INNOVATION TRAINING FOR LEADERS

Driving Innovation

Prepare leaders to get every idea on the table, find the real problem to solve, and test a solution within 30 days
Innovation training for leaders: a businesswoman holding a tablet looks ahead beside a hand-drawn lightbulb on a purple background

Help leaders turn good ideas into tested solutions

Many good ideas never get a fair hearing. People hold back ideas they predict will be shot down, and leaders often rule out new ideas before they've been fully explained.

Driving Innovation gives frontline and midlevel leaders a repeatable process to hear every voice, find the real problem behind a request, and agree on one idea to test within 30 days. It works inside the constraints of a real organization, without a dedicated innovation team or budget.

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Audience
Frontline and midlevel leaders who need to move ideas from conversation to test
Length
5-week learning journey,
flexible options
Live learning
4 hours
Cohort size
24 to 30 participants

Before and After: How Leaders Change

Driving Innovation helps leaders notice how their own predictions filter ideas, structure conversations so every voice counts, and move a team from many ideas to one test.

Leadership shift 1 of 6

From snap judgments to a fair hearing

Leaders learn to notice the emotion that signals a quick judgment and check the prediction behind it before an idea is dismissed.

Leadership shift 2 of 6

From the loudest voice to every voice

Leaders use Note and Vote so ideas are heard on their merits, not by seniority or volume.

Leadership shift 3 of 6

From the surface complaint to the real problem

Leaders use a five-question interview to understand a problem, including the emotions and predictions that come with it.

Leadership shift 4 of 6

From problem statements to better questions

Leaders reframe a problem as a How Might We question that invites solutions without assuming one.

Leadership shift 5 of 6

From endless debate to a clear decision

Leaders guide a team from many ideas to one choice, using a process instead of the most senior opinion.

Leadership shift 6 of 6

From perfect plans to fast tests

Leaders write a hypothesis that could prove an idea right or wrong and set a date to test it within 30 days.

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OUR PERSPECTIVE

The most expensive moments in innovation don't look like conflict. They look like efficiency.

What's Different About This Program

Here are four core ways that this program is different from other innovation training programs on the market today.
Driving Innovation reason 1: starts with why ideas go unsaid. An empty conference room with a long table and chairs.
Most innovation training starts with brainstorming techniques. This program starts earlier, with the predictions that lead people to hold ideas back and lead leaders to dismiss them, so better ideas reach the room.
Driving Innovation reason 2: built on how the brain perceives and judges ideas. A woman rests her hand at her chin, deep in thought.
The program uses the Perception Box™, a model of how the brain predicts what an idea means before the speaker finishes. Leaders learn a three-step process to notice that prediction, name it, and check it against current information.
Driving Innovation reason 3: teaches how to choose, not just brainstorm. A woman at her desk holds her glasses as she weighs a decision.
Many programs stop at generating ideas. This one teaches leaders to move a team from many ideas to one, without letting seniority or a snap judgment decide.
Driving Innovation reason 4: ends with a structured test to run on the job. A man arranges sticky notes on a glass wall to plan next steps.
Each leader leaves with a hypothesis and a test date within 30 days, plus a process they can run again with their own team. Pre- and post-program assessments show how each leader has grown.
1. Starts with why ideas go unsaid
2. Built on how the brain perceives and judges ideas
3. Teaches how to choose, not just brainstorm
4. Ends with a structured test to run on the job
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4 Reasons to Choose Driving Innovation

Here are four core ways that this program is different from other innovation training programs on the market today.

1. Starts with why ideas go unsaid

Most innovation training starts with brainstorming techniques. This program starts earlier, with the predictions that lead people to hold ideas back and lead leaders to dismiss them, so better ideas reach the room.

2. Built on how the brain perceives and judges ideas

The program uses the Perception Box™, a model of how the brain predicts what an idea means before the speaker finishes. Leaders learn a three-step process to notice that prediction, name it, and check it against current information.

3. Teaches how to choose, not just brainstorm

Many programs stop at generating ideas. This one teaches leaders to move a team from many ideas to one, without letting seniority or a snap judgment decide.

4. Ends with a structured test to run on the job

Each leader leaves with a hypothesis and a test date within 30 days, plus a process they can run again with their own team. Pre- and post-program assessments show how each leader has grown.

What the Research Says

94%
of executives say people and corporate culture are the most important drivers of innovation
Source: McKinsey Quarterly survey, 2007.
13 points
more revenue from innovation at companies where leaders invite different views, communicate openly, and stay open to new ideas
Source: Boston Consulting Group, 2018.
759 firms
in four randomized trials showed that a test-and-learn approach to ideas can be taught and leads to better results
Source: Camuffo et al., Strategic Management Journal, 2024.

A 5-Week Blended Learning Journey

Driving Innovation is offered as a blended learning program. Explore a suggested learning journey below, although implementation can be flexible to your organization's needs.

  • Self-paced learning

  • Live session 1: Making it safe to innovate

  • Field experiment

  • Live session 2: Structured to innovate

  • Post-assessment

Self-paced learning

The Driving Innovation pre-assessment gives each leader feedback on three areas: collecting divergent ideas, using empathy to understand a problem, and test-and-learn thinking. Two microcourses, "Why Good Ideas Get Shut Down" and "Empathy as a Diagnostic Tool," then show how untested predictions silence ideas and how empathy reveals the real problem.

Time: ~35 minutes

Live session 1: Making it safe to innovate

Leaders learn how the Perception Box™ rules out ideas before anyone says them out loud. They practice Note and Vote, a structured technique that gives every voice equal weight, and use an empathy interview to find the real problem behind a stakeholder's complaint.

Time: 2 hours

Field experiment

Leaders take the tools back to work. They run Note and Vote in a real team meeting, interview a stakeholder about a real business problem, and capture one moment when they judged an idea before it was finished. They return with a one-sentence problem statement for the second session.

Time: ~90 minutes

Live session 2: Structured to innovate

Working in teams, leaders pick one problem from the field work and reframe it as a How Might We question. They then sketch solutions and converge on one to test, without letting seniority or snap judgment decide. Each leader leaves with a testable hypothesis and a date within 30 days to test it.

Time: 2 hours

Post-assessment

The post-program assessment shows how each leader has grown, both for personal insight and to support program reporting toward business goals.

Time: ~15 minutes

Plan a program for your leaders

A 5-Week Blended Learning Journey

Driving Innovation is offered as a blended learning program. Explore a suggested learning journey below, although implementation can be flexible to your organization's needs.

  • Self-paced learning

    The Driving Innovation pre-assessment gives each leader feedback on three areas: collecting divergent ideas, using empathy to understand a problem, and test-and-learn thinking. Two microcourses, "Why Good Ideas Get Shut Down" and "Empathy as a Diagnostic Tool," then show how untested predictions silence ideas and how empathy reveals the real problem.

    Time: ~35 minutes

  • Live session 1: Making it safe to innovate

    Leaders learn how the Perception Box™ rules out ideas before anyone says them out loud. They practice Note and Vote, a structured technique that gives every voice equal weight, and use an empathy interview to find the real problem behind a stakeholder's complaint.

    Time: 2 hours

  • Field experiment

    Leaders take the tools back to work. They run Note and Vote in a real team meeting, interview a stakeholder about a real business problem, and capture one moment when they judged an idea before it was finished. They return with a one-sentence problem statement for the second session.

    Time: ~90 minutes

  • Live session 2: Structured to innovate

    Working in teams, leaders pick one problem from the field work and reframe it as a How Might We question. They then sketch solutions and converge on one to test, without letting seniority or snap judgment decide. Each leader leaves with a testable hypothesis and a date within 30 days to test it.

    Time: 2 hours

  • Post-assessment

    The post-program assessment shows how each leader has grown, both for personal insight and to support program reporting toward business goals.

    Time: ~15 minutes

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INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTORS

Help Every Team Member Bring Ideas Forward

This program is also offered as a course for individual contributors, designed to help them share ideas with more confidence, understand the problems they're trying to solve, and test solutions with their teams.

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Two coworkers talk across a table with notebooks, one listening closely as the other speaks

 
Frequently asked questions about Driving Innovation
1. Who is Driving Innovation designed for?

Frontline and midlevel leaders who need to move ideas from conversation to test inside a real organization, whether they lead a team, a project, or cross-functional work.

2. Who facilitates the program?

You can choose. SIY Global's expert facilitators can deliver the live sessions for your organization, or you can train your own internal facilitators through our Facilitator Certification program.

Learn about facilitator certification
3. Can the program be delivered virtually?

Yes. The live sessions can be delivered virtually or in person, as two 2-hour sessions with a field experiment in between. Virtual sessions use a shared online team board for group activities, and the self-paced learning and assessments are completed online.

4. Can the program be tailored to our organization?

Yes. We regularly tailor the program to fit an organization's context. That can include scenarios that reflect your industry and the innovation challenges your teams face, a different program length, or a different cohort size. Talk with us about what you need, and we'll shape the program around it.

5. What is the field experiment?

Between the two live sessions, leaders spend about 90 minutes applying the tools at work. They run Note and Vote in a real team meeting, interview one or two stakeholders about a real business problem, and note one moment when they judged an idea too quickly. The second session is built on what they bring back.

6. How is this different from design thinking or brainstorming training?

Many innovation programs teach methods for generating and developing ideas. Driving Innovation also addresses why good ideas go unsaid or get dismissed early, and builds the leadership skills to hear every voice and choose one idea to test. Leaders practice on their own work, not case studies.

7. What will leaders be able to do after the program?

Leaders will be able to notice and check the predictions that shut down promising ideas, run meetings where every voice carries equal weight, find the real problem behind a stakeholder's complaint, align a team on one idea to pursue, and set up a test with a date to prove it right or wrong.

8. How much does the program cost?

Pricing varies based on the number of participants and cohorts, the delivery format, facilitation, and any tailoring. Talk with us about your goals, and we'll put together options that fit your organization.

9. Do leaders need to complete another SIY Global program first?

No. Many organizations start with Leading with Emotional Dynamics™, SIY Global's foundational emotional intelligence program for leaders, but Driving Innovation can be run on its own.

Explore Leading with Emotional Dynamics
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