Facilitating Innovation

Not all corporations have people who are professionally trained innovators. When you realize that it is time for your company to change, you may need to call in outside expertise to consult and guide your change team (and candidly, to get people out of their comfort zones and truly thinking outside the box) to ensure you are creating a breadth of creative ideas for change.One of my favorite facilitators is John Sweeney and his team at the Brave New Workshop. John has a limitless supply of energy that he brings to the table as he teaches corporations to use proven improvisational skills to generate hundreds of new ideas. I remember the first time I heard John speak about how he applies the "yes, and" philosophy to push companies to ask the really tough question: "What if, in the near future, no one wants to buy the product(s) you have built your company around? What will you do?"For those of you who may get nervous about encouraging your people to think completely outside the realm of what you do today, take heart! John will be the first person to tell you that just because you facilitated an innovation session does not mean that you have to act, implement, or adopt any or all of the ideas that were generated during the session. However, he will also tell you that utilizing these proven improvisational techniques will create some of the most surprising (and lucrative) ideas that your company otherwise would not have come up with!Plus, this is a fabulous way to get your change agents thinking about the fun and creative ways they will drive the change at your company!