Innovation Engineering Fundamentals + Blue Belt Certification
Instructor-Led | In-Person or Digital Private Cohort
Learn to Problem-Solve and Create Ideas Faster
Learn How to Increase the Persuasive Power of Your Communication
Learn How to Deliver New Solutions and Ideas Faster Using a New Work Process for Development.
Innovation Skills to Help Transform Projects, Systems, and Companies
In this course and certification, your team will learn the fundamentals of innovation, but MORE IMPORTANTLY, they’ll work with a coach to apply their new skills immediately to solve a current challenge they are working on.
Training With Tangible Returns
This is NOT Your Typical Course. Most innovation courses are taught by case study, where you sit on the sidelines and guess what went wrong/right for X business in Y situation. We believe that the best learning comes first-hand… from you getting your hands dirty… from you trying things… and from you working on your own challenges. This not only helps you learn, it ensures you get value out of the course immediately.
Example Projects Tackled by Previous Students:
A Reinvented Check In Process for a Hotel
An Improved System for Gathering Ideas & Filing Patents
A New Consumer Dashboard
A Better Employee On Boarding Process
A System to Reduce Errors in a Woodworking Shop
A Reinvented Construction Tool
A New System for Reducing Errors in Order Fulfillment
How It Works
In this course and certification, you’ll learn the fundamentals of innovation, but MORE IMPORTANTLY, you’ll work with a coach to apply your new skills immediately to solve your real-world challenges.
Video Lessons
Video Micro-Lessons are watched for each skill taught in advance of the in-person days. From our 35+ years of experience innovating for some of the world’s biggest organizations, we’ve found these to be the fundamental core innovation skills every person should have. Videos last on average about 7 minutes and are followed by up to three multiple-choice quiz questions, which learners must complete successfully as the first step of the Cycles to Mastery process before moving on to the Lab Exercises.
In-Person Days or Online Meet Ups
During our time together the team works on Lab Exercises where learners will apply what they learned in the videos to case studies to bring the theory to life. They’ll complete and submit their work and receive grading and expert coaching from their instructor. When learners are applying these skills for the first time, they sometimes fail. (A good lesson for all would-be innovators!) This is why our instructors are there to give fast feedback, ideas, insights, and advice
Practical Applications
During the 60 days following the class learners will apply their learning to a real-world challenge. When it comes to learning and innovation, it all happens when you take action. This is why we’ve created a collection of certification assignments that help learners connect the dots between real-world challenges and their new innovation skills. Again, instructors provide one-on-one grading and coaching as learners submit, receive feedback, adjust, and resubmit assignments until all are approved.
What is the Innovation Engineering Difference
Why This Course is Different
Unlike other business courses that are based on a few personal experiences or third-person research – this course is grounded in front-lines innovation work and hard data from the world’s largest database (25,000+) on what drives success and failure. The data is so reliable that the curriculum, called Innovation Engineering, is recognized as a new field of academic study with undergraduate and graduate degrees offered at colleges and universities.
World leaders in business and innovation who’ve used these methods include: Walt Disney, Nike, Pepsi-Cola, American Express, Procter & Gamble, US Department of Commerce and thousands of others.
It Includes the fundamental elements of popular innovation techniques like empathy and journey mapping, Lateral Thinking, PDSA, Lean, Six Sigma and many more. But perhaps the most powerful thing it does is put everything together into a cohesive system.
This course is brought to you by the Innovation Engineering Institute – a partnership between the Eureka! Ranch and the University of Maine.
Participant Reflections
At the end of the course, each person submits a final reflection – a mindful review of their experience and what they really took away. Here is a handful of excerpts from some of our certified Innovation Engineering Black Belts.
The Innovation Engineering process is one of the best methodologies that I have seen thus far. There are many methodologies out there, including Design Thinking, Lean Startup, etc. which originate from the same philosophy as Innovation Engineering – the one where creativity and innovation originate from customer centricity and solving real problems iteratively. However, the part that made Innovation Engineering stand out for me was the structured approach of tying innovation to business strategy.
I can honestly say, that this course has been the most pragmatic and useful course, I have attended in many years. I will actually be using much of what I’ve learned. I found most everything useful, practical, and to the point.
One thing that makes this course stand out to me, is the required preparation. Since all participants studied the same videos before the two-day training, everyone was at the same level of basic understanding. This allowed for a minimum of lectures and a maximum of hands-on work.
Where to begin! This class taught me such a wide variety of skills that I didn’t even know existed and I am very grateful. Within the culture of our company, it is very easy to settle into a routine and excel at that one thing. For the “world” I am in within our company, there is not much talk around innovation and a lot of my daily activities involve data and conference calls. It is great to now have a resource to go to when it feels like I might be stuck in a rut or if I need to bring something new to the table for my team to think about…In the end, I was a little sad for our last class to end. The course went VERY smoothly and I would highly recommend it to others.
Cost for Course + Certification
$3,000 per student for cohorts and/or self-paced online
Cohorts require a minimum of 8 participants.
Online Self Paced
Get started when you are ready, moving at your own pace up to your 6-month certification deadline.
Self Paced Coursework
You will work through the Fundamentals Skills coursework at your own pace. Each module contains video lessons and practice assignments. Watch and submit online, then receive feedback, revise and submit again until you’ve gained a master of each skill or tool. You have 6 months to complete all work.
One on One Coaching
You will be digitally coached through your Innovation Engineering certification by an IE Black Belt. During the 6 month certification period, you will receive unlimited rounds of feedback on your assignments, ask questions of your coach and work on your real-world application assignment.
Certification
Certification is achieved when 100% of all the coursework is passed.