Innovation is key to the success of any organization.  In fact, a recent Wall Street Journal article stated that 9 out of 10 executives rate innovation as important to the success of their firm.  It is a key driver of growth, a necessary factor to stay competitive, and a way for organizations to create and sustain value for their customers, owners, and other stakeholders.  But only 5 out of 10 of those executives were satisfied with the level of innovation in their organizations.  The reason?  Leaders contend that innovation is difficult – that organizations find it challenging to successfully and consistently innovate, simply because they don’t know how to.

The Performance Excellence Network is pleased to offer an encore workshop — Exploring Innovation Principles & Tools: SIT Spark — October 24-25 in Bloomington, MN.  This 1.5-day workshop (all day Oct 24, morning of Oct 25) is intended for leaders and practitioners in innovation, change management, continuous improvement, and performance excellence — anyone interested in making improvement, problem solving, and innovation systematic in their organization!

PEN’s partner, Israeli-based Systematic Inventive Thinking (SIT), will share the guiding principles and innovation tools developed by SIT.  Participants will learn how innovation tools have benefited many of the world’s leading organizations, and will explore how they could benefit their own organization.  Those tools will work for innovative problem solving, product/service/process design, strategy development, and many other organizational processes!

Key Outcomes

At the conclusion of this Spark Workshop each organization will have:

• Applied several SIT tools and guiding principles in group discussions of case studies presented by the SIT facilitator.
• Created an awareness of how SIT could help their organization build a culture of innovation.

Who should attend?

Any leader that is expected to make innovation happen and deliver expected results will benefit from understanding the guiding principles and tools taught by applying it to their organization.

• Senior Leaders, Executives, and Administrators
• Directors, Managers, Department Heads
• Team Leaders Expected To Make Change Happen
• Change Agents Within Organizations
• Continuous Improvement & Performance Excellence Leaders
• Team/project sponsors

General Description

SIT’s vision is to help people design and implement a long-term culture of innovation in their company or organization. In support of this goal, SIT helps create an impactful program of innovation that runs across teams and departments to transform the organization, while promoting its strategic goals.

SIT’s 3 Innovation Pillars Model

Each Spark program is based on SIT’s organizational innovation model. This model consists of 3 Innovation Pillars, which – when combined – provide the framework for impactful innovation:

Results – innovation activities that generate tangible innovative projects which create immediate return-on-innovation.
Skills – providing employees with the skills required to think innovatively and manage innovation in the organization.
Structures – putting in place a plan that supports a culture of innovation including management involvement and commitment, as well as cross organizational understanding and cooperation.

Each Spark program consists of activities containing elements from all three pillars, although one of the pillars will typically be dominant at a given time. For example, initially the focus is on creating immediate and midterm results to achieve a quick ROI (Return on Innovation), but this will also create the engagement to drive the innovation buzz and momentum, and supply participants in the project with practical tools for innovative thinking.

Underpinning each Spark session is the SIT “Ripple Model” for Innovation which pulls together SIT’s academically derived methodology, as well as its cumulative learning and work experience of furthering innovation globally since 1995. This map includes the tools, principles, skills, proficiencies, and activities needed to help companies and the people in them to achieve their personal and business innovation objectives.

It is highly recommended that organizations send their leadership team and those who will subsequently review team progress and results.

Cost: All pricing is for PEN members and the entire 1.5-Day workshop and requires team members to be from the same organization (non-members can attend; add $500 to the rates below).  All course materials and daily continental breakfast and lunch are included.

• 1 or 2 people $700 each
• Teams of 3-4 people $600 each
• Teams of 5+ people $500 each

Facilitator:

Erez Tsalik is a lead presenter in the area of creativity and innovation is frequently invited as a keynote speaker to conferences around the world. He lectures in leading academic institutes worldwide, including Columbia University, London Business School, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Tel Aviv University. At TED India (2009), Erez ran an innovation workshop as part of the TED University.

Erez is a Senior Facilitator and Director of SIT’s Operations for Asia Pacific. He facilitates in all of SITs applications – New Product Development, Marketing Communications/Advertising, Problem Solving and Innovative Strategy – and is an SIT expert in Conflict Resolution and Co-Opetition applications. He has conducted projects with scores of leading international clients including Disney, Airtel, Kraft, Siemens, Molex, OCBC, BP, HP and Tnuva, and has extensive experience working in developing markets, and with social and environmental organizations. Erez has 10 years of experience in the field of IT and Hi-Tech developments as a CIO and Systems Management and has also worked in the field of education with specific emphasis on the production of educational workshops and seminars.