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About the Eureka! Ranch Team

Who We Are

We are the team that top organizations lean on to create innovative solutions to their biggest challenges.  We fill their pipelines with ideas for growth, improve their innovation processes, and train their people with skills to think and act innovatively.

Our team of diverse thinkers consists of engineers, educators, innovators, programmers, marketers, scientists, operators, chefs, statisticians, PhDs, R&D experts, entrepreneurs, six-sigma black belts, and the founders of Innovation Engineering. 

We are on a mission to change the world through systems that enable everyone to think and act smarter, faster, and more innovatively.

Our History

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. 

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.

Leadership

Maggie Nichols, CEO

Leadership

Doug Hall, Founder

Vice President

Lydia Carson, Innovation Systems

Vice President

Maggie Pfeifer, Education

Vice President

Scott Dunkle, Technology

Our Pedigree

35 years of experience

Over the years we’ve collected an abundance of case studies, success stories, and testimonials.

Client List

See the hundreds of organizations we’ve helped so far. Learn More

Industries and Categories

See the hundreds of industries and categories we have experienced. Learn More

Resources and Publications

See what we’ve published over the years. Learn more

Success Story

Eureka! Inventing Success Story
Reinventing How Ideas are Invented
Samsung’s Innovation Success Story

Read More

Case Studies

From helping a non-profit create ideas for new products and services worth 2x their current revenue to creating a system and culture of innovation for a global spirits company, growing profits 1,200% over 10 years.

Read Our Case Studies

Client Testimonials

We have been helping companies innovate for 35 years.
Hear from our past and current clients about their experience working with the Eureka Team.

Read Testimonials 

Headquarters

Designed for innovation

The Eureka! Ranch headquarters is a custom-built facility on 80 acres just east of Cincinnati.  With an open-plan design, flexible space, and volumes of natural light – it’s the perfect getaway location for team building and innovating.