Innovation Leadership 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-002

Before you join: Participants should have experience managing projects, products, services, teams or improvement 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 leaders are expected to turn strategic priorities, customer needs and operational constraints into a managed flow of valuable initiatives. This requires more than creative workshops. Leaders must define worthwhile problems, direct research, generate options, test assumptions, make investment choices and build conditions where teams can learn quickly without wasting resources. They must also connect innovation work to service quality, revenue, cost, risk, public outcomes or mission delivery.

This course develops the methods used to lead innovation from opportunity definition through pilot, implementation and measurement. Participants use Three Horizons, Jobs to Be Done, design thinking, Brainwriting, Lean Startup experiments, Business Model Canvas, Stage-Gate governance and innovation accounting. They learn to frame opportunity statements, assess concepts against desirability, feasibility and viability, construct evidence-based business cases, set funding gates, manage portfolio choices and establish innovation metrics. Attention is given to leadership behaviours, psychological safety, cross-functional operating models, intellectual property and adoption planning.

Teaching combines concise instructor briefings with case analysis, facilitated group work, decision simulations and structured application planning. Cases can be adapted for banking, government, healthcare, infrastructure, manufacturing, technology, NGOs and professional services. Participants leave with an Innovation Leadership Action Plan containing a defined opportunity, evidence gaps, experiment sequence, stakeholder map, governance route, measures and first implementation steps. The course suits managers responsible for improving services, developing products, changing operating models or sponsoring innovation portfolios.

What you will be able to do

  • Define an innovation thesis using strategic priorities, customer needs and Three Horizons
  • Frame evidence-based opportunity statements using Jobs to Be Done research
  • Facilitate divergent and convergent ideation using Brainwriting, SCAMPER and concept posters
  • Prioritise concepts using desirability, feasibility, viability and weighted decision criteria
  • Design Lean Startup experiments with test cards, prototypes and decision thresholds
  • Prepare an innovation business case using Business Model Canvas, unit economics and benefits mapping
  • Establish Stage-Gate governance, risk controls and portfolio decision rules
  • Create an Innovation Leadership Action Plan with measures, sponsors and review cadence

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Lead innovation discussions with structured methods rather than untested opinions
  • Produce stronger proposals for pilots, funding decisions and executive sponsorship
  • Recognise when evidence supports scaling, revision, pause or closure
  • Facilitate cross-functional teams through creative disagreement and decision-making
  • Build a practical Innovation Leadership Action Plan for an active priority

For your organisation

  • Direct innovation investment towards defined opportunities and strategic outcomes
  • Reduce costly development by testing critical assumptions before full delivery
  • Create clearer governance for funding, risk, evidence and portfolio decisions
  • Improve collaboration between customer-facing, operational, technical and finance teams
  • Measure innovation progress through learning milestones, adoption and realised benefits

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define an innovation mandate and frame strategically relevant opportunities.

  • Innovation ambition linked to strategic priorities, customer value and public outcomes
  • Three Horizons framework distinguishes core improvement, adjacent growth and transformational bets
  • Innovation thesis defines domains, constraints, investment logic and intended benefits
  • Jobs to Be Done exposes unmet needs behind stated customer requests
  • Opportunity statements frame users, circumstances, pains, gains and strategic relevance
  • Problem framing separates symptoms, root causes, assumptions and evidence gaps

Participants can gather and interpret evidence that identifies meaningful innovation opportunities.

  • Design thinking double-diamond stages from discovery through delivery decisions
  • Ethnographic interview guides elicit behaviours, workarounds, motivations and constraints
  • Customer journey maps identify moments, friction, emotion and handoffs
  • Persona evidence distinguishes observed segments from unsupported demographic stereotypes
  • How Might We questions convert research findings into opportunity prompts
  • Assumption mapping ranks desirability, feasibility and viability uncertainties

Participants can generate, shape and communicate multiple solution concepts.

  • Brainwriting 6-3-5 generates alternatives before group discussion anchors thinking
  • SCAMPER prompts challenge existing products, services, processes and business models
  • Forced connections combine unrelated stimuli to escape familiar solution patterns
  • Crazy Eights produces rapid concept variations under purposeful time constraints
  • Facilitation rules separate divergent idea generation from convergent selection
  • Concept posters communicate user, problem, solution, benefit and assumptions

Participants can select concepts transparently and balance competing innovation investments.

  • Impact-effort matrix compares concepts using agreed scoring criteria
  • Weighted decision matrix makes trade-offs explicit across competing concepts
  • Desirability, feasibility and viability tests screen ideas before investment
  • Opportunity solution trees connect outcomes, opportunities, solutions and experiments
  • Bias checks counter HiPPO effects, confirmation bias and premature convergence
  • Portfolio balance considers incremental, adjacent and transformational innovation allocations

Participants can design experiments that reduce uncertainty before major investment.

  • Lean Startup build-measure-learn cycles structure evidence-based concept development
  • Test cards specify assumptions, methods, thresholds, owners and decision dates
  • Prototype fidelity matches learning objectives, uncertainty and stakeholder feedback needs
  • Wizard of Oz tests validate demand before full technical development
  • Landing-page experiments measure behavioural interest through conversion and commitment signals
  • Evidence boards document results, interpretation, decisions and next experiments

Participants can translate validated concepts into credible value and investment cases.

  • Business Model Canvas connects customer segments, value propositions, channels and revenues
  • Value proposition canvas matches customer jobs, pains and gains
  • Unit economics estimates contribution margin, acquisition cost and payback period
  • Benefits mapping links innovation outputs to measurable operational and customer outcomes
  • Scenario analysis tests demand, cost and adoption assumptions
  • Business cases state investment request, evidence, risks, milestones and benefits

Participants can establish governance controls that support disciplined innovation decisions.

  • Innovation governance defines decision rights, funding gates and escalation routes
  • Stage-Gate reviews align evidence requirements with investment release decisions
  • Risk registers capture technical, market, regulatory and delivery uncertainties
  • FMEA prioritises failure modes using severity, occurrence and detection ratings
  • Intellectual property choices distinguish patents, trade secrets, copyright and licensing
  • Data protection assessments address personal data in experimental services

Participants can create team conditions and leadership practices that support innovation work.

  • Psychological safety enables challenge, dissent, learning and early risk reporting
  • Leadership behaviours model curiosity, constructive challenge and disciplined follow-through
  • AMO framework links ability, motivation and opportunity to innovate
  • Recognition systems reward validated learning rather than activity or optimism
  • Cross-functional teams clarify sponsor, product owner, facilitator and expert responsibilities
  • Communities of practice spread methods, stories and reusable innovation assets

Participants can plan pilots and prepare innovations for operational adoption.

  • Diffusion of Innovations identifies adopter groups and adoption barriers
  • Change impact assessment maps process, role, technology and policy consequences
  • Minimum viable product release criteria define readiness and support needs
  • Pilot design sets cohort, duration, success measures and rollback conditions
  • Implementation roadmaps sequence dependencies, resources, communications and benefit tracking
  • Operational handover assigns ownership, service levels and continuous improvement routines

Participants can measure innovation performance and produce a focused action plan.

  • Innovation accounting tracks learning milestones, leading indicators and investment efficiency
  • OKRs connect innovation initiatives with measurable strategic outcomes
  • Balanced scorecard measures customer, process, capability and financial results
  • Portfolio dashboards show pipeline health, evidence status, spend and outcomes
  • After-action reviews capture decisions, results, lessons and process improvements
  • Application plans specify priority opportunity, first experiment, sponsors and review cadence

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

What you take back to work

  1. Innovation thesis template
  2. Opportunity statement and assumption map
  3. Experiment test card pack
  4. Innovation business case template
  5. Stage-Gate governance checklist
  6. Innovation Leadership Action Plan

Who should attend

  • Innovation Managers — responsible for building and directing an innovation pipeline
  • Product Managers — need evidence-led methods for new product and service decisions
  • Senior Managers — sponsor initiatives and decide where innovation funding goes
  • Transformation Leaders — need to convert change priorities into tested initiatives
  • Service Design Leaders — connect user research with delivery, adoption and measurable value
  • Programme Managers — coordinate pilots, governance gates and implementation dependencies

Skills and tools covered

Innovation strategyOpportunity framingExperiment designPortfolio governanceInnovation cultureBenefit measurement

Tools and standards

Three Horizons, Jobs to Be Done, Business Model Canvas, Stage-Gate

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce methods, followed by sector-relevant cases, group analysis, facilitated ideation and decision simulations. Participants practise framing opportunities, selecting concepts, designing experiments, reviewing evidence and presenting investment choices. Innovation leadership scenarios address competing priorities, limited funding, stakeholder resistance and uncertain demand. Individual application planning is threaded through the course, allowing participants to adapt the methods to a live initiative while receiving structured peer and instructor feedback.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience managing projects, products, services, teams or improvement initiatives. They should be comfortable discussing strategic priorities, customer needs, operational constraints and basic business measures with colleagues. Familiarity with project governance or business cases is useful but not essential. No prior innovation certification, design qualification, financial modelling expertise, technical prototyping skill or specialist sector knowledge is required. Participants gain most value by bringing a current service, product, process or strategic challenge that may warrant an innovation approach.

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, products, services, teams or improvement work. You do not need prior innovation training, a design qualification or technical prototyping experience.

Bring a current business, service, product, process or mission challenge that could benefit from a new approach. Any available customer feedback, performance data, strategy documents or business case material will help you apply the methods.

It is designed for managers who sponsor, lead or contribute to innovation initiatives. Product, service, transformation, programme, operational improvement and innovation professionals will find the methods directly relevant.

Design thinking and creativity are included, but this course goes further into strategy, portfolio choices, investment cases, governance, risk, adoption and measurement. The focus is leading innovation as a managed management responsibility.

You can apply the tools to frame an opportunity, test a proposed solution, structure a pilot or prepare a funding decision. The final action plan identifies practical next steps, sponsors, measures and review points for a live initiative.

The five days provide about 32.5 contact hours, normally from 08:30 to 16:30 each day. Time is divided between instructor input, cases, group work, simulations, method application and action planning across ten teaching modules.

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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