Innovation is coming up with new ideas and creative solutions to problems. It requires an ability to think in new ways about things you see everyday. And more than that, it requires a willingness to do so – a willingness to listen actively to what your colleagues are saying and doing, and to use their ideas as well as your own.

Innovation comes from a series of sparks, rarely a flash. To fuel the sparks we need someone to bring the beginning of that idea, not a fully formed, iron-clad concept - just a ‘brick’. We’ll build the rest together. For this to happen, we need need to create a suitable environment for collaboration…

‘The Idea Friendly Environment’ It’s an environment of risk taking, embracing failure, supporting decisions, agreement, creativity and innovation.

The Idea Friendly Environment needs to be consciously created, and maintained. The first step to unlocking innovative thought is to identify the habits that we have developed in communication that might be causing barriers to collaboration. Once we’re conscious of how we communicate, we can light the touch paper and let the sparks fly.

Participants learn to find patterns in their thought and in group thought, and see how their ideas can inspire others. They learn that there are times to follow the group pattern and there are times to make jumps of inspiration!

To be innovative, one has to be able to come up with several ways of reacting to the same thing or solving the same problem. We will encourage participants to make new choices, to test out ideas that were not the first or second ideas they thought of and be open to new points of view.

During our interactive workshop, we share impactful exercises, rooted in the principles of improvisation, to break down old habits and improve listening and communication.

The class is not about being funny and you won’t be put on the spot, so don’t worry about that. It is about listening, being present, and giving the exercises a go. We’ll ask the group to engage with our philosophies, principles, and lessons from years of working with creatives and businesses, alike.