IMD business school for management and leadership courses

Business Creativity and Innovation Sprint

 Unlock your creative genius

Business Creativity and Innovation Sprint

 Unlock your creative genius

Delivery mode

Online

Time commitment

2 weeks (1-2 hours per day)

Fee

CHF 950

Next enrollment deadline
22 February 2025
Sprint format
Business Creativity and Innovation Sprint
Boost your innovation mindset, generate better ideas and transform them into breakthrough solutions.
Duration
2 weeks
Price
CHF 850 from CHF 950 Early bird ends on 24 January 2025
Choose a start date
About this Sprint
Why do so many innovative efforts fail? What if there was an easier way to tap into your own creativity, generate better ideas and successfully translate them into breakthrough solutions for your context?

The good news is that you don’t need to be born “creative”. Science confirms that creativity and innovation can be easily learned with the right skills and tools.

The Business Creativity and Innovation Sprint is designed as a step-by-step roadmap that takes you from idea to action. Gain valuable insights from changemakers and innovators in business, design, sports and science that you can easily adapt to your context. You will discover strategies and tools to harness your creative abilities and turn average ideas into great ones.

 

What you’ll learn
  • 1
    Discover the DNA of originality
    • Understand why the most creative thinkers are no different from you.
    • Dive into the science of creativity – how your creative brain works.
    • Discover your own source of creativity and original thinking, at work or in life.
    • Learn how digital tools like AI can augment your creative potential.
  • 2
    How to become a creative machine
    • Recognize the most common innovation and creativity traps to avoid.
    • Develop your capacity to see the world with fresh eyes.
    • Understand how stepping-back can help you regain perspective.
    • Learn how to effectively use your imagination to create out-of-this-world ideas.
  • 3
    Turn creative ideas into breakthrough innovations
    • Understand why creativity is a necessary but not sufficient condition for innovation.
    • Test and refine your ideas until they resonate with customers.
    • Learn why traditional experiments don’t always give you the outcome you want.
    • Develop your ability to adjust to forces that will catalyze or crush your innovation.
  • 4
    Stop sabotaging your ability to innovate
    • Understand why you must first be willing to change yourself, to change the world.
    • Map the many self-imposed constraints that often derail.
    • Improve your capacity to deal with psychological barriers like overconfidence, fear, doubt, and frustration.
Who is this program for?

For executives looking to become more creative, consistent, and effective innovators.

Innovators

You face innovation challenges and need to upgrade the innovativeness of your business.

Intrapreneurs

You are looking to become an intrapreneur in your organization.

Creative thinkers

For all interested in original thinking and creativity. The learning is not limited to any specific, functional or operational role.


Schedule overview

All live sessions are recorded and will be available for replay on the learning platform. Here is an example of a Business Creativity and Innovation Sprint schedule:

Alien-thinking-cover
Unique methodology

Your Sprint uses a unique methodology developed by IMD Faculty. “Alien Thinking” introduces you to five distinct and reinforcing strategies to transform your ideas into ground-breaking solutions.

  • Attention: Observe problems that need to be solved and solutions that could be improved. 
  • Levitation: Step back to regain perspective. Distance yourself from activity to think more clearly.
  • Imagination: Envision something new or different – see it in your mind’s eye.
  • Experimentation: Turn promising idea into a workable solution that addresses a real need.
  • Navigation: Manage your external environment, adjust to forces that can catalyze or crush your innovation.
Meet your Program Directors
Cyril Bouquet

Anyone can innovate. It’s not a gift – it’s a mindset and skillset you can learn. But its also a set of biases and psychological traps you need to be aware of and learn how to avoid. The ALIEN mindset is ideal for executives facing innovation challenges.

Cyril Bouquet
Professor of Strategy and Innovation

Cyril Bouquet is Professor of Strategy and Innovation. An award-winning researcher and teacher, he specializes in helping organizations and executives tackle complex challenges through innovation and creativity and supporting them with their transition journeys as they seek to create change and deliver progress for society.

Projects he has recently taken on include helping Nestlé to achieve its carbon neutrality objectives, working with O-I Glass to define the company’s ambition and advance its…

Cyril Bouquet is Professor of Strategy and Innovation. An award-winning researcher and teacher, he specializes in helping organizations and executives tackle complex challenges through innovation and creativity and supporting them with their transition journeys as they seek to create change and…

Cyril Bouquet is Professor of Strategy and Innovation. An award-winning researcher and teacher, he specializes in helping organizations and executives tackle complex challenges through innovation and creativity and supporting them with their…

A lot of innovation models tell you what to do, without really explaining why it’s so hard to do it. Before you can start innovating, you must appreciate the cognitive biases that stand in your way at different stages of the process. This Sprint equips you to generate truly breakthrough solutions.

Michael Wade
TONOMUS Professor of Strategy and Digital and Director of the TONOMUS Global Center for Digital and AI Transformation

Michael Wade is the TONOMUS Professor of Strategy and Digital, and the Director of the TONOMUS Global Center for Digital and AI Transformation. An expert in digital transformation, he has published 10 books and more than 100 case studies as well as articles on topics such as digital business transformation, innovation, strategy, and digital leadership. In 2021, he was elected to the Digital Shapers Hall of Fame by a consortium of Swiss business media and launched the Management under the…

Michael Wade is the TONOMUS Professor of Strategy and Digital, and the Director of the TONOMUS Global Center for Digital and AI Transformation. An expert in digital transformation, he has published 10 books and more than 100 case studies as well as articles on topics such as digital business…

Michael Wade is the TONOMUS Professor of Strategy and Digital, and the Director of the TONOMUS Global Center for Digital and AI Transformation. An expert in digital transformation, he has published 10 books and more than 100 case studies as well as…

What participants say about Sprint
Benjamin Boulley

Head of Brand Experience and Events, Vacheron Constantin, Switzerland

Opens up big ideas

Sprint introduces you to a world of big ideas, opening up digital, AI and more. I found it really interesting, even surprising. It is good to have your ideas shaken unexpectedly.

Valentina Matta PhD

Vestas, Denmark

Improves your creative process

The unique ALIEN methodology has shown me how to work on myself to improve my creative process.

Ev Kicken

Business Owner, Kicken Dynamics, Switzerland

Engage more diverse resources

I deepened my understanding on how to go broader, investigate assumptions with many iterations, use the ALIEN framework, and engage more diverse resources.

Karol Podgórczyk

Service Delivery / Productivity Lead, JTI, Poland

Easy-to-understand framework

I find ALIEN framework useful and easy to understand and will share it among the rest of the team. Now I feel really motivated to use AI more extensively.

Cliona Jauslin

Global Head of Marketing, Switzerland

Stories of innovators

I truly enjoyed the mix of theory and practice (metaverse, ChatGPT), plus frameworks, different ways of seeing things and stories from innovators.

Ali Algburi

National Sales Manager, Novo Nordisk, Iraq

Fantastic training

The training for Sprint is fantastic. I enjoyed every session. I learned new techniques for generating creative ideas and presenting them effectively to stakeholders.

Marco Induti

Business Development Specialist, Swiss Safety Center, Switzerland

Innovation framework

My biggest takeaway is the ALIEN framework for innovation and discovering all the tactics you can use for creativity and innovation. I enjoyed this course a lot.

 

 

 

What is IMD Sprint?

IMD Sprint is a fast-paced online learning program delivered in short, highly engaging sessions. Each Sprint includes faculty-led, live virtual sessions (approx. 4 x 1h per week) as well as high quality pre-recorded multimedia content you can watch at your own pace. The total time commitment is approx 1-2 hours per day over 2 weeks. You receive IMD certification on successful completion.

How a Sprint works

After registration, you’ll gain access to IMD online learning portal to set up your profile and complete any necessary pre-work. On the program start date, you’ll be able to access the links to the live virtual sessions, review pre-recorded materials, engage with fellow participants, and work on your project (if applicable).

Live virtual sessions

Interact with faculty and guest speakers

Pre-recorded multimedia content

Engage with high-quality content, available to watch at your own pace

Peer learning

Gain insights from your cohort

Project

Turn learning into your own action plan

Business Creativity and Innovation Sprint
Boost your innovation mindset, generate better ideas and transform them into breakthrough solutions.
Duration
2 weeks
Price
CHF 850 from CHF 950 Early bird ends on 24 January 2025
Choose a start date
Explore more Sprint options