Upon successful completion of this program, participants will be able to:

• Design and implement a structured innovation lifecycle that promotes repeatability.
• Develop criteria for effective portfolio management of high-risk, high-reward initiatives.
• Apply Lean Startup and Agile methodologies to rapidly validate business model hypotheses.
• Establish clear governance and funding models to support innovation outside the core business.
• Identify and overcome common organizational antibodies that stifle scaling success.
• Create an internal pitch deck and secure executive sponsorship for major innovation projects.
• Define key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics for tracking innovation success at different stages.
• Structure cross-functional teams for innovation, balancing core business expertise with new skills.

• Heads of R&D and Innovation Labs
• Project and Program Managers leading new ventures
• Business Unit Leaders seeking growth through new products
• Senior Leaders responsible for strategic change
• Corporate Venture Capital and M&A Specialists
• Engineers and Architects moving into product roles
• Innovation Champions and Change Agents

• **Scenarios:** Applying a structured stage-gate review to a simulated innovation project proposal.
• **Case Studies:** Deep-dive analysis of major organizational innovation successes and failures (e.g., Kodak, Netflix).
• **Group Activities:** Developing a balanced innovation portfolio allocation strategy based on provided budgets and risk profiles.
• **Individual Exercises:** Drafting a Lean Canvas for a novel business idea and defining the critical first experiment.
• **Mini-Case Studies:** Rapid assessment of a startup's scaling strategy and potential pitfalls.
• **Syndicate Discussions:** Debating the trade-offs between speed and governance in high-stakes innovation.
• **Pitch Simulation:** Participants present their scaled-up innovation plan to a simulated executive board.

Unit 1: Setting the Stage for Systematic Innovation

• The difference between incremental, adjacent, and disruptive innovation.
• Assessing organizational readiness and innovation maturity.
• Establishing the "Why": linking innovation to corporate strategy and vision.
• Introduction to the three horizons model of growth.
• Identifying core innovation focus areas and opportunity spaces.
• Measuring the return on innovation investment (ROI).

Unit 2: The Structured Innovation Pipeline

• Designing an effective idea capture and intake funnel.
• Implementing stage-gate processes tailored for uncertainty.
• Applying hypothesis-driven development and experiment design.
• Conducting rapid market testing and Minimum Viable Product (MVP) creation.
• Financial modeling and initial valuation of innovation bets.
• Using the Lean Canvas or Business Model Canvas for ideation.

Unit 3: Governing and Funding the Portfolio

• Developing a balanced innovation portfolio (risk vs. reward).
• Establishing transparent governance for approval and kill points.
• Ring-fencing resources and budgets for non-core initiatives.
• Techniques for securing executive buy-in and managing stakeholders.
• Implementing agile funding models (e.g., beyond budgeting concepts).
• Addressing legal, compliance, and regulatory hurdles early in the process.

Unit 4: Scaling and Commercialization

• Identifying signs of scalability and readiness for institutionalization.
• Overcoming organizational resistance ("antibodies") to new ventures.
• Designing the scale-up team and required operational infrastructure.
• Developing the go-to-market strategy and launch plan.
• Metrics for scaling success (e.g., unit economics, adoption rates).
• Transitioning an innovation project back into the core business structure.

Unit 5: Building a Sustainable Innovation Culture

• Hiring and training for core innovation skill sets (e.g., experimentation).
• Rewarding and recognizing innovators and risk-takers.
• Creating internal venture teams and innovation accelerators.
• Sharing failures and successes across the organization for learning.
• Role of technology platforms in enabling enterprise-wide innovation.
• Leadership behaviours that model and encourage intellectual curiosity.

Unit 6: Technology Enablers for Innovation

• Utilizing cloud platforms for rapid prototyping and deployment.
• The role of APIs and microservices in creating new value chains.
• Data analytics and AI for generating innovation insights.
• Cybersecurity considerations for nascent technologies.