Tag Archives: co-creation

Invention Through Co-Creation

GUEST POST from Janet Sernack

It was an article in the Harvard Business Review, “Why the Lean Start-Up Changes Everything,” by Steve Blank, that caught my attention more than ten years ago and caused me to shift my mindset about entrepreneurship and innovation. He described a lean start-up as “favoring experimentation over elaborate planning, customer feedback over intuition, and iterative design over big design up front” developments. It sparked my fascination and ignited my curiosity about start-ups and how the start-up approach could be applied to creating a collaborative, intrapreneurial, entrepreneurial, and innovative learning curriculum that supported learning new ways of co-creation in the invention and innovation processes.

Why co-creation matters

One of the essential keys to success in innovation, whether as a start-up entrepreneur, corporate intrapreneur, innovation team, aspiring innovative leader, or organization, is your ability to collaborate, experiment, create, invent, and innovate. This involves actively embracing and incorporating the lean start-up approach alongside design thinking, adult learning principles, experiential learning techniques, and change management disciplines, especially in a world that is quickly becoming dominated by AI, to both create and capture value in ways people appreciate and cherish.

What is co-creation?

Invention through co-creation involves a collaborative design process in which stakeholders and customers work together to create and invent innovative solutions. It is a challenging process because it requires people to co-create a shared purpose, ensure equal contribution, and make collective decisions to guarantee that the final product meets the needs and preferences of its users. For these core elements to be successfully implemented, start-up founders and key stakeholders must have high levels of conscious self-awareness, a willingness to accept responsibility for their thoughts and behaviors, strong listening and inquiry skills, and self-mastery to navigate and adapt to the instability and uncertainty of a constantly changing environment.

Failure of innovation educators

With extensive experience in designing and developing bespoke experiential learning programs, I quickly realized that most traditional innovation education programs in tertiary institutions mainly focus on applying project management disciplines to creative ideas. Organizations relied on idea-generation tools, applying design thinking, and agile methodologies to improve efficiency and performance. While these disciplined approaches are vital for the success of start-ups and innovation initiatives, they rarely lead to systemic awareness and continuous learning, which are essential for innovation. Other options tend to involve quick, episodic “innovation theater” or entirely chaotic open innovation initiatives, which also fail to deliver the desired or potential long-term productivity, performance improvements, and growth!

Balancing and integrating chaos and rigidity

When people concentrate on balancing and integrating the chaos of creativity with the rigidity of disciplined methodologies, they can co-create, innovate, and deliver forward-thinking solutions by being agile, adaptable, and emotionally resilient. This forms the essential foundation for start-ups, entrepreneurs, teams, and organizations to achieve balance, focus, and flow while remaining resilient in the post-pandemic era of instability and uncertainty. At the same time, the outcome of integration is harmony; the lack of integration results in chaos, unpredictability, instability, and rigidity, where individuals unconsciously display inflexible and controlling behaviors.

The Start-Up Game™ Story

The Start-Up Game™ is based on the principle that “anyone can earn to innovate”, as it has been co-created as an immersive hybrid board game that combines achievement, competition, and an AI learning component. It is a co-creation tool that guides players to think, behave, and act differently by safely exploring the language, key mindsets, behaviors, and innovative thinking skills of successful intrapreneurs, entrepreneurs, and innovators within a socially responsible start-up environment. The game provides a safe, playful, and energizing space for players to experiment, take strategic risks, iterate, pivot, and co-create sustainable, future-ready, innovative solutions to survive and thrive on the innovation roller-coaster ride.

TechCrunch’s Innovation initially inspired our co-creation. We wondered how we could bring our vision to life by designing a two-hour board game that delivered value beyond mere engagement. We sought to create an immersive, playful, and interactive experience that participants could enjoy and gain from, within a risk-free learning environment, while generating an unprecedented level of lasting impact. The challenge we faced was heightened by today’s shorter attention spans and the fast-paced nature of our world, all within the constraints of an online learning environment.

Traditionally, business games create an environment where participants can make decisions, take risks, and learn from mistakes, all without real-world consequences. At the same time, they encourage better teamwork, collaboration, networking, and relationship-building opportunities. However, the value we aimed to deliver went beyond that, seeking to broaden players’ horizons, change their ways of thinking, and introduce new language, mindsets, and behaviors of innovation by playing the lean start-up way.

To ensure a lasting impact, we integrated advanced technology and hybrid, blended learning processes designed to enhance delivery. This extended beyond the in-game experience to include pre-game elements, establishing the foundation and providing context for the game. A key feature is the use of Generative AI avatars for content delivery, supported by written versions to accommodate different learning styles. By applying experiential and adult learning principles and techniques, we created team pause points and check-ins to encourage teams to regularly observe and reflect on their performance, while also fostering reflection and deeper discussions on how to improve during their current phase of the game.

Invention through co-creation

Being both creative and methodical

Invention through co-creation is not an easy process; in fact, it can be highly challenging and often chaotic, requiring people to balance creative chaos with disciplined order. Many start-ups, innovation teams, and digital and innovation transformation initiatives frequently fail because they do not mitigate risks by integrating the chaos of creativity with a disciplined and methodical approach. This is why design thinking and agile have become so popular, as they involve robust, structured methodologies that are easy to learn, follow, and implement. Design thinking principles and techniques are vital to the invention process, helping to manage key stages of the co-creation cycle:

Identify the user and their problem,
Ideating a hypothetical solution,
Developing a prototype,
Getting user feedback,
Iterating the prototype,
Getting user feedback,
Pivoting prototype,
Finalising the solution.

One of the most important lessons was recognizing the need to balance the creativity of chaos with disciplined order, which is why it is crucial to introduce creative energy, passionate purpose, and innovative thinking to drive and maintain that balance. To create, invent, and innovate successfully and avoid failure, co-creators must be attentive and intentional in:

a) Developing self-regulation strategies that support co-creation:

Flow with the uncertainty of success in an unstable environment.
Be willing to disrupt their habitual thinking and feeling habits and be cognitively agile in constantly shifting their mindsets and developing multiple perspectives.
Accept responsibility for their operating styles and ensure that they have a constructive impact on each other and their stakeholders.

b) Maintaining self-management strategies that enable co-creation:

Develop conscious and systemic awareness.
Generate both deep and agile thinking processes.
Sustain their emotional energy in capturing and creating value.
Adapt to stay ahead of change; be resilient, hopeful, and optimistic.

This involves the co-creators opening their minds, hearts, and will to unleash possibilities, emerge, diverge, and converge on new ideas, while withholding evaluation and judgement through deep observation, inquiry, and reflective listening practice. To cultivate people’s neuroplasticity through structured play, encouraging new growth, wonder, and a game-based mindset, and building the foundations for thinking differently. To foster honesty, courage, and provocation in using cognitive dissonance, creative tension, and contrarian behaviors to facilitate generative debate.

Key success factors

It involves blending the generative learning process with the discipline and rigor of adopting a methodical design thinking approach. The goal is to be brave and bold, compassionate and empathic when faced with challenges, both in being challenged and challenging others to think, act, and be differently. It includes experimenting through beta testing, managing the risks and demands of limited self-funded options, while co-creating a professionally designed set of user interfaces as the start-up navigates the start-up curve and the innovation roller-coaster, aiming to reach the Promised Land.

The Start-up Game™ is ideal for corporates, academic institutions, business schools and small to medium businesses to introduce the language, key mindsets, behaviors, and innovative thinking skills as an engaging, blended and experiential learning activity at innovation and strategy off-sites and in leadership development programs, cross-functional team-building events, culture change initiatives and sustainability and ESG engagement workshops to:

Promote inclusivity, collaboration, and real co-creation through playful experimentation and equal partnership.
Enable people to make sense of innovation in the context of entrepreneurship, and intrapreneurship involves bringing an innovation culture to life.
Build both awareness and the application of innovative thinking and problem-solving to real-life challenges and business problems.

Successful co-creation yields increased engagement, collaboration, experimentation, enhanced understanding, and the delivery of innovative solutions and outcomes.

Through integrating both creative and inventive people with disciplined systems, processes, and methodologies.

This is an excerpt from our upcoming book, “Anyone Can Learn to Innovate,” scheduled for publication in early 2026.

Please find out more about our work at ImagineNation™.

Discover our collective learning products and tools, including The Coach for Innovators, Leaders, and Teams Certified Program, presented by Janet Sernack. It is a collaborative, intimate, and profoundly personalized innovation coaching and learning program supported by a global group of peers over nine weeks. It can be customized as a bespoke corporate learning program. It is a blended and transformational change and learning program that provides a deep understanding of the language, principles, and applications of an ecosystem-focused, human-centric approach and emergent structure (Theory U) to innovation. It will also up-skill people and teams, developing their future fitness within your unique innovation context. Please find out more about The Start-Up Game.

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Engaging Users in the Design Process

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Co-Creation for Experience

Engaging Users in the Design Process - Co-Creation for Experience

GUEST POST from Chateau G Pato

In the world of design and innovation, we have long operated under a traditional model. We observe users from a distance, conduct market research, and then retreat to our labs and conference rooms to design a solution that we believe they will love. We call this “customer-centric” design, but it’s a one-way street. As a human-centered change and innovation thought leader, I am here to argue that this model is no longer enough. The future of innovation belongs to those who move beyond designing **for** their users to designing **with** them. This is the power of **co-creation**, a strategic shift that transforms customers from passive recipients of a product into active, invaluable partners in its creation.

Co-creation is the ultimate form of empathy. It’s an open invitation for your most passionate users to contribute their insights, skills, and creativity directly to the design process. This isn’t just about collecting feedback; it’s about treating your customers as equal partners in the journey of innovation. The benefits are profound. By involving the people you serve, you bypass the risk of building something they don’t genuinely need. You uncover unarticulated pain points and desires that a traditional survey could never reveal. And perhaps most importantly, you build a powerful sense of ownership and community. When customers have a hand in creating a product, they don’t just use it; they become an army of loyal advocates, invested in its success and eager to spread the word.

The Co-Creation Framework: A Human-Centered Approach

Successful co-creation is not a random act of crowdsourcing; it is a structured, human-centered process. It requires a clear framework to ensure that the collaboration is meaningful, productive, and respectful. Here are four essential steps:

1. Define the Challenge, Not the Solution: The starting point is crucial. Don’t ask users to validate a product you’ve already built. Instead, present them with a clear, compelling problem to solve. For example, instead of “How do you like our new app?”, ask, “How might we make your daily commute more enjoyable?” This opens the door to a wider range of creative solutions.
2. Build the Right Platform: Co-creation can happen in many forms. It could be a series of in-person workshops, a dedicated online community, a digital platform for ideation and voting, or a private beta program. Choose a platform that is accessible, easy to use, and facilitates collaboration among all participants.
3. Empower the Co-Creator: Treat your users as equal partners. Give them the information they need, and make their role in the process explicit. Whether they are ideating, prototyping, or providing feedback, ensure they understand how their contributions will be used and how they fit into the bigger picture.
4. Close the Loop: This is arguably the most important step. A co-creation initiative is not a one-off event. It requires transparency and a continuous feedback loop. Be sure to show participants what happened to their ideas. Even if an idea wasn’t chosen, explain why and thank them for their contribution. This builds trust and encourages continued participation, turning a single project into a long-term community.

“The best innovations are not born in a lab; they are born in the conversations between creators and the people they are creating for.” — Braden Kelley

Case Study 1: Threadless – Building a Business on Collective Creativity

The Challenge:

In the highly competitive world of apparel, fashion trends are traditionally dictated from the top-down by designers and major retailers. This process is inherently risky and often disconnected from what consumers actually want to wear. A small t-shirt company needed a new model that could consistently produce fresh, relevant designs with minimal risk while building an authentic brand.

The Co-Creation Solution:

Threadless launched a revolutionary business model based entirely on co-creation. The company’s platform is a digital community where artists from around the world submit t-shirt designs. The community then votes on their favorite submissions. Each week, the designs with the highest votes are put into production. The winning artists receive prize money and royalties on their designs. This model is a masterclass in crowdsourced innovation.

Empowered Co-Creators: Threadless gives artists a clear incentive and platform to contribute their creativity. They are not just submitting work; they are participating in a creative community.
Reduced Risk: The voting process acts as powerful market validation. Threadless knows a design is likely to be a commercial success before it ever spends a dollar on production, significantly reducing inventory and design risk.
Built-in Community: The platform fostered a vibrant, global community of artists and fans who felt a deep sense of ownership. This turned a transactional relationship into a collaborative partnership, leading to immense brand loyalty.

The Result:

Threadless became a major success story, proving that a company’s most valuable design team might be its own customers. By co-creating with its community, Threadless not only built a profitable business but also created an authentic, beloved brand known for its originality and its dedication to the collective voice of its creators. The company’s model demonstrates that the best way to predict what consumers want is to simply ask them to create it.

Case Study 2: L’Oréal’s Open Innovation Platform – Co-Creating Science and Beauty

The Challenge:

As a global beauty giant, L’Oréal’s R&D model was powerful but also traditional and at times, slow. The company needed to accelerate its innovation pipeline, especially in cutting-edge fields like green chemistry, artificial intelligence, and new biotech ingredients. The challenge was how to access and integrate external expertise from the world’s most brilliant scientists, researchers, and startups in a way that was agile and efficient.

The Co-Creation Solution:

L’Oréal adopted a strategic open innovation approach, which is a sophisticated form of co-creation. Instead of relying solely on internal labs, the company actively seeks partnerships with independent scientists, researchers, and startups through dedicated platforms and venture capital initiatives. L’Oréal presents specific scientific or technological challenges and invites external experts to co-develop solutions. For example, they might partner with a startup to develop a new sustainable ingredient or collaborate with a university lab to create a new method for personalized skincare.

Defined Challenges: L’Oréal clearly articulates its technological and scientific needs, empowering a global network of experts to contribute.
Empowered Partners: The company treats these external collaborators as true partners, not just vendors. This approach fosters a culture of shared purpose and mutual trust.
Continuous Innovation: This model is not a one-time project; it is a permanent innovation channel that allows the company to continuously learn from and adapt to the rapid advancements in science and technology.

The Result:

By implementing a co-creation strategy on a massive scale, L’Oréal has been able to significantly accelerate its innovation cycle and develop groundbreaking products that would have been impossible to create internally alone. The approach has led to new patents, new product categories, and a more agile business model. This case study demonstrates that co-creation is not limited to consumer-facing products; it is a powerful strategic tool for even the largest and most complex organizations to stay at the forefront of their industries.

Conclusion: The Future of Innovation is Collaborative

The era of closed-door design is over. In a world where customer expectations are higher than ever, the most successful organizations will be those that open their doors and invite their users to the innovation table. Co-creation is not a marketing gimmick; it is a fundamental strategic shift from “customer-centric” to “customer-led.” It is an acknowledgment that your users are not just consumers; they are a wellspring of insight, creativity, and passion.

As leaders, our role is to create the platforms and the culture that enable this collaboration. By treating your users as partners, you will not only build better products and services but also forge a deeper, more resilient connection to the people you serve. The future of innovation is not solitary; it is collaborative, and it is waiting for you to invite the first person in.

Extra Extra: Because innovation is all about change, Braden Kelley’s human-centered change methodology and tools are the best way to plan and execute the changes necessary to support your innovation and transformation efforts — all while literally getting everyone all on the same page for change. Find out more about the methodology and tools, including the book Charting Change by following the link. Be sure and download the TEN FREE TOOLS while you’re here.

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Empowering Customers with Co-Creation for Better Experiences

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Empowering Customers with Co-Creation for Better Experiences

GUEST POST from Chateau G Pato

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, one thing has become clear: customers are no longer passive recipients of consumer experiences. Instead, they seek active roles, looking to co-create and shape the products and services they use. “Co-creation” has emerged as a powerful paradigm, empowering customers and driving innovation. Let’s explore why co-creation is transformative and examine compelling case studies that illustrate its impact.

The Rise of Co-Creation

Co-creation is a collaborative process where businesses engage customers directly in the development of products and services. This approach leverages the collective creativity and experience of all stakeholders, leading to offerings that truly meet customer needs. Beyond enhancing customer satisfaction, co-creation fosters deeper connections and loyalty, and can significantly boost innovation and market relevance.

Case Study 1: LEGO Ideas

Background: LEGO, the renowned toy company, recognized the potential of involving its customers in the creative process. In 2008, they launched a platform called LEGO Ideas, where fans could submit their own LEGO set concepts.

Process: Users submit ideas to the platform, and any concept that garners 10,000 votes gets reviewed by LEGO. Successful designs are transformed into official LEGO sets, with contributors receiving a percentage of the royalties.

Outcome: LEGO Ideas was a game-changer. By allowing customers to contribute directly, LEGO tapped into passionate and creative fan communities. Iconic sets like the “NASA Apollo Saturn V” and “The Flintstones” were born from this initiative. This not only revived LEGO’s innovation pipeline but also created a loyal community around their brand, reinforcing LEGO’s image as a pioneer in innovation and creativity.

Case Study 2: Starbucks’ My Starbucks Idea

Background: In 2008, Starbucks launched a platform called “My Starbucks Idea” to leverage the creativity of its customers for product and service enhancements. This was part of its broader strategy to revitalize its brand by listening to its customer base.

Process: Customers could submit ideas, vote, and comment on suggestions related to products, store improvement, and corporate social responsibility. Starbucks employees engaged directly with users, providing feedback and updates on suggestion implementation.

Outcome: Over the years, over 150,000 ideas have been submitted, leading to hundreds of implemented changes. From splash sticks to delicious seasonal drinks like the “Caramel Brulée Latte,” numerous improvements have originated from this initiative. This level of customer engagement not only drove innovation but also deepened customer loyalty by actively valuing their input.

Benefits of Co-Creation

**Enhanced Customer Satisfaction:** By involving customers in the development process, businesses can ensure that the final product aligns more closely with customer expectations and needs.

**Increased Innovation:** Co-creation brings diverse perspectives into the design process, often leading to more innovative solutions that a traditional internal team might not have considered.

**Stronger Brand Loyalty:** When customers feel their voices are heard and valued, they develop a deeper emotional connection to the brand, resulting in prolonged loyalty and advocacy.

**Market Differentiation:** Co-created products often stand out in the marketplace due to their unique customer-inspired features and keen alignment with user needs.

Implementing Co-Creation in Your Business

**Develop a Clear Platform:** Create a dedicated space or platform that allows customers to easily share their ideas, feedback, and contributions.

**Foster Open Communication:** Keep your customers informed about how their input is being used and provide regular updates on the progress of their ideas.

**Incentivize Participation:** Offer rewards or recognition to motivate customer involvement and acknowledge their contributions.

**Integrate Feedback Loops:** Use ongoing customer feedback to continuously improve products and services, making co-creation a vital part of your innovation strategy.

Conclusion

As demonstrated through LEGO and Starbucks, co-creation has the potential to transform businesses by directly engaging the valuable insights and creativity of their customer base. By empowering customers to participate in the innovation process, businesses not only enrich their product offerings but also cultivate lasting loyalty. In a consumer-driven world, embracing co-creation is not just a strategy—it’s a necessity.

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Engaging Users in Co-Creation During the Innovation Process

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Engaging Users in Co-Creation During the Innovation Process

GUEST POST from Chateau G Pato

In today’s fast-paced, constantly evolving business environment, innovation has become an imperative rather than a luxury. For companies seeking to stay competitive, the classic model of top-down innovation is increasingly being replaced by more inclusive approaches such as co-creation. By engaging users directly in the innovation process, organizations can not only foster more meaningful relationships but also tap into a wellspring of creative potential that traditional models miss. In this article, I’ll explore the value of user co-creation, provide practical insights on executing it effectively, and highlight two case studies to illustrate its impact.

Why Co-Creation Matters

The shift towards engaging users in co-creation stems from a fundamental realization: who better to inform the creation of new products and services than the people who will eventually use them? Co-creation leverages the collective wisdom of a diverse group, blending customer insights with the company’s expertise. This collaboration can lead to more relevant and innovative advancements, reduce the risk of market failure, and build customer loyalty.

Implementing Co-Creation in the Innovation Process

Step 1: Define the Objectives

Before diving into co-creation, it’s crucial for organizations to set clear objectives. Whether the goal is to refine a product, explore new markets, or enhance customer experience, aligning these objectives with the company’s strategic vision sets the tone for a successful co-creation process.

Step 2: Select the Right Participants

Choosing the right mix of participants is essential. This might include lead users, industry experts, or even forward-thinking customers who can provide unique perspectives. The diversity of the participant pool will enrich the creative output and ensure that multiple viewpoints are considered.

Step 3: Foster an Open Environment

Creating a supportive environment that encourages open communication and the free flow of ideas is fundamental. Employing structured yet flexible brainstorming sessions, design thinking workshops, or hackathons can help harness the collective creativity of participants.

Step 4: Iterate and Prototype

Co-creation is not a one-time event but a continuous process. Iteration is a key component, involving rapid prototyping, user feedback, and subsequent refinements. This approach ensures that the innovation is closely aligned with user needs and expectations.

Step 5: Implementation and Launch

Finally, integrate the outcomes of co-creation into the development and implementation phases. When users see their contributions materialize into tangible products or services, it strengthens their connection to the brand, resulting in increased loyalty and advocacy.

Case Study 1: LEGO Ideas

One of the most compelling examples of successful user engagement in co-creation is LEGO’s ‘LEGO Ideas’ platform. Launched in 2008, the platform allows users to submit their LEGO set designs online. If a proposed set garners sufficient support from the community (10,000 votes), LEGO reviews it for production. This initiative has proven incredibly successful, leading to the commercialization of numerous fan-created sets.

The outcome has been a win-win: fans contribute creatively, seeing their designs come to life, while LEGO benefits from a rich pipeline of ideas and an engaged community of enthusiasts. Through this platform, LEGO effectively harnesses the creativity of its user base, staying relevant and innovative in a competitive market.

Case Study 2: BMW’s Co-Creation Lab

BMW’s Co-Creation Lab provides another insightful case study. The automotive giant launched this online platform to engage users in the development of new vehicle features and concepts. Users are invited to participate in innovation challenges, share ideas, and provide feedback on early-stage designs.

One of the standout outcomes was the creation of BMW ConnectedDrive services, a suite of digital services and apps developed with significant input from users. By directly involving customers in the innovation process, BMW not only tailored its offerings to real consumer needs but also reinforced its image as a customer-centric brand.

Conclusion

As these case studies demonstrate, co-creation can serve as a powerful strategic tool for innovation. Engaging users early and often in the innovation process helps ensure that new products and services are not only innovative but also market-successful. By breaking away from traditional, siloed forms of development and embracing a more collaborative approach, organizations can unlock unparalleled opportunities for growth and transformation.

In summary, the potential of user co-creation is immense. Embracing this inclusive, human-centered approach can redefine the boundaries of what is possible, driving sustainable innovation and creating lasting value for both organizations and consumers alike. Let’s forge ahead, embracing the future of co-created innovation.

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Co-Creation and Innovation

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Co-Creation and Innovation

GUEST POST from Art Inteligencia

Co-creation has become a major part of the innovation process, allowing companies to develop new products and services while engaging their customers in a meaningful way. By allowing customers to have a direct input in the product development process, companies can ensure that the end result meets their exact needs and preferences.

The concept of co-creation has been around for some time, but it has become increasingly important in recent years as companies recognize the need to stay ahead of the competition and provide customers with the best possible experience. By leveraging co-creation, companies can ensure that their products and services are tailored precisely to their customers’ needs, rather than guessing what those needs may be.

One of the most common forms of co-creation is crowdsourcing, which allows companies to solicit ideas from a large group of people. This can be done through online platforms that allow customers to submit their ideas, or by engaging customers directly in the design process. This process can take place in a variety of ways, such as online surveys or workshops, allowing customers to provide direct input into the product or service they’re looking for.

Using co-creation can also help companies to increase customer loyalty. By giving customers a direct say in the design process, companies can create a sense of ownership, and customers may feel more invested in the product or service they’ve helped create. This can lead to increased customer loyalty, as customers may be more likely to purchase the product or service and recommend it to others.

Finally, co-creation can help companies to gain valuable insights into customer preferences and trends. By engaging customers directly in the design process, companies can gain an intimate understanding of what customers want and need, which can be invaluable when it comes to developing new products and services.

In short, co-creation is a powerful tool in the innovation process that allows companies to stay ahead of the competition and ensure their products and services are tailored precisely to customer needs. By leveraging co-creation, companies can open up a dialogue with customers, increase customer loyalty, and gain valuable insights into customer trends. All of these benefits make co-creation an essential part of the innovation process.

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13th Annual Change Management Conference Wrapup

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Recently I had the opportunity to attend the 13th Annual Change Management Conference in New York, NY, hosted by The Conference Board. The event represented a convening of 200+ change management professionals from around the United States.

200+ attendees is a pretty decent size, but this larger number of attendees is quite small when you consider the number of people serving in official or unofficial change management roles around the world (either as employees or consultants), or when compared to the number of project managers (estimated at 16.5 million people around the world) and potentially as many as 1.5 million six sigma black belts and green belts sprinkled around the world.

Meanwhile, a couple of the leading training organizations in the change management space have trained just short of 100,000 people in the principles of change management.

If you agree that proactively managing change in organizations is at least as important as the practice of Six Sigma, and potentially as important as project management, that means that as the pace and importance of change continues to gather steam, there could be the need to train between 1.4 million and 16.4 million change management professionals in the next few years.

Insights from The Conference Board’s Council on Change Management

The tweet stream kicked off with a tweet from Joe Rafter of PG&E (@jrafter65) capturing the essence of what was to come:

“Investing in better change & transformation today. Change is in everyone’s role.”

The first session highlighted the Council’s Five Guiding Principles for Changing How We Change:

Agile, Conitnuous and Iterative
Future Focused
Dynamic Conversation & Engagement
Change Leadership From All Levels
Adoption & Behavior Change

Kinthi Sturtevant of IBM highlighted that they are rarely seeing 2, 3 or 4 year projects. Now it’s 30-60-90 day change projects.

We heard John Horn of Prudential talking about their transformation to a focus on talent as a differentiator that is not hr led, but leader led. Interesting that Prudential has talent catalysts in the same way as Intuit has design catalysts.

We heard Barbara Mitchell of Mayo Clinic talking about the importance of embedding your change plan in your project plan. But I disagree with this strategy. The focus should be the reverse. Your project plan should be part of your change plan. In my estimation, project planning should be part of our change planning efforts, but to make this happen we need more change planning tools like my upcoming Change Planning Toolkit™.

Wendy Branche of Tyco spoke about how organizations must make change a capability not just a competency. Distributing and democratizing change must be a priority. At Tyco change is a business process and a leadership competency and positioning change in such a manner has accelerated participation in change.

People First in Change Management

Gisela Paulsen of Genentech spoke about leading people through a difficult transition, and her feelings were captured well in this quote:

“If you lead change with integrity and transparency you can’t go wrong.”

The company had to deal with a product that was dying in two years as a superior product came on the market from a competitor, and one of the ways they dealt with it was by allowing employees to start spending 40% of their time on career development activities.

She spoke about the importance of paying attention to the community and its well-being during the change process, and how leading on the way down is a lot harder and you learn more about leadership than learning during a growth phase.

One other key message from Gisela was that as a change leader, you must be courageous, and not be afraid to ask for things. Who knows? Leadership might say yes!

The Innovation Accelerator

Roberto Masiero and Dr. Eric Hieger of ADP spoke about their efforts to accelerate innovation, and it was funny that they intentionally dressed different to highlight the difference between the old ADP and the new ADP. There

One key question they asked was:

Do we intentionally accelerate pace amplitude scale and complexity in a VUCA environment?
(VUCA being Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous)

How Do You Measure Change Success?

Tim Creasey of ProSci spoke a lot about the importance of metrics and scorecards. Here are a couple of the key takeaways:

Tim Creasey’s definition of Change Management is “catalyzing individual transitions to deliver organizational results.”

Most of the people at the conference feel they do a poor job of measuring change management performance
My big takeaway was that many times the ROI of change mgmt activities are likely baked into the overall ROI for systems projects especially, but the investment and the commitment is not. You need to highlight this for people. Vendors are going to highlight their most successful projects in helping calculate ROI, but those projects are also most likely to have invested in change management.

Rethinking Change

Lior Arussy of Strativity spoke about rethinking change including the following question:

What would happen if your scorecard was stories you collected instead?

Change is not an island.

The talk prompted this question in my mind:

Does everyone agree that transformation is used for change with a capital c?

Most organizations still don’t recognize need for a sustainable change management practice. This must change.

The $1 Billion Wakeup Call

Melanie Francis spoke about her observations of how as organizations approach $1 Billion in revenue that change management begins to become formalized into the organization.

Do You Speak Digital?

Sheila Chavda of McDonald’s spoke about some of the changes they’ve undergone in building a stronger digital focus at the company, including some of their focus areas:

Direction and Leadership
Culture, Climate, and Accountability
Coordination and Control
Capabilities, Motivation and External Orientation
Innovation and Learning

Sheila shared a great story about an ophthalmologist who created an application called Peek that is capable of turning a smartphone into an eye exam tool (without the corresponding usual expense), making eye care more accessible worldwide.

Here is a great quote from Sheila:

“Game changing insights aren’t enough, without repeatable processes they become hallucinations of a really smart guy.”

Meanwhile, in the other session Chris Gray of Bridge Consulting shared this gem – “A butterfly is not a better caterpillar.”

Korn Ferry Research Results

Scott Stevenson of Korn Ferry shared some of their findings from research focusing on learning agility and change leadership. Their findings included:

People must decide to learn something new for change success to occur
Change management requires accurately predicting how a group will learn what is needed and managing to their individual/collective learning styles
Innovation strategies require more mental agility and change agility

Finally, Scott shared how he was always surprised by how little organizations invest in understanding employee drivers.

Leading Through Change

Shannon Wallace of GM shared stories of their transition in HR from executive HR to shared services model and the unexpected resistance they faced from HR employees.The resistance came from people being used to being the person people depended on. People were used to being firefighters. They decided to use pie charts to show difference in how people will spent their time before the change and how they will spend it post change. They also developed a “What would you do?” set of scenarios based on all of the different questions they got from people. They also created ~50 different modules to help people understand how different scenarios were going to change in the new model.

Creating the Future Together

Kelley Kurtzman of Verizon Wireless spoke about how as technology shifts, peoples expectations shift, and how their approach to employees and change focuses on three stages:

Engage
Educate
Empower

Kelley also mentioned that any great employee engagement program has to be grounded in employee concerns.

One thing Verizon Wireless did to increase employee engagement and cooperation was to create ride-along video snippets so people can see what different tasks look like. Kelley talked about the power of involving employees in designing the solutions that will make them more productive. One result was to provide front line call center supervisors at Verizon Wireless with tablets with call metrics on them so they can be on the floor instead of off in a separate cubicle.

Finally, Kelley shared a great metaphor about the interaction between EQ and IQ as it relates to Emotional Intelligence:

“EQ is the front wheel of bicycle (Direction) while IQ is the back wheel (Power).”

Is Your Change Management Agile?

Paul O’Keeffe and Randy Wandmacher of Accenture Strategy spoke first about how in the digital age, expectations are different. We’ve heard people say at the conference that if they can’t see results this quarter, it’s too slow.

They continued on by discussing how research shows that change doesn’t cause organizations to go off track, it exposes organizational dysfunction. Too much change too fast is not destructive, high performing organizations go at a pace slightly faster than that of ordinary ones. The reason this is true is that people don’t have to go through the prototypical change ‘valley of despair’. High performing organizations have the agility to skip the ‘valley of despair’. One way they do is by building and maintaining a high level of trust in the organization.

People’s acceptance of #change is not a smooth curve, but a step function, increasing where intellectual understanding intersects with emotional agreement. The best organizations realize the benefits of change, build people’s change capabilities, end in good place with each change effort, so there is an appetite to do more change and to continue to improve business performance.

Becoming change agile means building a capability to successfully manage change on a daily basis. The steps in our change model to enable agility include:

Clearly define the intended business performance and desired benefits
Understand the organizational context/health
Vision
Leadership
Resources
Discipline
Energy

The insights from Vision, Leadership, Resources, Discipline and Energy are used to master the dynamics occurring in the organization.

Poor performing organizations have a disconnect in perceived performance on Leadership and Teamwork. Poor performing organizations have a higher level of fear and frustration. Organizations that attain the highest levels of performance are those that truly thrive on change.

Most organizations would like to be more agile according to votes here at the conference, but few have it as C-suite priority. In fact, most organizations miss an opportunity during big projects like ERP to build capabilities for the future in change and agility.

The future of change agility should be to focus on insight-driven change, building capabilities and being change navigators.

Finally, it’s crazy that @innovate has more Twitter followers than @AccentureStrat. 😉

Closing Session with The Conference Board’s Council on Change Management

In the closing session Molly Breazeale shared this quote to keep in mind about relationships as you think through your change efforts:

“The conversation is the relationship.” – Susan Scott

Kent Greenes of The Conference Board spoke about co-creation and the difference between involvement and inclusion and the importance of organizing management and non-management input together in a common group to help move people from ‘I’ to ‘We’. “Imagine the look you’re going to get from your CEO when you say that leading change from the top is not enough.”

Isabelle Suares of Cisco spoke about how the speed of market changes requires greater speed internally in order to realize an ROI on our products. Increasingly shorter windows of opportunity to monetize intellectual property before newer technology supplants it. Co-Design embedded in all initiatives at Cisco, in all phases, in an iterative process with full participation.

Lauren Chesley of Verizon Communications spoke about how they wanted leaders to drive transformation, deliver on priorities, and be strong people managers for culture.

Andrea Tennyson of Cargill spoke about how they focus on nine key stakeholders including: customers, suppliers, consumers, employees, communities, governments, and three more. Some of their key focus areas sometimes conflict and from a change standpoint this can be difficult as they look to co-create. For transformation they leveraged their Leadership Forum (1,575 participants – 1,325 virtual & 250 local), and their Change Leader Network, Change Community of Practice, Leadership Academy Alumni, and Corporate Center. They made a shift in decision making away from Change Leadership Team and pushed the ability farther down into the organization.

Finally, a closing thought from Twitter from Tim Creasey of ProSci, and I’m not sure who to attribute it to, but I definitely heard it at the event:

“Go where the bright spots are in your organization – on gaining sponsorship for change management.”

The conference definitely was a whirlwind, and I’d like to thank The Conference Board for putting on a great 13th Annual Change Management Conference and to the organizers for inviting me to cover the event for the Innovation Excellence audience. Hopefully they’ll have me back as a speaker next year at their 14th annual event.

In 2016 my new change management content site will be in full swing and my second book for Palgrave Macmillan (@PalgraveBiz) comes out in January 2016 to highlight the best practices and next practices of organizational change and introduces my new collaborative, visual Change Planning Toolkit™. I’ve got some great guest experts and case studies to include in the book, so stay tuned!

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Where Must Marketing Innovation Come From?

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Where Must Marketing Innovation Come From? The world of marketing and advertising used to be very simple. If you got a branding or marketing job with a company, you would inherit an agency that the person above you or before you had hired to work with the company to get your advertising and marketing campaigns developed and executed. After a few years if you worked in an agency you might go work for a company and manage an agency, or after a few years working in marketing or advertising for a company you might leave to go work for an agency, and this cycle might repeat several times over the course of your career.

In this simple environment, companies looked to their agencies to bring them innovations in marketing and/or advertising.

But this simple world of marketing and advertising is being disrupted and made more complex in the same way that many other industries are (think book publishing, book retailing, management consulting, etc.).

We live in an era where people have more places in which they can collect and share experiences, both on-line and off-line. Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Instagram, hundreds of cable TV channels, hundreds of satellite radio channels, on-demand audio and video (both online and off), Pinterest, Instagram, meetups, unconferences, flash mobs, etc.

We live in an era where marketing and advertising work can be fulfilled not just via the company/agency partnership, but also via co-creation with customers, crowdsourcing, via crowdfunding, or utilizing cloud labor or crowd computing.

With the rise of the digital marketplace also came a plethora of new digital and social marketing and advertising agencies, many of which were snapped up by giants like WPP to infuse some new thinking and “innovation” into their traditional direct marketing and advertising execution methods.

But now, comes the news that Nissan (who has switched their slogan from “Innovation for All” to “Innovation that Excites”) has created their own Marketing Innovation Lab rather than just relying on their roster of agencies to bring them innovations. Nissan may not be the only company to do something similar, but it begs the question, where should marketing innovation come from?

Obviously Nissan doesn’t feel that they are getting enough innovation in their marketing efforts from their agencies, and it makes you wonder, shouldn’t it be the agencies not the companies who are looking to find and support upstart companies and apps with marketing and media potential?

Well, why should any company look to source innovation from any one place, even if it is marketing innovation?

I would say that every company looking to succeed at ANY type of innovation should be looking to collect dots to connect from as many sources as possible, including:

Agencies and Advisory Firms
Co-Creation with Customers
Crowdsourcing
Partners
Suppliers
Competitors
Adjacent Industries
Distant Industries
Market Research (ethnography, surveys, focus groups, trends, etc.)
Startups

… (insert your favorite here)

So, where will your next marketing innovation come from?

And, who are you working with from outside in order to bring innovation inside?

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