I'm driven by innovation and insatiably curious, so it seems natural that I would sign up for a week of innovation school. When Stanford launched its new Customer Focused Innovation course, I signed up immediately. The course is a week long program taught at the Executive Education Center with day trips to places like the Hasso Platner Institute of Design. Even more exciting is the list of celebrity professors. Tomorrow, the course kicks off with a day of strategy from Dr. Robert Burgelman, author of 'Strategy is Destiny'.
In detail, the course is about, "The processes organizations use to pursue innovation can actually erode their capability to innovate. Systems built on stages and reviews simply bureaucratize the process and deflect attention from the user-experience. Then, by limiting responsibility for innovation to a specific department, these organizations actually underutilize the creative capabilities of other employees. Companies must create a culture of innovation that harnesses the creativity of its customers, users, and employees."
I'll post more when I am better able to review the experience.
Editor's Note
Customer Focused Innovation Course at Stanford
Trend Themes
1. Customer Focused Innovation - Opportunity to develop innovative strategies that engage customers, users, and employees in the innovation process.
2. Creative Collaboration - Opportunity to leverage the creative capabilities of all employees by fostering a culture of innovation.
3. User-experience Design - Opportunity to prioritize user-experience over bureaucratic processes, leading to more innovative solutions.
Industry Implications
1. Executive Education - Opportunity to offer programs that teach customer-focused innovation strategies to business professionals.
2. Design Thinking - Opportunity to apply design thinking principles in industries to enhance customer experience and drive innovation.
3. Consulting - Opportunity for consulting firms to help companies build a culture of innovation and implement customer-focused strategies.