hope the skills of an innovator would be something they could impart to every member of their team. While some propose that a knack for innovation is something you’ve either “got” or you don’t, there is solid evidence that innovation skills can be learned. The thought leaders behind the Innovator’s Accelerator program have developed an online training program that makes acquiring the skills of an innovator and learning how to implement them within one’s organization something very tangible.

The end result is a real ability to implement their newly honed innovation skills within their organization.

In a short, six-week program, potential innovators from companies large and small go through online modules and participate in a team project – helped along the way by the program facilitator – enabling them to put lessons into practice. The online nature of the program means that lessons can be viewed from virtually any location and at times most convenient for each participant, which helps to ensure that employees are able to actively participate and get the most out of the program. The end result is a real ability to implement their newly honed innovation skills within their organization.

Building the Skills

The program kicks off with an “Innovator’s DNA Self-Assessment”, which enables participants to determine the type of innovator they are and identify the skills that are most important for their growth. Next, skills and learnings are built through 19 sessions – each taught by one of three innovation thought leaders: Professors Clayton Christensen (Harvard Business School), Jeff Dyer (Wharton) and Hal Gregersen (INSEAD).

Lesson topics include things such as (Download brochure for full program description):

• Innovation in Context
• Your Innovation Potential: The 5 Skills
• Business Model Innovation
• Inside the Innovative Organization: 3 Ps
• Overcoming Financial Innovation Killers

When creating a culture of innovation be aware of innovation killers: no confidence or risk appetite from the top, no time, no rewards.

Each lesson has at least three key takeaways so that participants complete the program understanding things like:

• One can change organisations by changing the individuals in that organisation.
• If companies want to be innovative they must focus not on the customer, but on the problems the customer is facing.
• When creating a culture of innovation be aware of innovation killers: no confidence or risk appetite from the top, no time, no rewards.
• Successful innovators make observations with an eye toward answering a question.
• Innovative organisations are characterised by having a 3P framework: a mix of People, Processes, and Philosophies that encourage innovation.

Learning through Example

As we know, however, quite often the most valuable lessons we can learn are those others have already been through. This is why, in addition to the wealth of knowledge that the instructors share in their presentations,in each lesson participants watch videos of real-life case studies on successful companies and individuals that demonstrate how a particular type of innovation or approach to innovation has been successfully implemented. Case studies cover a variety of industries, company maturity levels and company sizes, such as Rent the Runway, Square, Procter and Gamble, McDonalds, Cirque du Soleil, High Tech High School, and many, many others.

Applying lessons learned is essential to truly acquiring new skills…

Because applying lessons learned is essential to truly acquiring new skills, the Innovator’s Accelerator program includes a team project that is developed over the course of the six weeks. Participants are assigned to a team at the beginning of the program, agree upon a schedule for the weekly team check-in calls and collaborate on their assigned project.

Enhanced Online Experience

Another key benefit to this program is that it is all facilitated through an online learning platform that enables easy and interactive learning. Whether following their own progress on the Skills Tracker and Impact Meter, receiving feedback on homework from the program facilitator, or sharing thoughts and hearing from other participants during the post-lesson debriefs in the online forum, participants can remain engaged and connected throughout the program.

At the conclusion of the program, in addition to a certificate, participants will have compiled their own “innovation toolkit” – a compendium of ideas, insights and inspiration they’ve gathered along the way and saved into a personalized PDF they can reference anytime they need a refresher. And they are inspired to bring these learnings into their organization and see the impact it can have on colleagues and the business at large.

To contact InnovationManagement.se about the program, email: training@innovationmanagement.se.

Kaylee Kolditz

Photo: business man writing innovation concept from shutterstock.com