The word “innovation” is both fascinating and aspirational for all businesses. It can also be scary for what it requires in terms of technology and investments. We will try to demystify the word itself and look into the only innovation that makes sense for your organisation: the one that delivers customer (or co-worker) value. We will discuss tools, tips and good and maybe less good practises. And we will experiment with some easy co-creation techniques that can get you started in a very simple way.

 Key learning objectives i.e. after this session you will be able to:

1. define the type of innovation most needed for your organisation
2. understand the basic steps of an innovation process and some dos and don’ts
3. build a starter’s kit of tools and techniques from which to start

Teacher: Steven De Smet

Did you know that Nestlé had already patented Nespresso capsules more than 10 years before revolutionizing the coffee market….? What made Patagonia truly innovative when they started selling sustainable outdoor clothing?

The success of those 2 (very different) companies does not lie in a product only but in the innovative business model each of them was able to  implement. Those 2 examples show how important – and sometimes difficult - it is  to think beyond product in order to launch impactful innovations.

In this session, based on the widely adopted Strategyzer innovation tools and methodology (strategyzer.com), you will discover how to design, share and challenge the business model around your product or service in order to build a 100% aligned and coherent execution plan.

Key learnings:

• Map the business model around your innovation and align strategy and execution 
• Think beyond product and challenge your business model based on inspirational benchmarks in order to build a well-rounded customer experience 
• Initiate an agile innovation plan

Teacher: Sarah Godard

Design thinking is a non-linear, iterative process that teams use to understand users, challenge assumptions, redefine problems and create innovative solutions to prototype and test. It is most useful to tackle ill-defined or unknown problems and involves five phases: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test.

Design Thinking focuses on the specific needs and requirements of the end-user or consumer, rather than those of the project team. This outside-in rather than inside-out approach leads to unexpected and innovative solutions for the product, service or business model.

You will discover the methodology, and experience its practical steps with your peers. 

Key learning objectives i.e. after this session you will be able to:

• Learn and practice the core concepts of design thinking
• Gain techniques to better understand the social, emotional, and physical needs of your customers.
• Apply methods that will help you turn your customer needs into human-centered solutions.
• Use ideation techniques to quickly generate, develop, and test new ideas.
• De-risk your new ideas by gaining feedback through rapid prototypes.
• Start using the techniques directly with your teams.

Teacher: Laurent Mikolajczak