TORC

Module Overview

An impatience with the status quo is a key trait in a leader.

Our expectation is for someone who probes beyond the headlights – whether it is  trying to improve on existing processes, attack new markets, reconfigure supply chains & workflows, introduce new products, customers, suppliers, etc.  

And, the drivers of success are the twin competencies of creativity & innovation.

Though complementary in nature, these are, of course, distinctly different concepts: 

• creativity referring to the mental agility needed to come up with new ideas or designs or one-off proofs of concept, and
• innovation concerning itself with the follow-through business process required to get the idea or design successfully implemented.

This 1-day innovation and creativity training course will speak to both sides of the coin and provide a palette of leading-edge models and tools enabling the leader to establish a climate that seeks out and delivers a constant stream of breakthroughs.     

 Learning Outcomes

• Appreciate the role of the leader in stimulating creativity & innovation in oneself & others
• Gain awareness of one’s own creativity quotient – & the key dimensions to be developed.
• Learn a menu of tools and techniques to propagate idea generation widely
• Utilise a simple system to promote and manage the discipline of rapid innovation – building momentum quickly.
• Develop a model for managing a portfolio of innovations – supporting both short & longterm needs.
• Become comfortable in aligning innovation with existing operations – applying  risk management routines.   

Programme Content & Sequence of Elements

The creativity mandate
We’ll explore the business landscape from the viewpoint of value creation – positioning knowledge as a commodity and creativity as the value-added. And, examine models & repercussions for a leader in allocating one’s time & attention. 

Mental frames & creative habits
This session will discuss how to train one’s mind in embracing a thinking-outside-the box habit – examining our individual creativity quotients (CQ) and identifying some proven underpinnings to making it a serial pursuit.

Climate & cultural imperatives
We’ll delve into how to widen the net and infuse one’s team with the creativity bug. How the leader’s role is as much to challenge as control & create the conditions to enable/sustain the creative culture – to trumpet the naïve question, restrain bureaucracy, promote diversity, reward tinkering, encourage fluidity/mobility/change.

Idea Generation Techniques Training
We’ll detail a menu of exercises, tips, tricks, software, stories and inspirational examples to unleash the creative juices -  an array that you can call upon when you feel the least creative, which also is often the time of greatest need.

Rapid Innovation Training
We’ll learn some ingeniously simple, cheap & quick approaches to explore innovation opportunities within some well-crafted constraints to make innovation a more cost-effective proposition – in terms of financial & resource commitments.

Portfolio Management Training
We’ll outline some simple frameworks for shaping a portfolio of innovation projects – how to monitor & manage a simmering pipeline, prioritising in terms of budget, timing & resources.

Risk Management Disciplines
We practice how to work from a perspective of a multiplicity of outcomes, as opposed to placing bets on a single goal – using proven tools & techniques for scenario planning, piloting, benchmarking, etc.

Workshop Wrap-Up
At the end of the day, partcipants will have an opportunity to ask questions and fill out an action plan.

This course is suited for

Senior Managers, Middle Managers & Team Leaders

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