The “Minnesota Innovation Spark,” a special 1.5-day workshop held Feb 24 (afternoon) and Feb 25 (all day) in Minneapolis [also offered Feb 26 (afternoon) and Feb 27 (all day) in Rochester] will bring together a group of organizations ready to innovate in the region.The event is a joint venture managed by the Performance Excellence Network and Systematic Inventive Thinking (SIT for short, an Israeli-based consulting firm).

• Day 1 – 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
• Day 2 – 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM 

SIT is unique in its ability to help companies invent inside the box, using only their existing resources. Because SIT is systematic, you will gain the ability to “Innovate on-Demand” using a proven, structured methodology to guide both idea-generation and implementation. To participate in this  unique collaborative, key people from your company will begin by participating in a 1 1/2 day event and will then be invited to our quarterly “innovation days,” which provide a protected space for continuing to innovate on issues critical to your organization while continually refreshing and expanding your innovation skills.

Who Benefits from SPARK? 

SIT is especially relevant to managers in the fields of Marketing, Product Development, Strategy and Human Resources, or anyone who considers that the capability to deliver ongoing continuous rapid innovation is critical to company survival and continued success in today’s market. It is valuable for anyone who strives to enhance their own or their employees’ inventive abilities.

The price includes breakfasts, lunches, and all relevant SIT materials. Organizations are encouraged to send at least three attendees, which will facilitate problem solving and implementation of innovative ideas.

What you will gain from this first event:

• Learn some SIT tools and other elements from SIT’s Innovation Framework
• Be able to identify when “standard paradigms” end and innovative thinking should take over
• Practice applying the tools:
  • Individually – on your daily tasks
  • In a team (of your fellow participants) – become an innovation accelerator for your organization
  • Together with another person (who is not familiar with SIT) – become an innovation resource for your peers, allowing them to use the SIT method through and with you.
• Develop innovation-supporting processes that will allow you to enhance the success chances of “innovative outcomes”
• Improve collaborative work processes by formalizing a common language for communicating and clear “handshake” procedures between different functions in your organization This one and a half day event is most effective when your company sends multiple participants from different functional departments. These people will thereby be the carriers of systematic innovation back into your organization and will have a leg up on assimilating the skills since they have already collaborated together during the one and a half day to jump-start innovative thinking around a specific organizational challenge or opportunity.

This 1 1/2 day event is most effective when your organization sends multiple participants from different functional departments. These people will thereby be the carriers of systematic innovation back into your organization, and will have a leg up on assimilating the skills, since they have already collaborated together during the one and half days to jump-start innovative thinking around a specific organizational challenge or opportunity.

The price structure is as follows:

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