The making of Innovation Gym – Untapped Innovation

When Untapped Innovation dreamt up the idea to create an expert training course that delivers instant impact, partners Deirdre, Sally and Suzanne knew we’d need some extra help to make it a reality! Working with associates to support the delivery of our consultancy work, we quickly set about engaging the right people in our network, who have the skills and expertise to create a unique training experience that would not only meet, but exceed, our client’s expectations. Market Research Consultant, Bryony Hughes and Innovation Insights Manager, Aveen Redjep, were two very important people involved in the creation of our Innovation Gym training modules. Three years on, and with the courses gaining increasing interest in the innovation and R&D industry, we caught up with Bryony and Aveen to find out where it all began! Q: What was your role in the creation of Innovation Gym? Bryony: My job was to create the content for the first half of the training. I was asked to give my opinion on the content, as someone who wasn’t as close to the training as the core team at Untapped Innovation. My background is in consumer insight rather than product development or innovation and therefore I could give feedback on how accessible the content was for a ‘non-expert’. Aveen: I see myself as a key contributor to the Innovation Gym, helping to create the content that goes into training modules. Q: How long was the process from initial concept to bringing it to life? Aveen: From a course content perspective, the timeline for bringing a module from initial concept to fruition can vary significantly, depending on the amount of creative input required and the number of collaborators involved. While some courses come together really quickly, others, especially those that rely on communication between associates, or anything that deals with topics that pull together multiple elements, are likely to take much longer. We try to stay flexible when it comes to timelines, to ensure we give each topic the focus needed to craft high-quality, well-rounded learning content. Q: What is the purpose of Innovation Gym? What pain points does it address? Bryony: For the Ideal Product Model (IPM) training module the purpose is to make sure that any innovation is rooted in real consumer insight. Most new products that are brought to market fail, and so if we can help innovators to create products that are actually meeting a consumer need, then the likelihood of success increases. Aveen: Innovation Gym is a great way to keep innovation teams “healthy” – offering up practical, yet specialised bite-sized tools, tips and practises that can be used straight away to get the best out of any project. Q: What was your biggest learning from this process? Bryony: What I really appreciated was the new way of thinking Innovation Gym gave me. I’ve spent the last 14 years working to try and unearth consumer insights to help businesses make decisions. The IPM training helped me to think about products in a completely new way, and to think about their purpose. This method really helped to convert existing insights into a very detailed, tangible blueprint for new innovation, that would actually solve problems for consumers. It helps to avoid ‘innovation just for the sake of it’. Q: What was the biggest challenge for you during this process? Aveen: The most significant challenge for me, was how to strike the right balance between depth and simplicity that could be delivered within 2 hours, which is the length of each course. Ensuring the content remained accessible, while delving into more detailed aspects of the innovation process, was a fun challenge to overcome. Bryony: My biggest challenge was to think in quite an abstract way, and to allow myself to ‘go with the flow’ and not approach everything too rigidly. Q: Finally, how did you find the dynamic collaboration with Untapped Innovation’s partners and other associates during the Innovation Gym development process? Aveen: This really was the best part of working on Innovation Gym – it is quite simply, magic. The collaboration with Untapped Innovation partners and other associates brings together a symphony of expertise that a single organisation would struggle to have at their fingertips. The benefit of diverse knowledge, experience, and backgrounds are exponential; richer content, better tools and an enhanced course experience. Bryony: I love working with Untapped Innovation. They have a really refreshing mindset when it comes to work, and encourage feedback and ongoing conversations about what we’re doing, which is how I also like to work. If our interview with Bryony and Aveen has got you revved up about Innovation Gym training, why not talk to us about the best modules for you and your team to brush up on some key skills and capabilities: https://www.untappedinnovation.com/contact-us/