Build an org-wide ecosystem to drive sustainable, cross-functional innovation
Having an innovation practice is no longer a differentiating factor for today’s leading organizations – it’s table stakes. But the organizations that invest in deliberately linking their business goals to innovation priorities, connecting their ways of working with an innovation process, and up-skilling employees to innovate, are able to launch new products and services 2x as fast as competitors. In today’s fast-moving economy, speed to market matters, and our 12-week sprint-based approach to innovation projects are designed to help your team accelerate the development of strategies and solutions.
What our innovation team clients say about our programs:
I just want each of you to know how incredibly impressed I have been with the level of dedication, innovation, and effort you have put into this design sprint. I’m even more impressed and excited by the products you have developed.
CEO of Advanced Market Networks
Fortune 500 Insurance ClientWorking with The Design Gym, they didn’t just come in and train our people. They became a part of our culture and built a community of practitioners across departments. We wanted to create a spark of change, but they helped us start a wildfire that transformed thinking and working across multiple teams.
Senior Product Manager
Fortune 500 Financial Services ClientThe Design Gym has been an amazing strategic partner for the [client] Design Thinking team and is intimately familiar with our program and framework.The team are also some of the best facilitators in the business!
Design Leader
Fortune 100 Technology Client
CHALLENGES WE HELP INNOVATION TEAMS TACKLE:
- Increasing the quality or creativity of new ideas
- Getting new products and services into the hands of customers faster
- Creating clarity on the role of innovation in support of larger strategy
- Defining a shared innovation process that cross-functional teams can align around
- Establishing evaluation metrics that inform go vs. no-go decision making
- Coaching executive teams on how to lead an environment that encourages new innovation
- Enabling an entire team or organization to innovation by embedding new mindsets, toolkits, and behaviors
- Decision making structures and prioritization frameworks
RESULTS AND OUTCOMES WE’VE DELIVERED:
- A 5-year, $10M innovation product pipeline for direct to consumer vitamin brand
- Innovation program for global insurance that reduced new product development from 8-months to 8-weeks
- Where to Play and How to Win strategy for ready-to-eat products for a grocery retailer with 300+ locations
- Innovation accelerator experience for a luxury car brand that seeded an iPhone AR idea that became a #1 CNET recommended application
- End-to-end product redesign and growth strategy for a rapidly growing tax and financial planning product
- Innovation development program for 21,000+ employees in both HQ and retail locations
EXAMPLE SERVICES FOR INNOVATION TEAMS
Define and align on an Innovation Charter that is unique to your organization and strategic goals.
- Executive leadership alignment sessions to determine the role and prioritization of innovation
- Innovation Pipeline process framework development to guide cross-functional collaboration and prioritization
- Innovation Metrics definition to measure progress and inform investment decisions
Build a pipeline of innovative ideas that can be tested, funded, and scaled.
- Customer and stakeholder research to generate actionable insights and product opportunities (ie: interviews, surveys, co-creation sessions)
- Trend and Inspiration Research to infuse future-focused stimulus into the design process
- Expertly facilitated design sprint projects that engage customers and cross-functional stakeholders in co-creating concepts for the innovation pipeline (in-person and virtual formats)
- Prototyping and Pilot Experiments to validate (or bust!) early stage ideas with robust idea concepts
Establish a culture where employees are empowered with the skills and mindsets to innovate.
- Ways of Working and Collaboration Rituals that foster customer centricity, creativity, experimentation within and across teams
- Innovation Leadership Development Programs that prioritize learning-by-doing to build capabilities and confidence
- Innovation Playbooks and Toolkits that are customized for each organization to decentralize frameworks into the hands of all employees for everyday innovation
CASE STUDIES
Defining an Innovation Strategy with a Global Hospitality Brand
How we guided a Fortune 500 hospitality company’s senior leadership to align on and create an enterprise-wide definition of and approach to innovation.
Exploring New Market Opportunities with a Multinational CPG Company
How we made the case for innovation with a 5-day design sprint to develop new product and service concepts at a Fortune 500 food manufacturer.
Developing Innovation Leaders at a Global Tech Company
How we equipped a Fortune 100 Tech Company’s brightest up-and-coming leaders with the right innovation tools and mindsets to lead projects that increase customer and business value.
A Working Model for Digital Transformation at a Global Investment Firm
How we redesigned a global investment firm’s collaboration structures and processes in the wake of a bold new digital transformation.
Looking to build resilient growth strategies for an ever-changing economy?
Download our Innovating for Growth Card Pack to get access to 55 strategic prompts we’ve used with clients including Marriott, Kellogg’s, Instagram, Cisco, and Netflix.
