fbpx

 

 

 

The Eureka! Ranch Offers

Innovation Training

because everyone should be able to innovate.

WE TEACH TEAMS

Innovation Skills to Help Transform Projects, Systems, and Companies

In our courses and certifications, 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. 

What is

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.

Develops Entrepreneurial Decision Making

Participants learn to see an idea, a product, and even an organization as a system of interconnected parts. And success is about finding the solution that optimizes the whole, not any one part.

Delivers Tangible and Measurable Outcomes

Why the name?

Innovation Engineering was chosen as the name for this curriculum as it precisely defines our purpose, mindset, and how we work.

Innovation is about ideas that are meaningfully unique.  It’s about productive imagination.  It’s about change, ideas, improvement, and working smarter. Creativity is the creation of the new and novel.  Innovation is about unique ideas that accomplish a meaningful purpose.  The purpose can be for igniting social change, changing how we work with our co-workers, or simply making a difference in people’s lives with a more effective product or service.

Engineering is about applying innovation to the real world.  It’s about discipline, system reliability,  documentation, experimentation, problem solving, and making decisions based on factual data.  The chemist studies the compositions, properties, and activity of organic and inorganic substances.  The Chemical Engineer applies the chemist’s discoveries in the real world of factories and products.

Training for Every Level

Innovation Engineering Mastery Program

where innovation specialists learn how to lead disruptive projects and build lasting systems

Innovation Engineering Fundamentals Course

where leaders at any level learn how to drive innovation within their sphere of influence

Proactive Problem Solving

where everyone can improve their problem solving skillset and mindset by learning how to be proactive and create non-obvious solutions

Eureka! Workshops, Lectures & Events

where any group can be inspired to innovate and learn how innovation fits their role

Innovation Engineering
Mastery Program

Where innovation specialists learn how to lead disruptive projects and build lasting systems through training and one-on-one coaching.

This program and certification give you the means and methods to radically accelerate the development of novel, disruptive innovations. You’ll learn the skills that make up the Innovation Engineering “Body of Knowledge” – the complete academic peer-reviewed curriculum taught in Innovation Engineering undergraduate and graduate school programs across the world.

Who Should Attend?
This program is a perfect fit for an innovation leader, responsible for transformational change to a product line, a business unit, or an entire organization. Innovation leaders often work to develop specific ideas, manage a pipeline of ideas at various stages of development, and/or design the processes for the organization to follow when pursuing new ideas.

 

Reasons why people pursue Innovation Engineering Black Belt Certification
There are a number of reasons why people participate. Below are just a few that we hear:

  • I was just put in charge of innovation and I don’t know where to start.
  • I’m on an accelerated leadership track in my company.
  • I’m an innovator naturally. I love learning about the cutting edge.
  • Innovation is a new key driver in our business, and I need to understand how to do it.
  • I’m tired of doing the same old stuff. I need a jolt.
  • I’m a leader in my organization and we need to change, but how am I supposed to lead something I myself don’t have a handle on?
  • Innovation is on my performance criteria.
  • Innovation is a ton of FUN!

TOPICS COVERED

This course and certification gives you expertise in 3 areas to lead innovation across an enterprise:
Becoming an expert innovator.
Becoming an innovation ecosystem architect.
Becoming an innovation coach, mentor and process navigator for others in your organization.

  • Innovation Fundamentals
  • Systems Thinking
  • Driving Strategic Alignment
  • Building the Innovation Mindset
  • Collaboration and Ideation
  • Rapid Research & Data-Driven Decision Making
  • Forecasting Innovation ROI
  • Innovation Pipeline and Development Systems
  • Personal Leadership Development

REAL BUSINESS OUTCOMES

Participants complete six application projects during the course with one-on-one guidance from their IE Black Belt Instructor. All are applied to your organization’s ideas or processes.

  • Map Your Current Front End Idea System
  • Run a Formal or Informal Ideation Session
  • Execute Multiple Rounds of Concept Testing to Improve a set of Ideas
  • Build a Model for Estimating the Upside of Ideas in your Pipeline
  • Conduct a Trademark or Patent Evaluation for an idea you are pursuing.
  • Customize the Workflows of Your Innovation Development System
  • Build an Actionable Innovation Strategy for multiple tiers of the organization.
  • Run an Innovation Training session for others in your organization.

2 Flexible Formats

The Innovation Engineering Black Belt Program is offered 2 ways:

In Person

1.5 days of Video Cycles
3 days of in person Lab Cycles
12 months of one-on-one coaching with a Eureka! Ranch Innovation Engineering specialist through Application & Reflection Cycles to certify

Online Self Paced

12 months to complete Video, Lab, Application, and Reflection Cycles and certify
Work one-on-one with a Eureka! Ranch Innovation Engineering specialist with bi-weekly coaching calls

How This Program is Taught. Patented Cycles to Mastery Teaching Method

Using this method, participants learn by doing (and failing)!  The instructor guides participants through a series of learning cycles. Each cycle has a feedback loop, like an auto-graded quiz or human-graded assignment. Each cycle can be attempted an unlimited number of times to pass it.  The results… 200-400% increase in learning compared to a traditional classroom approach.

  • Video Cycles introduce learners to each of the 48 Skills covered in this class.  Videos last on average about 7 minutes and are followed by up to three multiple-choice quiz questions, which learners must complete successfully before moving on to the Lab Cycle.
  • Lab Cycles are where learners practice what they learned in the videos, unrelated to their own organization, 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 often fail.  (A good lesson for all would-be innovators!)  This is why our instructors are there to give fast feedback, ideas, and advice.
  • Application Cycles are where learners will apply their learning to a real-world challenge of their choice.  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 their real-world challenges and their new innovation skills.
  • Reflection Cycles are moments to step back and personally reflect on what they have learned during this course.   We ask that participants submit a “significant” reflection after the coursework.  This helps ensure they will continue to apply what they’ve learned in their work.
  • Certification is achieved when all of their work is approved 100% within the course duration.

The in-person program moves at a rapid pace, similar to a highly accelerated graduate course, creating an exciting and dynamic atmosphere. If this doesn’t align with your learning preferences, you might want to explore the self-paced online course instead.

Time Commitment:

Approximately 75-90 Hours

Access to Tools = 12 Months.

Throughout their course, participants will get to leverage our JumpStartYourBrain cloud-based learning portal with bespoke innovation tools that they will use during their coursework.

Price:

$12,000 per participant
($3000 discount for certitifed Innovation Engineering Blue Belts)

Create Your Own Innovation Leadership Portfolio

Throughout the program, you will be challenged to break old paradigms and “get your hands dirty” applying your new skills to real work of your choosing. As a result, you’ll create a portfolio of work product that demonstrates the value of your new abilities. Previous Black Belts portfolios have included:

  1. Creating a new growth category for the organization (that accounts for 21% of our domestic revenue just 6 months after launch)
  2. Creating an “Internal Innovation Coaching Agency” inside a large non-profit
  3. Reinventing strategic planning to increase alignment, buy-in, and actionability
  4. Creating a customer panel to reduce research time from weeks to hours
  5. Rebuilding the “Fuzzy Front End” to help teams build better ideas faster and easier.
  6. Organizational design restructuring to allow for internal innovation intern rotations and cross-functional training
  7. Developing a robust 3-year innovation pipeline
  8. Streamlining the customer request system to reduce response time and allow for more proactive business development

FAQs

 Q. How long does it take to complete?

A. On average, the course takes approximately 70-80 hours of work to complete over 12 months.

Q. What are the course requirements?

A.  The course requires access to the internet and an electronic device (phone, tablet, or computer).

Q. How is this better than any other innovation
 course?

A. 3 Things make this program unique. 

1) Unlike other business courses that are based on 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. It’s been used inside 2,000+ companies like Walt Disney, Nike, Pepsi-Cola, American Express, Procter & Gamble & the US Department of Commerce.  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. 

2)  During the program, you apply your new skills to your work challenges.  Many Black Belts say not only did it help them and their organization, but the program actually SAVED them time because they worked smarter to solve challenges faster. 

3) You get a dedicated innovation expert as your mentor/tutor/coach for 12 months.

Q. Is this a recognized certification?
A. Yes. An Innovation Engineering Black Belt Certification is an industry-recognized credential in innovation. It is issued by the Innovation Engineering Institute.

Q. Will I actually get a promotion / better
 job because of this course?
A. Most people say that this certification made their resume stand out versus others. Some graduates report that the first interview question they’re often asked about is the certification – which gave them a great opportunity to talk about their skills but also the applied work they did in the course becomes proof that they have skills that they actually use. And, most importantly, many Black Belts who got promoted / better jobs say their new company/boss/board overtly cited that Innovation Engineering Black Belt was a primary driver that got them their new leadership job.

Q. I’ve already taken IE Blue Belt. What impact does that have on Black Belt?
A. If you already have your IE Blue Belt, you “test out” of 4-hours of the Fundamentals video lessons.

Q. Is it worth $12,000?
A. No. It’s worth more than $120,000. Check out the 10 minute video: 10 reasons why Black Belt is worth 10x what you pay

IE Mastery Course & Black Belt Certification
Public Cohort Dates: March 11 – 13, 2025
Location: Eureka! Ranch International, Cincinnati, OH
To Register & Learn More: Corie@EurekaRanch.com

AGENDA:
7:30 AM ET :: Breakfast
8:00 AM ET :: Start
12:30 PM ET :: Lunch
7:00 PM ET :: Dinner*

On Day 3 we end with a special event.

Innovation Engineering
Fundamentals Course

Where leaders at any level learn how to drive innovation within their sphere of influence.

In this course and certification program you’ll
to create, communicate, and accelerate ideas for anything – no matter what your role in the organization is. AND you’ll apply them to your current work to get an immediate impact.

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.

Who should attend? This course is designed to enable anyone to innovate, no matter their job title. We have taught this course for front line or entry level employees, managers, and even C-level executives. However, participating organizations tell us it is the perfect course to develop the next generation leaders within your organization.

“Overall, I learned more than I expected from the course and I felt I achieved the objective of learning a pragmatic, usable set of techniques that I can apply immediately.”

Read Reflections from Past Students

SKILLS COVERED

Create Fundamentals

  1. Meaningful Uniqueness
  2. Stimulus & Diversity
  3. Exploring Stimulus
  4. Create Session Fundamentals

Communicate Fundamentals

  1. Strategy Activation
  2. Concept Writing
  3. Concept Improvement
  4. Estimating Value

Commercialize Fundamentals

  1. Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) Mindset & Steps
  2. PDSA Best Practices
  3. PDSA Prototypes
  4. PDSA Rapid Research

System Driven Leadership

  1. Systems Overview
    • Appreciation for a System
    • Knowledge about Variation
    • Psychology
    • Theory of Knowledge (PDSA)

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Invent More Ideas 

Learn how to create 6X more ideas than traditional brainstorming.

Persuade Others.s

Learn how to help others see your idea as you see it to get buy in from stakeholders and customers.

Ship Ideas Faster

Learn how to implement new solutions and ideas faster using a new work process for development.

Jump Start Your Work.

Learn how to Jump Start your thinking and projects using new skills and tools for estimation, collaboration, and prototyping.

3 Flexible Formats

The Innovation Engineering Fundamentals Course with Blue Belt Certification is offered 3 ways;  online self paced, as a virtual cohort, or as an in-person training event.

In Person

1/2 day of Video Cycles
2 days of in person Lab Cycles
60 days with Application & Reflection Cycles to certify

Virtual Cohort

1 hour of Video Cycles before each online session
Four 4-hour online sessions of Lab Cycles
60 days with Application & Reflection Cycles to certify

Online Self Paced

6 months to complete Video, Lab, Application, and Reflection Cycles and certify
Work one-on-one with online coach

How This Course is Taught. Patented Cycles to Mastery Teaching Method

Using this method, participants learn by doing (and failing)!  The instructor guides participants through a series of learning cycles. Each cycle has a feedback loop, like an auto-graded quiz or human graded assignment. And each cycle can be attempted an unlimited number of times in order to pass it.  The results… 200-400% increase in learning compared to a traditional classroom approach.

  • Video Cycles introduce learners to each of the 12 Skills covered in this class.  Videos last on average about 7 minutes and are followed by up to three multiple-choice quiz questions, which learners must complete successfully before moving on to the Lab Cycle.
  • Lab Cycles are where learners practice what they learned in the videos, unrelated to their own organization, 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 often fail.  (A good lesson for all would-be innovators!)  Which is why our instructors are there to give fast feedback, ideas, and advice.
  • Application Cycles are where learners will apply their learning to a real-world challenge of their choice.  When it comes to learning and innovation, it all happens when you take action.  Which is why we’ve created a collection of certification assignments that help learners connect the dots between their real-world challenges and their new innovation skills.
  • Reflection Cycles are moments to step back and personally reflect on what they have learned during this course.   We ask that participants to submit a “significant” reflection at the conclusion of the coursework.  This helps ensure they will continue to apply what they’ve learned in their work.
  • Certification is achieved when all of their work is approved 100% within the course duration.

Time Commitment:

Approximately 24-30 Hours

Access to Tools = 6 Months.

Throughout their course, participants will get to leverage our JumpStartYourBrain cloud-based learning portal with bespoke innovation tools that they will use during their coursework.

Price:

$3,000 per participant

FAQs

Q. How long does it take to complete??
FOR THE VIRTUAL COHORT and IN-PERSON VERSIONS, you’ll spend about 4 hours watching video lessons before attending the live 2-day in-person training or 4 half-day virtual sessions (which are scheduled no more than one week apart).  You’ll then have 60 days to complete the certification work to get your Innovation Engineering Blue Belt Certification. It is recommended to set aside 10 hours after class to complete the certification.
 
FOR THE ONLINE VERSION, we recommend you spend 30 minutes per day working on the course.. Based on that you can expect it to take 3 months for the course and certification. You have a total of 6 months to complete this course.

Q. Who is this course for?
This course is designed for anyone that wants to start improving their sphere of influence, no matter their background or expertise. The groups we tend to see more often are rising leaders, engineers & logical thinkers, and organizations trying to create a culture of innovation.

Q. What are the differences between the course formats?
The material and Cycles to Mastery teaching method is the same with each format; online, virtual cohort, and in-person. However, there is an instructor guiding a team of 8 or more through the skills during the virtual cohort and in person formats. The entire group works through the skills at the same time, collaborating on the Lab Cycle assignments. So the class will see the full set of skills within 2 days or 4 half day virtual sessions. Participants then go back and revisit each skill afterwards to re-submit coursework until each skill is mastered. The online, self-guided, course operates differently. The participant actually gets a chance to master a single skill before moving on to the next skill.

Q. What topics will I work on in class?
During Lab Cycle assignments, you will be given scenarios to work with. The scenarios are simple, and are designed to be accessible to all participants no matter their background. During Application Cycles, you get to choose the topics. We encourage participants to work on what is most meaningful to their life and work. Most tackle real challenges they face in their job.

Participants walk away with a fully defined Certification Report
Participants Complete a Comprehensive Project to Earn IE Blue Belt Certification
Deliverables of the Project Include:

  1. A Clearly Defined Innovation Mission
  2. 5-10 Possible Ideas to address the Mission
  3. Top Idea Defined
  4. Top Idea’s Impact Forecasted
  5. 3 Documented Cycles to De-Risk Top Idea

EXAMPLE Projects that Previous IE Blue Belts Have Worked on…

  1. A system to reduce errors in a woodworking shop
  2. An improved system for gathering ideas & filing patents
  3. A better employee on boarding process
  4. A reinvented check-in process for a hotel
  5. A software solution taken to a new market
  6. A personal coaching service
  7. Visioning for a new community center
  8. A reinvented construction tool

Innovation Engineering
PROACTIVE Problem Solving Workshop

A brain boosting, team building experience that unleashes PROACTIVE Problem Solving in your team

In any organization, there is no shortage of problems to solve. 
And in today’s fast paced world, old solutions are no longer good enough.

The PROACTIVE Problem Solving workshop is a high octane training event guaranteed to pump up the problem solving skillset and mindset in everyone.   Two things make it meaningfully unique:

  1. It teaches participants to be PROACTIVE. When staff move from being “reactive” to “proactive” problem solvers a chain reaction of positives happen for the organization and culture.  Not only are more problems solved faster, but staff become more engaged in their work, inclusive collaboration is increased, and staff report higher job satisfaction.
  2. It teaches participants how to create non-obvious solutions.  For tricky problems, the answer isn’t always evident.  In the workshop they’ll learn 8 different techniques to help them create fresh ideas to solve problems.
AGENGA
Defining Problems & Solutions

  • Identifying the markings of a problem
  • Finding the opportunity within the problem
  • Structuring the argument for your idea
Creating Solutions

  • 3 principles to 5X problem solving
  • Finding inspiration
  • Changing perspective
  • Industrial strength problem solving
  • Fixing broken processes
Driving out Risk

  • How to quickly learn if your idea will work
  • How to use math to get support
  • How to make it real
  • How to put your idea into action fast

Industrial Strength Pedigree – The methods and tools taught in the workshop are the best of the best from over 40 years of work with over 2,000 organizations – including top innovators like Disney, Nike American Express, and Procter & Gamble.

The workshop is appropriate for everyone at all levels of the organization.  It integrates easily with existing Lean and Lean Start Up, Six-Sigma, and Design Thinking programs.

WHY TEACH YOUR TEAM?

  • Increases Job Satisfaction & Employee Retention:  In a study of over 557 executives, the #1 predictor of employees feeling their organization is one of the best places to work is, “My talents are well used in the workplace.”  Knowing that you and your team can build a better way creates a positive mental attitude towards your organization.
  • Tangible & Meaningful Outputs:  When learning these skills, staff often use them to improve established processes and procedures and to work smarter within a team.  Research finds that in cost savings alone, these improvement ideas can generate 300% more impact than ideas from an elite team of experts.

Coming soon! 
Look for upcoming release of the new book by award-winning author, Doug Hall.

Time & Format:

Custom fit for your staff

Ideal for:

All staff at all levels

Price:

$650/person + travel for instructor (if applicable) minimum of 18 people, talk to us about discount pricing for larger groups

FAQs

Q. How does this help to work smarter within other frameworks – like Design Thinking, Lean Six Sigma, Total Quality, etc?
The skills and tools from this course are very complimentary to Design Thinking, Lean Six Sigma, and Total Quality. In fact, the course reinforces key lessons from those disciplines. Most participants who have completed all the courses refer to this course as the bigger framework that links them all together and the “connective tissue” that fills in the gaps.

Q. How is the course taught?
The course uses a blended learning approach. Content will be introduced by an instructor (live or via video) to familiarize you with the big picture concepts. Then you’ll work on practice exercises in groups and pairs often pausing for reflective discussion with the greater group. It’s most often run in 1 day in person, but we can design the format and flow that’s best for you (eg. delivered in segments, done virtually, etc.)

Q. Who should attend?
This course is about smarter thinking systems to help you proactively solve problems at every level. As such, the course is designed for every level of staff in an organization – from entry level to executive. The skills taught are universal, and as you practice their application you can use them on real challenges in your daily work. For those who lead others, they may consider the Innovation Engineering Blue Belt certification program.

Q. If done in person, where can it be held?
Anywhere. We’ve done workshops at our Eureka! Ranch, on a front porch, in a hotel as part of a conference, art museum, incubator, even on a Boeing 747. For groups of 48 or less, you’re welcome to host it at our custom built facility in Cincinnati, Ohio for a $100 per person facility fee that covers breakfast, lunch, snacks, and drinks.

Eureka! Workshops, Lectures & Events

Where everyone can be inspired to innovate and experience how we turn innovation from a random gamble to a reliable system.

We fit our content into your agenda. 

Talks: Entertainment with Real Takeaways
Our talks are customized, high impact programs that will energize and educate your audience on data-driven innovation and growth. They are fast, fun, and highly interactive. Every presentation is packed full of the latest data and original research on how to create, communicate, and commercialize new ideas. All talks are customized for the audience to “connect the dots” between the content and the issues specifically facing you, your company and/or industry.

You will walk away motivated to get started and more confident in your ability to innovate. You will not only learn how to create ideas, but how to identify the obstacles to commercialization and how to overcome them.

Workshops: Hands on Innovation Application
WOW your team and/or audience with content and takeaways they can apply immediately.
Exposes your leadership to the latest world-class systems to increase innovation speed, decrease risk & activate your business strategies.

Example Lectures

  • Igniting Innovation – Ignite Innovation in Your People, Projects and Culture!
  • Innovation 101 – How to be Successful with Innovation even if it isn’t your day job
  • Innovate Smarter – Lessons on Innovation from $25 Million of research on 25,000 Innovations
  • How to Lead Smarter with Innovation – Lessons in Innovation Leadership from the world’s #1 Innovation Team
Maggie Nichols Innovation Keynote

Time & Format:

Custom fit for your organization

Ideal for:

Senior Leadership Teams

Price:

Custom fit for your organization

Meet the Instructors for our Fundamentals and Mastery Courses

Doug Hall

Founder of the Eureka! Ranch
CEO of Innovation Engineering Institute

Maggie Pfiefer

VP of Education, Innovation Engineering Institute
Innovation Engineering Black Belt

Brad Hall

Education Brand Manager, Innovation Engineering Institute
Innovation Engineering Black Belt
Masters, Educational Administration

Corie Spialek

Director of Operations & Innovation Coach
Innovation Engineering Black Belt

Together our team has trained over a thousand students in person, online, and at universities.
Your instructors at the Eureka! Ranch have years of experience helping companies innovate and literally wrote the book on Innovation Engineering. There is no team more qualified than ours to train your organization to be more innovative.

In our certification courses, every assignment is graded by one of us. We leverage these opportunities to build personal relationships and provide coaching that progresses each student to mastery.

We are passionate about innovation and education and look forward to building your team’s innovation confidence and capabilities.

Course Registration

Mastery Course
Innovation Engineering Black Belt Certification

Are you ready to master all of the innovation engineering skills?
Register for the 2022 digital cohort kicking off on January 18th.

Participants will learn the skills that make up the Innovation Engineering “Body of Knowledge” – the complete academic peer-reviewed curriculum taught in Innovation Engineering undergraduate and graduate school programs across the world. In the Mastery Course, the instruction has been condensed for corporate education so that anyone can participate.

Fundamentals Course
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.

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