Innovative Thinking for Turbulent Business Times
B55.2112.30:Course Schedule
(Note: the professor may change aspects of the course before the first class meeting)
Week / Topic / Activity / Preparation for next class1:
What is Design Thinking? What are the relationships between thinking and business innovation? / Design as a tool to solve unpredictable problems
Basic applications of design thinking to relatively simple problems /
- 21st Century Successful Innovations; reverse engineering
- Individual and group exercises
2:
Design Thinking applications:
Social and traditional innovations / Using design thinking techniques to generate multiple solutions
Applying techniques as a class to a common business problem /
- Brainstorming, rapid prototyping; SCAMPER’ diverse thinking
Prepare prototype for solution to problem raised in class; can be group or individual
3:
Biomimicry and Business Opportunities /
- How has the natural world opened opportunities for non-harmful business opportunities?
- Observation exercises with brainstorming and rapid prototyping
- 3-minute student presentations on select biomimicry examples
4:
Visual Thinking /
- How can business use information from neuroscience to create more effective presentations?
- How can new trends in visual thinking improve presentations?
- Revision of presentations from previous class
5:
Disruptive Innovation /
- Understanding concepts of disruptive innovation and applying them to specific companies or organizations
- Brainstorming for potential disruptive innovation opportunities in known companies
- How does innovation create value?
6:
Putting it together: new design proposals for business /
- Presenting proposals to panel of ‘experts’
Group exercise: brainstorming for additions and new ideas for proposals / Final project: revised proposals, annotated and explained
7:
Evaluation and future plans /
- Transforming proposals to action
Course Description:
B55.2112.30:Innovative Thinking in a Turbulent Business Environment
Innovative thinking in our global business environment is no longer the task of a select group of creative strategists – every business leader today needs to understand innovation.
This course explores how businesses innovate, and how managers can rewire traditional approaches to finding and developing new opportunities. Every business, regardless of size or function, will be challenged by environmental, social, and global business issues. Learning to recognize and respond to these issues is at the center of this course.
We will examine new concepts from the most recent research on design theory and related disciplines, including visual design, neuroscience, communication, rhetoric, linguistics, and business creativity. Topics and exercises will specifically introduce and apply Design Thinking, Bio-mimicry, Visual Thinking, Disruptive Innovation, Business Ethnography and Creative Collaboration. With class discussions and hands-on exercises, this class will focus on how business people can learn to think innovatively and meet the challenges of the 21st Century.
Selected readings (draft version)
Required:
Roger Martin; The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage(Harvard Business School Press, 2009)
Design Thinking; Tim Brown (Ideo CEO); Harvard Business Review, June 2008 (available online)
Course Pack of selected readings on Design Thinking, Visual Thinking, Disruptive Innovation, Bio-mimicry; will be available pre-course.
Recommended:
Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature; Janine Benyus; Harper Collins; 2002
Persuasion Zen; Garr Reynolds; New Riders, 2008.
“Good Days for Disruptors”; Martha Mangelsdorf; MIT Sloan Management Review, June 2009
“Getting Down to the Business of Creativity”; Julia Hanna; HBS Working Knowledge (online); May 14 2008
“The Business of Design”; Roger Martin; Rotman Management Magazine; Winter 2004
“How to Become a Better Manager … By Thinking like a Designer”; Jimmy Guterman; MIT Sloan Management Review; Summer 2009