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How to Innovate Effectively

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Introduction - How to Innovate Effectively

Welcome to the course that can improve your life via creativity, and improve your business / organisation via creativity and innovation. Innovation is the most important driver of change in the 21st century and it impacts upon the lives of everyone. It cannot be ignored nor avoided; unless you go off grid and live in a hole somewhere in the Scottish Highlands. The pace of innovation is getting faster and faster, and its impact is rapidly spreading further and further.

This course will help you to: better understand creativity and innovation; help you to embrace its opportunities; and prepare you and your organisation for the effective application of innovation.

The modules of this three day course are shown below.

Note: This is three days of your study time. You can spread this over as many days as you like, but it is recommended that you aim to complete it within four weeks.

As you work through each module you will encounter quizzes so that you can check how well you are learning. At the end of each module there will be an assignment to test your understanding and/or allow what you have learnt to be applied within your organisation. You can ask for help if you need to. Completion of all the assignments results in you being awarded the course completion certificate.

M1: What is innovation?

This provides definitions for creativity and innovation; and clarifies the difference between them. Some amazing examples of innovation are included.

M2: The good, the bad and the ugly of innovation

This will open your eyes to the power and impact of innovation. It takes a comprehensive look at its impact from various perspectives including the benefits, risks, winners, losers, and what the future may bring. This is important because you will become aware of how innovation can benefit, and protect, you and your organisation. It also provides inspiration for you to consider the sustainability of the products and services in your organisation, and its long term survival. As a graduate of this course, it is hoped that you will both innovate effectively and play nicely. There are benefits if you do so.

M3: A generic innovation process

Some people, wrongly, think that innovation is all about uncoordinated, chaotic, creativity without any hint of a structured process. This teaches you that a process is definitely required, if you want to innovate effectively! A generic process is presented, which can support the following aspects of innovation: problem solving; solution finding; pursuing opportunities; creativity; ideas generation; discovery; research; designs; prototypes; evaluation; funding; research and development; IPR; beta testing; pilot projects; policy; objectives; planning; marketing; spin-offs; and incremental refinements.

M4: Optimising creativity, new ideas and discovery

This includes references to many well known techniques for boosting creativity: creative thinking; ideas generation and evaluation; discovery; and science. More importantly, you will learn modern techniques that go much further than techniques taught by other providers. Here you will learn about the limitations of traditional techniques and understand why you should adopt better techniques. You will learn about a new generic approach to creativity that is fit for the 21st century.

M5: Innovation process for Level 1: Departmental innovation

This looks at innovative changes to what a department produces and/or the way the department functions. For example: a department may buy in a new IT product and/or change some of its processes. The department may think this is innovative, but often the department is just adopting some aspect of best practice. For example, it may simply be copying what a competitor does. Nevertheless this can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of a department.

This includes an assignment to review your department.

M6: Innovation process for Level 2: Organisational innovation

This looks at a framework to support the innovation across all departments in the organisation, and at communication structures and systems to facilitate organisational innovation.

This includes an assignment to review your organisation.

M7: Innovation process for Level 3: Incremental product or service innovation

Here we look at what is required to develop a new version of an existing product or service, and introduce it into the marketplace.

This includes an assignment to review your products and services, and identify innovative opportunities for incremental improvement.

M8: Innovation process for Level 4: New product or service innovation

Here we consider radical innovation and the production of a completely new product or service that probably implements a new concept. It also considers dealing with "disruptive innovation", and "blue skies research".

M9: Identify your opportunities for innovation

Armed with both a generic innovation process and a modern approach to creativity, you will learn how to apply this to your workplace. This step can help to make your organisation fit for the 21st century.

More: Online innovation and creativity training courses

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