Content Overview
Innovation in the Age of Disruption is designed to communicate the people, process, philosophy and the uncertainty ability of innovative organisations and individuals.
People:
Developing an Innovative Mindset
We tackle the “people” element by exploring our research into the behaviors of innovative leaders. Creative leadership is one of the most prized leadership capabilities yet most of us believe it to be genetic. Research shows however, that it is mostly a learned behavior. Our research, based on interviews and surveys with thousands of leaders, unpacks the behaviors you can practice and coach in your teams to increase the ability to generate new ideas, new ways of seeing things and new approaches to old problems. We discuss these behaviors in detail with examples and tools to practice. In addition we provide you the opportunity to take a professional assessment of these behaviors, tested with over 16,000 leaders, to provide you a benchmark for your own development and reflection on how to improve your innovation capability and leadership.
Process:
Problem-solving & Experimentation
We take you into the heart of the Innovator’s Method: the process for more effectively test ideas. These tools synthesize the latest frameworks from lean start-up, design thinking, agile methodology, and business model innovation, into a process that will allow us to more effectively innovate our way through uncertainty. We show how to apply this process in established companies or startups, B2B or B2C, private or public to test a new product, process, business model, internal initiative, transformation strategy, or any other situation involving uncertainty. We discuss traps and remedies identified in our own research applying these tools for over a decade and from the broader body of empirical research and field experiments on how to repeatedly innovate.
Philosophy:
Fostering Innovation in Organisations
We explore how to create the context for innovation to happen. One dilemma we all face is that many of our organisations, and personal habits, are designed for repetition and execution. In this environment it is particularly challenging for new ideas or approaches to surface and mature. We explore the philosophy of innovative organisations, which is a catch-all term for the leadership, governance, infrastructure, and culture that allow for innovation. We will describe the research-backed best practices in hopes of giving you ideas, inspiration, and approaches to lead innovative, agile organisations.
Uncertainty Ability
We touch upon a foundational attribute critical to innovation but rarely discussed: uncertainty ability, or the ability to face uncertainty well to discover new possibilities. Although we talk frequently about innovation, change, and transformation, we rarely acknowledge that to do these things, we must first step into the unknown. Moreover, life and careers are full of surprises that create setbacks, disappointment, and unplanned uncertainty. Yet few of us are given the tools to navigate either planned or unplanned uncertainty. Drawing upon Professor Furr’s research descripted in The Upside of Uncertainty, we explore the tools that innovators, creators, designers, and leaders use to face uncertainty with courage and resilience, as well as help those they lead to build your own and your organisation’s uncertainty ability.
Your Online Learning Journey
Throughout the programme, an INSEAD Learning Coach will be guiding you and helping you maximise the impact of your learning journey.
*Please note the programme may include a pause week(s).
Typical Week on an INSEAD Online Programme
Each week of content follows a very clear path to facilitate learning for busy executives. The platform allows participants to learn at their own pace during each week, by viewing the content, completing assignments and engaging in discussions, taking on average 4-6 hours per week* to complete.
*This is the recommended number of hours per week however please note that working on the Action Learning Project (ALP) may require up to two additional hours/week.
Action Learning Project
Developing the ability to innovate by generating more ideas to solve business problems and putting them into action is becoming increasingly critical in building a competitive advantage for your organisation in this disruptive age. Skilfully applying this ability to your own business context will be key to navigating uncertainty, unlocking value and seizing the opportunities presented by disruption.
With this in mind, the Action Learning Project (ALP) will give you the opportunity to practise applying your learning to your own role. The ALP will take you on a step-by-step journey to become an innovative leader and drive innovation within your organisation.
Typically, the ALP will revolve around applying the tools and frameworks acquired in the programme to prepare an actionable plan to become more innovative as an individual (innovative me), drive innovation in key projects around your business context (innovative ideas to solve business problems) and lead innovation in the team and the organisation (innovative culture).
Working with the learning coach, you will design an ALP that is right for your personal learning objectives. For those attending the programme with colleagues from the same organisation, the learning coach can help you structure a more ambitious team ALP to collaborate and work on together.
There are 3 phases to the ALP process: First, you will identify an innovative idea as the focus of your ALP. Second, in subsequent weeks, you will apply the concepts from that week to your ALP, exploring your innovative behaviour and applying the innovation process. Third, you will synthesise elements from your weekly submissions into a coherent actionable plan for your innovative idea and submit it for peer review in the final week of the programme. All participants will review 4 other submissions and provide peer feedback. The final ALP and peer review process normally takes between 10-12 days after the programme content finishes.
