Whenever I ask people how they come up with ideas for new products, services or solutions for their organisation, the usual answer is “Well, I’m really not that creative!” And right after that, they’ll talk about their creative hobbies and entrepreneurial side projects. Or how they recently solved an issue for their manager, resulting in company wide adoption of their solution.
It’s rarely a lack of creativity blocking people, it’s focussing their creativity energy, applying it to a specific customer/consumer segment or a challenging (technical) issue, and all that under pressure. Or worse, the company culture makes them feel unsafe to share their ideas.
I’ve helped many organisations focus their (collective) creativite brainpower and overcome these obstacles, and would love to do the same for you! Be it in creative brainstorm sessions, through training and working on your company culture, or by setting up robust Idea Management practices.
The days when employees were just faceless cogs in a big machine are thankfully mostly behind us. Today, every employee - even a civil servant - is expected to take initiative, improve customer service, refine processes, develop new ideas, and sell their ideas. This type of behaviour, however, does not always come naturally to everybody. My Innovation Masterclasses are specifically meant to elicit an innovative mindset and honing it in a safe environment, with the end result of persisting it in their daily work activities.
These masterclasses usually run for three (non-consecutive) days and are attended by trainees, and/or employees taking a next step in their career. Practical application is key in Action Learning, so ideally all participants will work on their own current assignments (cases/projects) throughout.
Tailored offerings are of course possible. In collaboration with The Behaviour Company we can also add personal effectiveness modules and even individual coaching.
To void misunderstandings, in any business modelling exercise, it’s always pivotal to first distinguish between your Business Model and your Business Case.
Your business model(s) describe the various aspects needed to conduct your (new) 'business' and achieve your goals, even if you are non-profit or governmental. It describes key activities, roles, partners, supply chains, the intended customers or consumers, et cetera. All of these aspects must work together seamlessly. Some organisations have their own templates for recording and conveying this, but in case you don’t: I can wholeheartedly recommend we work in the Business Model Canvas. Read more on the Wikipedia page or in the book.
The Business Case (or “Earnings Model”, or "Financial Model”) describes the flows of cost and income, models these, and then attempts to make calculated forecasts. I’ve created and reviewed dozens of these, and can of course help you with yours!