Jerry W. Kim

Innovation Strategy for Senior Executives

Session 1 – DESIGN THINKING: Organizing Creativity and Avoiding Strategic Inertia

Fostering creativity throughout the organization is one of the most critically important jobs of an organizational leader. While our culture and society celebrate the heroic genius of the individual inventor (e.g., Steve Jobs, Elon Musk), research suggests that having the right organizational structures and processes has a far bigger impact on innovative outcomes. In this session, we will examine the team and organizational-level conditions that enable leaders to maximize organizational innovation and creativity. In particular, we will focus on “design thinking” as a methodology that can foster creativity and innovation. A deeper understanding of the core principles behind “design thinking” will further help us understand why organizations and leaders often fail to change despite disruptive threats and environmental changes, and provide a framework for how leaders can overcome strategic inertia.

Session 2 – Building Resilient and Innovative Organizations in Times of Crisis

In times of crisis, innovation may seem like a luxury for many organizations. Yet, crisis situations are exactly when the capability to generate new approaches and solutions are most valuable. Building on the notion that “crisis management is innovation on steroids”, the session will examine what leaders must do to navigate novel threats and highly uncertain environments by leveraging innovation within and across organizations. Using a case study on the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, we will explore the common mistakes leaders make in high-stakes crisis situations, and discuss how leaders can build organizational cultures that prevent large scale errors, and exhibit resilience in the face of challenges.

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