Innovation and Creative Thinking Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Innovation Managers, Product Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 7 Nov 2026 Course code SD-IC-003

Before you join: Participants should have experience working in teams, solving business or service problems, and contributing to projects, process improvement or change initiatives.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Innovation work often fails because teams begin with solutions, rely on untested assumptions, or cannot translate promising ideas into decisions that sponsors can support. Managers and specialists need a disciplined way to identify worthwhile opportunities, generate options beyond familiar answers, test evidence quickly and move selected ideas towards implementation. This course addresses innovation challenges such as improving citizen services, reducing customer friction, redesigning internal processes, creating new offerings and responding to changing stakeholder needs.

Participants learn a practical sequence from problem framing through customer insight, creative ideation, concept selection, experimentation and implementation planning. They use Jobs to Be Done, How Might We questions, SCAMPER, journey mapping, assumption mapping, weighted decision matrices, test cards and Business Model Canvas. The course also addresses the leadership conditions for innovation: productive disagreement, psychological safety, facilitation, stakeholder engagement, decision pitches and learning from unsuccessful tests.

Teaching combines concise instructor briefings with realistic cases, facilitated group work, simulations and individual application planning. Participants work with a current or anticipated challenge from their own role where possible, such as a service bottleneck, customer complaint pattern, policy process or new product proposition. They leave with a documented innovation opportunity brief, selected concept, experiment plan and 90-day action plan. The course is delivered over five instructor-led days, from 08:30 to 16:30, in classrooms in 50+ cities or live online. Participants receive a certificate of completion.

The course suits managers, project leaders, product and service teams, improvement professionals and specialists expected to contribute ideas that can be assessed, funded and implemented.

What you will be able to do

  • Frame innovation opportunities using Jobs to Be Done, problem statements and assumption maps
  • Generate varied solution concepts using SCAMPER, mind mapping and forced connections
  • Gather customer evidence through observation, interviews, journey maps and insight statements
  • Evaluate concepts using desirability, feasibility, viability and weighted decision criteria
  • Design minimum viable experiments using hypotheses, test cards, metrics and thresholds
  • Develop implementation roadmaps using pilot charters, benefits maps and stage-gate decisions
  • Facilitate creative team discussions using divergent and convergent thinking techniques
  • Produce a 90-day innovation action plan for a defined workplace challenge

Benefits of attending

For you

  • A repeatable method for turning vague problems into testable opportunity statements
  • Greater confidence contributing original ideas without relying on inspiration alone
  • Practical evidence-gathering skills for challenging assumptions before investment decisions
  • Stronger facilitation techniques for handling creative disagreement and concept selection
  • A documented 90-day plan for progressing a workplace innovation challenge

For your organisation

  • Better quality innovation proposals supported by user evidence and explicit assumptions
  • Reduced investment in weak ideas through early experiments and defined decision thresholds
  • Faster identification of service, process and customer experience improvement opportunities
  • More consistent innovation governance through shared selection and pilot planning methods
  • Teams better able to turn lessons from tests into implementation decisions

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define innovation types, set an innovation ambition and connect opportunities to strategic priorities.

  • Innovation types: incremental, adjacent and radical choices linked to strategy
  • Three Horizons portfolio maps core, emerging and future growth bets
  • Distinguishing invention, innovation, diffusion and adoption using practical examples
  • Jobs to Be Done identifies progress customers seek in situations
  • Constraints reframed as creative prompts rather than reasons to defer
  • Innovation ambition statements specify target users, value and strategic boundaries

Participants can convert an ambiguous challenge into an evidence-based opportunity brief.

  • How Might We questions convert observations into solvable opportunity statements
  • Five Whys separates symptoms from underlying causes before ideation
  • Problem statements define user, need, insight and intended outcome
  • Assumption mapping ranks desirability, feasibility and viability uncertainties
  • Stakeholder maps expose sponsors, users, blockers and implementation partners
  • Opportunity briefs record evidence, constraints, measures and decision owners

Participants can generate a broad range of relevant ideas using structured creative thinking techniques.

  • Osborn's brainstorming rules separate idea generation from early judgement
  • SCAMPER prompts transform existing products, services, processes and policies
  • Mind mapping reveals associations, patterns and overlooked solution directions
  • Forced connections combine unrelated stimuli with the challenge statement
  • Six Thinking Hats structures alternative perspectives without premature consensus
  • Idea quotas increase fluency before selecting promising concepts

Participants can identify user needs and translate observed evidence into design implications.

  • Ethnographic observation records behaviour, workarounds and context without interpretation
  • Semistructured interviews uncover motivations, frustrations, unmet needs and decision criteria
  • Journey maps locate pain points, handoffs and moments that matter
  • Personas distinguish user segments through evidence, behaviours and needs
  • Value Proposition Canvas connects customer jobs, pains and gains
  • Insight statements link observed evidence to a design implication

Participants can assess concepts transparently and select options worthy of further testing.

  • Desirability, feasibility and viability screen concepts before resource commitment
  • Impact-effort matrices compare value, complexity, cost and delivery speed
  • Weighted decision matrices make selection criteria and trade-offs explicit
  • Concept posters communicate target user, proposition, assumptions and evidence
  • Pre-mortem analysis identifies failure modes and mitigating actions early
  • Ethical review tests fairness, privacy, safety and unintended consequences

Participants can design proportionate experiments that provide evidence for innovation decisions.

  • Prototype fidelity matches the learning question, risk and available time
  • Paper prototypes test workflows, messages and interface assumptions cheaply
  • Minimum viable experiments test a single critical assumption first
  • Test cards define hypothesis, method, metric, threshold and decision
  • Build-measure-learn loops convert test evidence into explicit iteration decisions quickly
  • A/B tests compare alternatives while controlling relevant variables

Participants can plan pilots and implementation steps for validated innovation concepts.

  • Business Model Canvas links customer value, channels, costs and revenues
  • Value chain analysis identifies process changes required for delivery
  • Stage-gate plans sequence discovery, validation, pilot and scale decisions
  • Pilot charters define scope, sponsor, resources, risks and success measures
  • Benefits maps connect outputs, adoption behaviours and measurable outcomes
  • Implementation roadmaps assign milestones, dependencies, owners and review points

Participants can lead team discussions that encourage ideas while reaching clear decisions.

  • Psychological safety supports dissent, questions and learning from failed tests
  • Divergent and convergent facilitation keeps teams creative and decisive
  • Creative roles balance provocateur, builder, evaluator and connector contributions
  • Nominal Group Technique prevents vocal participants dominating concept selection
  • Constructive conflict protocols separate people, evidence, interests and options
  • Retrospectives capture learning, decisions, obstacles and next experiments

Participants can communicate innovation proposals and secure appropriate stakeholder decisions.

  • Innovation narratives connect evidence, strategic intent and stakeholder value
  • Stakeholder power-interest grids tailor engagement and communication approaches
  • Decision pitches state problem, insight, proposal, evidence and request
  • Objection handling uses acknowledgement, evidence, options and clear next steps
  • RACI matrices clarify sponsorship, accountability, consultation and information flows
  • Risk registers track assumptions, triggers, owners, responses and reviews

Participants can create a practical plan for applying course methods to a workplace challenge.

  • Innovation challenge selection aligns personal authority with organisational priorities
  • 90-day action plans sequence discovery, experiments, decisions and communications
  • Learning agendas prioritise assumptions requiring evidence before investment
  • Personal stakeholder maps identify sponsors, collaborators, critics and users
  • Progress dashboards track experiment cadence, evidence quality and decision speed
  • After-action reviews establish reflection routines and future improvement actions

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Innovation opportunity brief template
  2. SCAMPER idea generation worksheet
  3. Customer journey map template
  4. Weighted concept selection matrix
  5. Experiment test card and learning log
  6. 90-day innovation action plan

Who should attend

  • Innovation Managers — need repeatable methods for moving opportunities towards funded action
  • Product Managers — need stronger customer insight and experiment-led concept development
  • Service Design Professionals — need structured tools for improving customer and citizen experiences
  • Project Managers — need methods for resolving uncertain problems before committing delivery resources
  • Operations Managers — need practical approaches for redesigning processes and reducing service friction
  • Team Leaders — need facilitation skills for drawing out ideas and guiding evidence-based decisions

Skills and tools covered

Opportunity framingCreative ideationCustomer insightExperiment designInnovation facilitationImplementation planning

Tools and standards

Jobs to Be Done, SCAMPER, Business Model Canvas, Value Proposition Canvas

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce each method, followed by cases, group analysis, facilitated exercises, simulations and structured reflection. Participants frame realistic challenges, generate and assess concepts, interpret customer evidence, design experiments and prepare stakeholder communications. Cases can be adapted for public services, banking, NGOs, corporate functions and commercial operations. Individual application planning connects the course methods to a current workplace opportunity, while peer feedback tests the clarity of each participant's assumptions, evidence and proposed next steps.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience working in teams, solving business or service problems, and contributing to projects, process improvement or change initiatives. They should be able to describe a current workplace challenge involving customers, users, colleagues, services, products or internal processes. No previous innovation qualification, design background, technical prototyping skill or specialist creativity training is required. The course does not assume responsibility for a formal innovation function, budget authority or direct reports. Participants will gain most value by bringing a challenge they can influence after the course.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should have experience contributing to projects, services, products, operational improvement or change work. No previous creativity course, innovation qualification or design background is required.

Bring a current workplace challenge that you can describe clearly, such as a service issue, customer friction point, process delay or new proposition. Relevant non-confidential information, stakeholder details and existing performance measures will help you apply the methods.

It is suited to managers, product and service professionals, project leaders, operations teams and improvement specialists. It is particularly useful for people expected to turn ideas into proposals that can be tested and implemented.

The course includes human-centred design methods but extends beyond discovery and ideation. It also covers concept selection, experiment design, pilot planning, stakeholder influence and innovation governance.

You will leave with an opportunity brief, concept selection approach, experiment plan and 90-day action plan for a workplace challenge. These materials can be used to engage sponsors, gather evidence and structure early implementation decisions.

The five days run from 08:30 to 16:30, providing about 6.5 contact hours each day. Time is organised around ten connected modules covering framing, ideation, insight, experiments, implementation, collaboration and application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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