Topic A: Creating the motive for ideas and innovation Task: Organisational culture There is much talk about the need for a culture for innovation. The key reason is to create the motive for people to be innovative. Your challenge for this assignment: The culture of an organisation to be open to ideas and innovation is a key to success. Keeping in mind cognitive diversity; what are your recommendations for making an organisation more innovative? 1. What should the leaders do and say? 2. What should managers do and say? 3. Any recommendations for departments like HR? This can apply directly to your organisation or think like a consultant to make recommendations to an executive team. What strategies would you use? What are some of the tactics or action that will be needed to achieve each strategy. Topic B: Design Thinking Task: Building your tool kit for Design Thinking. There are many ways to solve challenges. Design thinking is a problem solving approach that focuses on people. Your challenge for this assignment: Innovations often start with solutions to difficult challenges. As a designer you need to understand the people for whom you are designing. The problem: some university students are unable to express creativity in class. How can the university use Design Thinking to look for solutions to solve this problem? This assignment has three elements 1. Summarize the steps in the design thinking process that you feel are relevant to solving this problem. 2. Use the document to suggest a ‘method’ or tool, process or approach at each step as appropriate. 3. Suggest who would want to involve or engage of solving this problem? This assignment is a plan for design thinking ‘idea factory’ you could facilitate with a group of people. You do not have to solve the problem. This is about the process you would use to explore and solve the problem. Topic C: Thinking Styles Task: Do all people think alike? Exploring cognitive style and adaption-innovation theory in the real world Your challenge: Use some of the adaption – innovation theory to make your case. Do People Think Alike? Working with and managing people would seem easy if all people did think alike. 1. What is the most insightful points to you about the concept of cognitive thinking style differences? 2. How can your understanding of your assessment and adaption-innovation theory change your approach to your ideas or how you manage your contribution at work as well as work with other people and manage other people? 3. Provide an example or case study where the cognitive diversity was badly managed. Topic D: Brainstorming Task: Brainstorming A crucial element for personal and team creativity is the ability to collaborate to brain storm effectively. Your challenge: Plan a brainstorm to work on a problem you are facing or an opportunity you want to create. 1. The key ingredient is a well defined Challenge or Problem Statement. Define the problem or challenge. 2. How will you prompt people to engage with your problem? What tools or methods would you use? 3. What type of ‘result’ should your brainstorming session ultimately create? It could be a strategy, service concepts, a list of product ideas, or an action plan. This must match the design of your Challenge or Problem Statement.