Innovation Skills Builder

“How do I link enterprise strategy to the development of inventive problem solving skills?”

Workout Duration: Half Day

Target Audience: Senior Managers & Executive Teams

The Problem

Innovation is often described at the enterprise level as a deliverable – instead of a method of retrospective analysis. The fundamental problem with most strategic innovation initiatives is that they presume that the naming of structures and systems under an innovation rubric will produce the intended changes in skill sets for employees affected by those structures and systems. This is a workout session to help senior level teams align specific growth strategies with the development of specific skill sets in inventive problem solving that accelerate innovation.

What Will Participants be Able to Do Upon Completing the Workout Session?

* Structure and describe inventive problems more accurately

* Structure goals in ways that foster innovation

* Align inventive problem solving skills development with long-term growth strategies

* Use specific tools, such as TRIZ, to systematize resolution of inventive problems

Session Topics

-Defining Problems: This is not as easy as it seems. Although many problem solving processes such as Six Sigma, etc. direct process leaders to first define the problem, it is one of the hardest things to consistently do well without artificially constraining the range of potential options. Working with current problems from their organization, participants will look at how problem definitions affect outcomes and impact overall strategy.

-Goal Design: Participants will take part in a workout session that analyzes the design of current goals and growth strategies and the impact of that design on innovation. There are a number of components of traditional goal design that negatively impact innovation. An analysis of the types of metrics that correlate most effectively to innovation will be used to shape the organizational goals and growth strategies of participants.

-Systematizing Resolution of Inventive Problems: Participants will be introduced to the TRIZ inventive problem solving methodology. This is one of several systems that systematize the generation of alternative solutions for inventive problems. This system uses a comprehensive transformation database as a way to begin evaluating the positive and negative impact of specific changes to components of the inventive problem space.

-Alignment: This session consists of an interactive discussion with class participants about strategic alignment of innovation centered growth strategies and skills set development in the workforce. Models of alignment will be introduced along with an analysis of types of skills set that impact innovation.