The Eureka! Ranch Specializes in
Systemic Innovation
because innovation shouldn’t be a gamble.
When you partner with us…
You’re Leading your industry, not following, reacting, or fire fighting.
You painlessly create incremental ideas & Disruptive Leaps.
You take ideas to market 6X Faster.
Your offerings are so innovative customers are willing to Pay More for them.
Your culture has Alignment on innovation strategy & across departments.
You Make Smarter More Confident Choices on what innovations to invest in.
Your teams generate 8X More Big Ideas when they problem solve.
You double the amount of provisional Patents you file.
Employee Engagement & Collaboration measures improve.
WE HELP YOU
IGNITE, SCALE, & SUSTAIN INNOVATION
with customized programs for…
for Growth
Align your leadership team on where and how to innovate in your organization for the greatest return.
Invent and vet solutions for strategic challenges, including innovative new products, services, and systems that win over customers and stakeholders.
Build an innovation system that enables your teams to consistently deliver new solutions with 250% higher odds of success and that moves 6x faster than average.
of innovation
Scale an innovative mindset and proactive problem solving throughout the organization with a shared framework, enabling all with proven training and tools.
Which of these 2 style do you prefer?
for Growth
Align your leadership team on where and how to innovate in your organization for the greatest return.
Invent and vet solutions for strategic challenges, including innovative new products, services, and systems that win over customers and stakeholders.
Build an innovation system that enables your teams to consistently deliver new solutions with 250% higher odds of success and that moves 6x faster than average.
of Innovation
Scale an innovative mindset and proactive problem solving throughout the organization with a shared framework, enabling all with proven training and tools.
WHO WE ARE
MISSION & BUSINESS UNITS
MISSION
to change the world through systems that enable everyone to think and act smarter, faster, and more innovatively.
Since 1986 our team of professional inventors, innovation systems consultants, and educators have helped over 2,000 organizations innovate.
What makes us unique is our systems-driven approach to innovation that delivers viable innovation faster and with less risk.
Our team of diverse thinkers consists of engineers, educators, innovators, programmers, marketers, scientists, operators, artists, statisticians, PhDs, R&D experts, entrepreneurs, and six-sigma black belts.
Our 3 business units work in partnership to help advance our mission.
Our Internal Partners
In most of our work with organizations, we work with and for everyone. In fact, that’s part of our mission.
That said, our primary point of contact and partner in an organization tends to be:
Senior Leadership – Helping them make smart investment decisions on innovation and innovation strategy.
Innovation Teams – Helping them invent and vet disruptive innovations and build an effective and reliable Front-End of Innovation program.
Department Leaders – Helping them define, inspire, and enable their teams to be proactive problem solvers.
Human Resources – Helping them build an innovation culture through teaching innovation skills at every level
LEADERSHIP & VALUES
Our Values
- PERPETUAL GROWTH: We have a passion for meaningfully improving our systems, technologies, people, and business model/offerings at least every 12 months. We accomplish this through fundamental R&D and our commitment to “Fail Fast, Fail Cheap” cycles of learning that allow us to be twice as smart.
- TRUTH: When working with you we tell the total truth, no matter what the consequences, as early as possible, so to prevent later failures, and because it’s the right thing to do.
- WHOLE BRAIN: We live a balanced blend of “left brain PRACTICAL DISCIPLINE with “right brain” OPTIMISM FOR THE FUTURE.
- HELP OUR FRIENDS: We give our clients, suppliers, partners, and fellow employees the care and extra effort that we extend to old friends. We are open 24/7 and provide all employees with the means to work beyond the confines of the traditional workplace.
- CONNECT & DEVELOP: We aggressively pursue partnership with others who have: 1) a similar purpose and values and 2) unique assets, inventions, or resources.
- BEN FRANKLIN LIVES: We live the spirit of our spiritual founder – his intellectual curiosity, commitment to doing good, love of life, sense of humor, and irreverent wit.
- WE WANT YOU TO GET PROMOTED AND US TO BE REDUNDANT: When you win, we win. We aim to deliver something awesome and in the process, help you get so awesome that you don’t need us anymore.
Our clients and partners describe us as…
WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE
Our long history of working in innovation with so many teams gives you and incredible advantage.
- We’ve been front lines when organizations were on the precipice of change and how to navigate it.
- We’ve seen what kind of ideas get traction and what kind fail.
- We’ve seen innovation fads come and go. And we’ve seen what sticks and what doesn’t.
- We’ve seen employees engage and reject innovation initiatives – and know why.
We’ve worked with
2,000+ organizations
to help them innovate including global corporations, non-profits, small companies, universities, and governments from 22 countries
We have over
40 years
of experience in innovation
We’ve created and tested
26,000+ innovations
INNOVATION R&D
We believe every innovation company should innovate and contribute to the knowledge in the space. Below are some of our “Innovations on Innovation.”
#1 IN THE WORLD. The demand for a smarter and faster innovation system is so great that Innovation Engineering has taken off. Here are the numbers:
Innovations worth $19 billion in net marketplace value in active development.
Over 35,000 trained
Over 30 Innovation Engineering Network, partners – colleges, universities and consultancies.
Thought Leading Companies that have contributed data and insights to the movement include: Procter & Gamble, Walmart, Toyota Manufacturing, Nestle, Walt Disney, Nike, American Express, Ford Motor Company, and thousands of others.
THE WORLD’S FIRST 5 YEAR FINANCIAL FORECAST FOR INNOVATION.
Using a blend of Fourt-Woodlock & Bass Diffusion models, the 5 Year Life Cycle model can predict sales over 5 years & the impact of diffusion on word-of-mouth.
VALIDATED AS “BREAKOUT INNOVATION SYSTEM” BY STANFORD.
A team of Stanford researchers found that most “innovation methods” don’t actually result in innovative solutions. Most simply result in “innovation as usual.” They found that Innovation Engineering went beyond “Innovation-as-Usual” to true Breakout Innovation – out performing even IDEO.
INVENTED & VALIDATED A TEACHING SYSTEM THAT IS 200 TO 400% MORE EFFECTIVE WITH ADULTS.
Patented Cycles to Mastery® enables everyone who is willing to achieve mastery.
THE WORLD’S FIRST APPLICATION OF “PLAN, DO, STUDY, ACT” INTO INNOVATION PROJECT MANAGEMENT.
Deming’s Plan, Do, Study, Act method for never-ending improvement goes beyond principle. The Innovation Engineering Project Acceleration tool makes “PDSA” a built in part of the work process, ensuring that learning & documentation are natural parts of every innovation project.
THE WORLD’S FIRST VALIDATED METRICS SYSTEM FOR INNOVATION.
Modeling innovation metrics can be tricky because there are so many unknowns. Innovation Engineering metrics actually incorporate that variation to create models so predictive Jim Filliben of the National Institute of Standards and Technology presented a paper validating the approach.
INVENTED & VALIDATED A SYSTEM THAT IS 500% MORE EFFECTIVE THAN BRAINSTORMING.
The Stimulus Response® method makes it easy for anyone to create innovate solutions to their daily challenges and business problems.
INVENTED & VALIDATED AN IDEA DECISION SYSTEM THAT IS 7X SMARTER THAN HUMANS.
Merwyn Truth Teller® research provides data grounded principles for improving odds of success plus a quantitative assessment that tells you the true odds of success.
TRANSFORMED INNOVATION FROM A RANDOM GAMBLE TO A RELIABLE SYSTEM.
The Innovation Engineering field of study transforms innovation into a real science. It’s grounded in the world’s largest database of quantitative data on innovation – over 26,000 innovations, deep data on 15,000 teams, over $19 billion in innovations as they go from raw idea to reality.
VALIDATED – INCREASED INNOVATION SPEED (UP TO 6X) AND DECREASED RISK (UP TO 10X SUCCESS).
Step change improvement in innovation metrics is a result of transitioning from a “guru” model for innovation to enabling innovation by everyone through applying System Driven Innovation® principles of Dr. W. Edwards Deming.
THE FIRST COMPLETE SYSTEM THAT DRIVES A 28% INCREASE IN NET INNOVATION VALUE.
Unlike others that are front end driven, Innovation Engineering goes all the way to reality. The result is ideas grow in value all through development instead of declining. (Leading organizations cite “normal” development systems make innovation values decrease 50% or more.)
“A rigorous, quantifiable process for inventing breakthrough ideas. Unlike many creative gurus in the corporate marketplace, [this] innovation system is quantified every step of the way.”
Todd Datz, Features Editor, CIO Magazine
What makes Innovation Engineering different is that it’s clear that the methods and tools taught are crafted by people who’ve actually done it. It’s clear, it’s documented, it’s reliable, it works.
Mike Sirois, Chief Innovation Officer, High Liner Foods
We’ve gone to extremes to create the most robust, reliable, and data-based program on innovation there is.
In 2006, we created Innovation Engineering. It’s both a new field of academic study and a complete operational innovation system and training program. The system has been industry-recognized and vetted and the curriculum has been academically peer reviewed. It includes all the skills and tools of innovation that work repeatedly and reliably to deliver results.
An Academic / Industrial Partnership
Innovation Engineering is recognized as a new field of academic study and leadership science. It’s offered as an Undergraduate Minor, a Graduate Certificate, and as an off-campus professional development program.
On college and university campuses students are taught how Innovation Engineering will enable them to take advantage of the tremendous opportunities in the new economy. Or, to get really blunt, we explain how it will help them: 1) get a job, 2) get promoted, and/or 3) turn their ideas for a new business or social change into reality faster and with less risk.
In organizations, the courses teach executives, leaders, and front-line workers how to innovate everywhere, every day – no matter their job title or experience level. The courses teach them a discipline and structure for innovation that make it a repeatable and reliable system.
World Class Curriculum
Grounded in Data & Validated in Real World Application
Innovation Engineering is the first and only innovation curriculum that blends academic rigor with real world practicality plus direct application. What makes it unique is:
Innovation Engineering is Grounded In Quantitative Data on How to Enable Success: Data sources include test results on 26,000+ new ideas, 15,000+ teams, and week-by-week project data on over $19 billion worth of real world ideas as they travel from idea to reality.
It is Proven in the Real World: At Procter & Gamble, the Innovation Engineering mindset set a record, developing and turning into reality 9 innovations in 12 months. A finance department audit found that the system approach utilized shipped a new idea in 16% of the time and at 18% of the cost of a comparable project.
It Combines Method and Mindset: While the curriculum itself is a complete, systemic approach to innovation, adopting an innovative mindset takes a different approach. Using a patented new teaching method called Cycles to Mastery®, we can not only improve learning results but also change a culture – one mindset at a time.
Companies who have educated their people in Innovation Engineering include Toyota, Walmart, Mercedes-Benz, Humana, High Liner Foods, GrafTech, and thousands of others.
Innovation Engineering
BODY OF KNOWLEDGE
The complete Innovation Engineering Body of Knowledge covers 4 key innovation skill sets – Create, Communicate, Commercialization, and System Driven Leadership. It is continuously improved as better methods and skills are discovered.
CREATE SKILLS
Learn the complete set of skills for creating solutions and ideas for anything – from facilitating ideation sessions to amping up any problem-solving effort.
| Skill 1 | Meaningful Uniqueness |
| SubSkill A. Identifying Meaningfully Unique | |
| SubSkill B. Meaningful Uniqueness Clarity | |
| Skill 2 | Stimulus & Diversity |
| SubSkill A. Trust in the power of Stimulus | |
| SubSkill B. Trust in the power of Diversity | |
| SubSkill C. Mind Mapping and Osborn Brainstorming | |
| Skill 3 | Exploring Stimulus |
| SubSkill A. What is Great Stimulus – Disruptive and Divergent | |
| SubSkill B. Gathering and Sharing Stimulus | |
| Skill 4 | CREATE Sessions |
| SubSkill A. Stimulus Processing | |
| SubSkill B. Preparing for a Create Session | |
| SubSkill C. Running a Create Session | |
| Skill 5 | Unrelated Stimulus |
| SubSkill A. The Power of Unrelated | |
| SubSkill B. START Unrelated Mining | |
| Skill 6 | Patent Mining |
| SubSkill A. Why Patent Mining | |
| SubSkill B. How to Read a Patent | |
| SubSkill C. How to Search for Patents | |
| SubSkill D. START Patent Mining | |
| Skill 7 | Insight Mining |
| SubSkill A. Qualitative | |
| SubSkill B. Quantitative | |
| SubSkill C. START Insight Mining | |
| Skill 8 | Market Mining |
| SubSkill A. Fundamentals of Market Mining | |
| SubSkill B. START Market Mining | |
| Skill 9 | Advanced Create Methods |
| SubSkill A. Analogy & Stimulating the Subconscious | |
| SubSkill B. TRIZ | |
| Skill 10 | Future Mining |
| SubSkill A. Fundamentals of Future Mining – Mega Shifts and Scenarios | |
| SubSkill B. START Future Mining | |
| Skill 11 | Wisdom Mining |
| SubSkill A. How to Search Academic Articles | |
| SubSkill. START Wisdom Mining | |
| Skill 12 | Professional Grade Create / Problem Solving Sessions |
| SubSkill A. Assessment and Preparation | |
| SubSkill B. Facilitation | |
| SubSkill C. InterAct Sessions |
COMMUNICATE SKILLS
Ideas can’t go anywhere unless you can communicate them clearly and convincingly – from strategy, to idea, to business case and research.
| Skill 13 | Strategy Activation – Blue Cards |
| SubSkill A. What is Strategy Activation and Why Does it Matter? | |
| SubSkill B. The Parts of a Blue Card | |
| SubSkill C. How to Create a Blue Card | |
| Skill 14 | Concept Writing – Yellow Cards |
| SubSkill A. WHAT is a Yellow Card & WHY Does it Matter? | |
| SubSkill B. The Parts of a Yellow Card Problem, Promise, Proof | |
| SubSkill C. The Parts of a Yellow Card Cost, Name, Headline | |
| SubSkill D. How to Write a Yellow Card | |
| Skill 15 | Concept Improvement |
| SubSkill A. Clarity & Focus | |
| SubSkill B. Synergy | |
| SubSkill C. Factual Wisdom on Increasing Writing Success | |
| Skill 16 | Estimating Concept Value |
| SubSkill A. Why Estimating Matters | |
| SubSkill B. Fermi Estimating Mindset | |
| SubSkill C. How to Forecast Sales | |
| Skill 17 | Optimizing the Whole Concept |
| SubSkill A. Concept as a System | |
| SubSkill B. The 6 Tensions | |
| Skill 18 | Concept Feedback Systems |
| SubSkill A. Qualitative Research | |
| SubSkill B. Quantitative Research | |
| Skill 19 | Advanced Benefit, Proof, & Name |
| SubSkill A. Umbrella & Emotional Benefits | |
| SubSkill B. Test Results, Pedigrees, Testimonials & Guarantees | |
| SubSkill C. Trademarks | |
| Skill 20 | Oomph |
| SubSkill A. Tampering | |
| SubSkill B. Oomph | |
| Skill 21 | Technology Translation |
| SubSkill A. Technology Concept Translation Theory | |
| SubSkill B. Tech Translation | |
| Skill 22 | Meaningful Marketing Messages |
| SubSkill A. Meaningful vs Mindless Marketing | |
| SubSkill B. Amplifying Meaningfulness | |
| Skill 23 | Real World Communications |
| SubSkill A. Free Form Writing | |
| SubSkill B. Applications | |
| Skill 24 | Proactive Selling Pitches |
| SubSkill A. Understanding Customer Mindset on Innovations | |
| SubSkill B. 5 Step Proactive Selling Format |
COMMERCIALIZE SKILLS
Learn how to take an idea and transform it into a reality – complete with PDSA cycles of learning, advanced forecasting, and intellectual property.
| Skill 25 | Plan, Do, Study, Act |
| SubSkill A. Plan & Do | |
| SubSkill B. Study & Act | |
| Skill 26 | PDSA Best Practices |
| SubSkill A. Roles & Workflow | |
| SubSkill B. Risk Management | |
| Skill 27 | PDSA Concept Prototypes |
| SubSkill A. Why Prototype | |
| SubSkill B. Best Practices | |
| Skill 28 | PDSA Functional Prototypes |
| SubSkill A. Principles | |
| SubSkill B. Best Practices | |
| Skill 29 | PDSA Rapid Research |
| SubSkill A. Principles | |
| SubSkill B. Rapid Testing Screening & Analysis | |
| SubSkill C. New Standards to Drive Word of Mouth | |
| Skill 30 | PDSA Reducing Variation in Forecasts |
| SubSkill A. Fermi Estimating, Bounding Estimates | |
| SubSkill B. Calibration, Trailblazer Delphi, PDSA Experimentation | |
| Skill 31 | Confront Reality – Cost & Price Estimating |
| SubSkill A. Definitions and Principles | |
| SubSkill B. How to Estimate | |
| Skill 32 | Business Models |
| SubSkill A. Business Model as a System | |
| SubSkill B. Problem Solving Not Compromising | |
| Skill 33 | Proprietary Protection |
| SubSkill A. Background | |
| SubSkill B. What is Patentable & Patent FAQ | |
| SubSkill C. How to Write & File a Patent | |
| Skill 34 | Organizing for Success |
| SubSkill A. Formats, Systems, Meetings, Software | |
| SubSkill B. The Project Leader Role | |
| SubSkill C. The Management Coach Role | |
| SubSkill D. The Process Coach Role | |
| Skill 35 | Business Opportunity Recommendation |
| SubSkill A. Principles | |
| SubSkill B. Business Opportunity Recommendation Formats | |
| Skill 36 | Innovation Decisions |
| SubSkill A. Principles | |
| SubSkill B. How to Make Smart Decisions | |
| SubSkill B. Facilitation | |
| SubSkill C. InterAct Sessions |
SYSTEM DRIVEN LEADERSHIP
Everything that’s accomplished is because of working systems…for alignment, collaboration, research, patents, and project management.
| Skill 37 | Appreciation for a System |
| SubSkill A. Principles | |
| SubSkill B. Tactics and Tools | |
| Skill 38 | Knowledge about Variation |
| SubSkill A. Principles | |
| SubSkill B. Tactics and Tools | |
| Skill 39 | Psychology |
| SubSkill A. Principles | |
| SubSkill B. Tactics and Tools | |
| Skill 40 | Create Sessions |
| SubSkill A. Principles | |
| SubSkill B. Tactics and Tools | |
| Skill 41 | Strategic Alignment |
| SubSkill A. Systems, Variance and Psychology | |
| SubSkill B. Upgrading Using PDSA Experiments | |
| Skill 42 | Departmental Alignment |
| SubSkill A. Systems, Variance and Psychology | |
| SubSkill B. Upgrading Using PDSA Experiments | |
| Skill 43 | Rapid Research Operations |
| SubSkill A. Systems, Variance and Psychology | |
| SubSkill B. Upgrading Using PDSA Experiments | |
| Skill 44 | Rapid Research Analytics |
| SubSkill A. Systems, Variance and Psychology | |
| SubSkill B. Upgrading Using PDSA Experiments | |
| Skill 45 | Collaboration |
| SubSkill A. Systems, Variance and Psychology | |
| SubSkill B. Upgrading Using PDSA Experiments | |
| Skill 46 | Patent ROI |
| SubSkill A. Systems, Variance and Psychology | |
| SubSkill B. Upgrading Using PDSA Experiments | |
| Skill 47 | Diffusion of Innovation Mindset |
| SubSkill A. Systems, Variance and Psychology | |
| SubSkill B. Upgrading Using PDSA Experiments | |
| Skill 48 | Personal Leadership |
| SubSkill A. Systems, Variance and Psychology | |
| SubSkill B. Upgrading Using PDSA Experiments | |
| SubSkill B. Business Opportunity Recommendation Formats | |
| Skill 36 | Innovation Decisions |
| SubSkill A. Principles | |
| SubSkill B. How to Make Smart Decisions | |
| SubSkill B. Facilitation | |
| SubSkill C. InterAct Sessions |
PROPRIETARY TECH & TOOLS
We’ve invented these methods & technologies for one purpose – to systematically enable more and better innovation.
A teaching method that ensures you learn fast and master innovation & problem solving skills
Cycles to Mastery® is a patented teaching methodology that blends the most progressive teaching methods in a way that can be easily scaled. It ensures that staff “get’s it” and the training sticks.
Innovation Ideation Sessions, Projects, & Pipeline management make work go faster
Online Sessions software makes it easy to collaborate to create and capture ideas with over 50 ideation techniques built in. Innovation Pipeline software works as your co-pilot to iterate those ideas into successful projects while providing the reporting you need to keep things on track.
Be sure you’re solving the problems worth solving
With the Insight Mining tool, we can test early theories, insights, and problem statements to ensure you’re solving the right problem at the start.
Predict which ideas will beat competition and generate such a wow that they go viral
The patented Merwyn® Technology Rapid Research Suite an test and forecast the impact of ideas in hours to quickly assess their potential in the marketplace before you invest in them.
Multiple white papers are available on the research methodology and it’s efficacy versus multiple other models – including IRI and AC Nielsen/BASES.
A complete innovation curriculum ready right out of the box
The Innovation Engineering Body of Knowledge includes 100+ education modules that easily incorporate into any LMS, Center of Excellence, or established leadership development or workforce programs.
Build a business case with a 250% greater odds of success
The Business Opportunity Recommendation report outlines the critical factors that make an innovation investable. It’s a venture-level proposal for development for leadership summarized in a 1-page memo with supporting documentation.
Benchmark your innovation culture using the world’s largest database
The Innovation Culture Report benchmarks your organization against 1,000s of others to help you see where you stand, where you’re great, and what you can do to improve.
Create 8x more Meaningfully Unique Ideas than Brainstorming
The Spark Decks® and the Idea Engineering method leverages stimulus and mental diversity in multiple dimensions to make it faster and easier to create solutions.
In matched tests, teams that used these methods created 8x more ideas (& most importantly, the ideas were of higher quality.)
Forecast the value of your Innovation using a model vetted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
The Business Simulation is a proprietary model for predicting the value of an innovation – incorporating over 100 factors proven to impact marketplace success. It includes calculations based on short and long-term time horizons, differences in distribution and awareness, and licensing fees (if proprietary).
PUBLISHING
Our work has been featured in 9 books, 6 TV programs, and 100+ articles and interviews
Industries we’ve worked in
Below are are some of the industries we’ve worked in. This rich diverse experience gives us a leg-up in being able to bring you insights and ideas from outside your own industry.
- 1848 Ventures
- 3M
- 4iiii
- 84.51
- ABC Television
- ACCI
- Alliance Data
- Alliance for Children & Families
- American Express
- American Express Small Business Services
- American Marketing Association
- Ameritech
- AMIG
- Amurol Confections
- Anheuser-Busch
- AOL
- Apple Processors Association
- AT&T Calling Card Services
- AT&T Internet Services
- Avon Products
- Babson College
- Baldwin Wallace University
- Bank of America
- Barber Foods
- Barilla
- Basic American Foods
- Batesville Casket
- Bayer
- Bel Kaukana
- Best Buy
- Binney & Smith
- BioLab
- Blockbuster
- Bob Evans
- Borden
- Bosch
- BOSE
- Boston Market
- Brain Brew Custom Whiskey
- Bullshooter
- Bush Brothers & Company
- Butterball
- Cadbury Schweppes
- Campbell Soup
- Campbell Taggert
- CapitalOne
- Cascades
- Catfish Candy
- Celestial Seasonings
- Centocor
- Century Arms
- Cervélo Cycles
- Chase Bank (formerly Bank One)
- Chattem Consumer Products
- Chrysler
- Cincinnati Art Museum
- Cincinnati Bell
- Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce
- Cincinnati Symphony
- Cincom
- Cintas
- Citrix Online
- CLE Leads
- Club Car
- Coca-Cola
- College Board
- Comcast Cellular
- Compaq
- Congressman Rob Portman
- Continental Baking
- Coors Brewing Company
- Coppertone
- Covidien
- Crayola
- Dairy Queen
- DAP
- Darden Business School
- Digital Equipment Corporation
- Disney Development Company
- Disney Institute
- Dow Brands
- Dreyer’s
- Dr. Pepper Snapple Group
- DRS Technologies, Inc.
- dunnhumby
- Duquesne University
- Duracell
- ebay
- Energy USA
- Ethicon Endo-Surgery
- Eveready Battery Company
- EyeMed Vision Care
- Federated
- Fidelity Investments
- First USA
- First Energy
- Flexible Products
- Folgers Coffee Company
- Ford Motor Company
- ForeThought
- Fortis Health
- Foster Farms
- Frito-Lay
- Gardetto’s
- Gatorade
- Gebauer Company
- Gerber
- G&J Pepsi Bottling
- Givaudan
- Give Kids the World
- GlaxoSmithKline
- GO Interactive
- GOJO
- Graftech
- Green Giant
- GTE Directory Services
- Hamilton Beach
- Healthy Directions
- Hershey
- Heublein
- Hewlett-Packard
- High Liner Foods
- Hillenbrand Industries
- Hillshire Kahns
- Humana
- Hussmann Corporation
- IMS Health
- Infantino
- Innovation Network Members
- International Data Group
- International Truck and Engine
- James River
- Jergens
- Jeyes
- Jif
- John Hancock
- Johnny Walker
- John Morrell Meats
- Johnson & Johnson
- JP Morgan Chase
- Keebler
- Kellogg’s
- Key Bank
- Kimberly Clark
- Kodak
- Kraft General Foods
- L-3
- Labatt’s
- LCI
- Lego
- Lifesavers
- Lincoln Electric
- Lipton
- Lockheed Martin
- M&M/Mars
- March of Dimes
- Marketing Intelligence Service
- Mattel
- McGraw-Hill
- Medeco Security Lock
- Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems
- Mercedes-Benz
- Mercury Boats
- Miller
- Minnesota Power
- Miricles in Sight
- Molson
- Monroe Shocks and Struts
- Monsanto
- Montgomery Inn
- Morningstar Foods
- MotorUP
- Nabisco
- National City
- National Leukemia Society
- National Retail Federation
- National Wildlife Federation
- NiSource
- NBA
- Nestle
- Newell Office products
- Nike
- Ocean Spray
- Ohio Credit Union League
- OPW
- Payless Shoes
- Parker Brothers
- Pennzoil
- Pepsi-Cola
- Permatex
- Pillsbury
- Pizza Hut
- Planters
- Play Power
- Playtex Family Products
- Pon
- Pop-Tarts
- Pringles
- Procter & Gamble
- Publisher’s Clearing House
- Quaker Oats
- Ralston Purina
- Random House
- Reckitt-Benckiser
- Reynolds Metals
- Roche Diagnostics
- Rubbermaid
- Rust-Oleum
- Schering Plough
- Schlumberger
- SC Johnson
- Scott’s Lawn Care
- Seagrams
- Sears
- SEIMENS
- Servatii’s Pastry Shop
- Sherwin Williams
- Simmon’s
- Slush Puppie
- Smith Kline Beecham
- Snapple
- SNET
- Solaris
- Southern States
- Southwestern Bell
- Stamps.com
- Steris
- Sweetheart Cup
- TGIFridays
- Tall Stacks
- Teach for America
- Tennant
- Tenneco Automotive
- Tempur-Sealy International
- Tesco
- The Edrington Group
- The HoneyBaked Ham Company
- The Kellen Company
- The Polk Company
- The Wooster Brush Company
- Thomas J. Lipton
- Toyota
- Trek Bicycle Corporation
- Triarc Beverages
- Trident Seafood
- Tyson
- Tyson Food Service
- Unilever
- United Way
- University of Maine
- University of Minnesota
- US West
- U.S. House of Representative – House Budget Committee
- Van den Bergh Foods
- Van Melle Candy
- Versant Health
- Vision Ease
- Visteon Automotive
- Vlassic Foods
- Walker Mufflers
- Walmart
- Walt Disney Consumer Products
- Walt Disney Home Video
- Walt Disney Imagineering
- Waste Management
- Welch’s
- Western Publishing
- Western Union
- Wingspanbank.com
- Worksite Lighting
- Wright Express
- YMCA
- Young Entrepreneurs Organization Members
- Young Presidents Organization Members
HOW WE HELP
WE HELP YOU
IGNITE, SCALE, & SUSTAIN INNOVATION
with customized programs for…
for Growth
Align your leadership team on where and how to innovate in your organization for the greatest return.
Invent and vet solutions for strategic challenges, including innovative new products, services, and systems that win over customers and stakeholders.
Build an innovation system that enables your teams to consistently deliver new solutions with 250% higher odds of success and that moves 6x faster than average.
of innovation
Scale an innovative mindset and proactive problem solving throughout the organization with a shared framework, enabling all with proven training and tools.
Strategies for Growth
You know innovation is critical, but…
- you’re not aligned on what it looks like or where to focus in the short and long term.
You can’t do it all, and spreading yourself too thin across too many opportunity areas is a recipe for disaster.
Our Innovation Strategy projects give you confidence to determine the right focus. We are the only ones who evaluate both the best opportunities AND your current capabilities to give you a realistic strategy that will actually lead to real results and ROI*. This includes:
Learn your capacity for innovation and change based on your existing culture, people, and structures. We will benchmark your team against largest dataset on innovation culture** and capability to identify sources of strength and opportunity.
Output: Audit & Benchmark Report
Learn where to focus your limited capacity to get the best results. Uncover insights on your potential opportunity areas based on competition, technology, discoveries, trends, and customers to identify non-obvious strategic opportunities***
Output: Spark Decks®
Make a decision**** on what you will actually do. Gain alignment with a leadership team by sharing discoveries and answering the critical questions:
- WHY do WE innovate?
- WHAT is innovation for US?
- WHERE should WE innovate?
- HOW do we innovate?
Output: Innovation Strategic Plan
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Our research and experience on all innovation approaches has been academically peer reviewed and published in foundational texts. |
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We’ve built the worlds largest dataset on innovation culture and capability. |
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Our unique research methods blend an analytical framework with a creative one so that we not only find interesting information, but we synthesize its implications and opportunities for you. |
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Sessions are expertly run by seasoned senior leaders that have worked with 100+ teams. |
ALIGN & ACTIVATE
Innovation Pipeline
Your Challenge:
- You need bold solutions immediately.
- You want to break into a new area.
- Your competitors are winning.
Eureka! Inventing projects fill your pipeline with disruptive innovations that win.
- Win with customers/consumers = the innovation is preferred over the competition.
- Win with leadership = the innovation demonstrates a powerful business case.
- Win vs competition = the innovation is proprietary and hard to replicate.
- Win with internal stakeholders = the innovation is de-risked & gets buy-in.
Discover insights and opportunities to exploit through extensive internal and external research on competition, technology, discoveries, trends, and customers to identify non-obvious connections, enablers, and stimulus* to inspire ideas
Output: Spark Decks®
Create and vet meaningfully unique innovations through an ideation and discovery sprint where we
- invent ideas using a process proven to create 700% more DISRUPTIVE ideas.**
- vet with customers/consumers***
- optimize and build the business case with prototyping, math, learning, feasibility****
Output: Vetted Ideas & Business Rationale
Iterate and optimize to get the best return through a fast incubation process to
Output: Investment-Ready Business Opportunity Recommendation
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Points of Meaningful Uniqueness for DISRUPTIVE Innovation |
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We do 6 different kinds of deep research and then synthesize the implications to inspire bold yet feasible ideas. |
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Our ideation techniques have been tried and tested with 1,000s of teams. |
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Every session we’ve ever done creates ideas that score in the top box. |
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DISRUPTIVE innovation requires business model and synergies innovation. We work all aspects of the business proposition and it’s implications simultaneously from the start so you don’t have rework later. |
INVENT & ACCELERATE
Innovation System
Your Challenge:
- It takes too long to put a new idea into practice.
- Your process is not producing the quality of ideas you need.
- Ideas are not adopted by the organization.
- You have no formal process.
Your Innovation System will align leaders on strategic objectives, enable your teams to consistently deliver new solutions with 250% higher odds of success, and move 6x faster than average.
Leadership Workshop: Align on strategic objectives, innovation metrics, outcomes, opportunity areas, and the front end structure/plan.
Output: KPIs & Governance
Front End Innovation System: Build a FEI system that consistently delivers venture-level development proposals with 250% higher odds of success.*
Output: Process & Systems Design
Expert-Level Education: Teach university-level innovation skills to innovation teams through Innovation Engineering Blue and Black Belt® Certification.
Output:
Education
Sprint Design & Facilitation: Develop a session game plan to create, test, problem solve, and vet viable innovative solutions with expert coaching in days or weeks – not months.
Output: Ideas & Internal Capability
Enabling Tools: Research, problem-solving, & project acceleration tools that drive your team to more than double your ROI on innovations projects.
Output:
Tools
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Points of Meaningful Uniqueness for Innovation Program |
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The complete Front End of Innovation System has been shown to increase the odds of success for new ideas to be adopted not only by the marketplace but also by the internal business as well. |
BUILD & SUSTAIN
CULTURE of Innovation
Your Challenge:
- Your leaders don’t know how to foster innovation in their teams.
- You want your staff to proactively solve problems that don’t have obvious solutions.
- You don’t have a common language or framework for creating and implementing ideas within the organization.
Our industry-recognized, academically peer reviewed curriculum, Innovation Engineering®*, is a new field of academic study and the only tested and proven operational innovation system and training program.
Black Belt Certification Course for Innovation Specialists
Blue Belt Certification Course for Leaders at all levels
Proactive Problem Solving Workshop: Learn how to proactively identify problems, create non-obvious solutions, and take action using a shared idea framework.
Workshop for all staff
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Points of Meaningful Uniqueness for Building a Culture of Innovation |
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Innovation Engineering is a complete new field of study pioneered by Eureka! Ranch. It takes all the reproducible and reliable skills related to innovation and puts them into one comprehensive approach. It’s been validated by academics and industry. |
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Black Belts typically earn a 10x ROI on their training. They run projects worth 28X more than those with a basic understanding. They lead or coach, on average, 24X more projects than those with a basic understanding. |
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100% of Blue Belts apply the skills and mindset to their work and 60% of Blue Belts say they accomplished work they could not have done without the skills or tools. |
A full brochure & course catalog is available.
Custom Course Development: Using our domain expertise in instructional design and innovation, we tailor courses to fit within your existing frameworks, culture, and training.
UPSKILL & SCALE
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A safe have for creative thinking
Our headquarters are situated on the edge of Lake Barber in Cincinnati, Ohio. The facility features a purpose-built creative space with a 1.4 mile walking trail, gym, showers, gourmet food, and wine and a custom whiskey distillery with on-site bar. It’s a great getaway spot to do big thinking. It’s never a requirement, but always an option for us to host you and your team when we work together.
Our History
Established in 1986, the Eureka! Ranch is known for its big ideas. When organizations realize that doing the same old stuff isn’t going to cut it anymore, they come to the Eureka! Ranch with their challenges and leave with an abundance of unique solutions and possibilities.
The Eureka! Team not only gets people to invent big, disruptive ideas, but also gives them the courage and skills to take action.
Their success is based on a scientific and data-grounded approach to creativity and innovation. Change is difficult, but not impossible, and with Eureka! Ranch’s system, change can become reliable and repeatable.
Before founding the Eureka! Ranch, Doug Hall was at P&G and got a record number of innovations shipped in a short period of time with a tiny staff and budget (9 products in 12 months with a team of 3). He did this by using a systems approach because of his knowledge of the work of Dr. W. Edwards Deming, the inspiration for Lean, Total Quality and Six Sigma.
In the early days, we helped large companies like Nike, American Express, and Disney create big, disruptive ideas and published Jump Start Your Brain about how to be more creative. The Eureka! Ranch building was built in 1999 to host companies and get them out of their normal mindset to create more unique ideas.
While successful at the creation of unique ideas, we knew we needed to help companies commercialize disruptive ideas. This resulted in the publishing of 2 books on business and marketing of meaningful unique ideas and expanding our services past beyond the early stages of innovation.
While large companies need big ideas to grow their business, all companies need to innovate. To help more companies we trained a network of “Trained Brains” to facilitate the Eureka process with small and midsize manufacturing companies. Over time our innovation process and training resulted in the creation of the Innovation Engineering System and skillset.
Innovation Engineering was next taught to students at the University of Maine and has since expanded to more universities. Innovation leaders came to the Eureka! Ranch to learn the system and software was developed to make them more successful at applying the skills back at their organization. Over time, the Eureka! team has continuously innovated and improved our system for innovation, including the online tools and how we educate people.
Today the Ranch is led by CEO, Maggie Nichols, and a strong cadre of innovators, engineers, educators, and programmers, with founder, Doug Hall, remaining actively engaged as CIO and on special projects. We help organizations in 3 ways:
1) building their innovation pipeline,
2) improving their innovation process, and
3) training their people to think more innovatively.
We work with large multinationals, non-profits, and small and mid-size companies around the globe to help them think & act smarter, faster & more innovatively.
1986
Eureka! Ranch was founded by Doug Hall to help companies be more creative and innovative.
1995
Jump Start Your Brain was published to teach people how to think more creatively in their lives and businesses. The book encourages people to break the rules but also gives them a proven process for success.
1999
The Eureka! Ranch was built in Newtown, Ohio, and designed to enable people to do new ideas and make meaningful changes.
2001
Jump Start Your Business Brain was published to give people a scientific way to leverage innovation and make more money for their businesses.
2005
Jump Start Your Marketing Brain was published to give businesses scientific advice and practical ideas for improving their marketing efforts.
2009
Innovation Engineering was first taught at the University of Maine to enable the next generation of leaders with the skills for innovation.
2011
Innovation Engineering Labs was released to enable companies with tools to apply Innovation Engineering principles to their ideation, project management, market research, and more.
2018
Driving Eureka! was published to teach leaders that systems are the driving force behind innovation success. Systems for innovation like Innovation Engineering encompass projects, collaboration, patents, research, and learning.
2019
Innovation Engineering Labs became Jump Start Your Brain allowing everyone at an organization to access the online training and be more successful with innovation.
Today
The Eureka Team continues to inspire established companies to do new and meaningful work. We look forward to partnering with your organization.
Innovation Engineering Blue Belt Certification
Are you ready to take your innovaiton skills to the next level?
Register for our online fundamentals course to earn your blue belt certification in 6 months or less.
With our course, you won’t just be learning the fundamentals of innovation, you’ll be working with a dedicated coach to immediately apply your new skills to solve real-world challenges. Our team of expert coaches will guide you through each lesson and provide personalized feedback to help you succeed. Our approach is unique because we believe that learning by doing is the most effective way to master new skills. That’s why we provide you with practical exercises and hands-on experience so that you can apply what you’ve learned right away.
