I don't know of any courses, but I was wondering if you could share the URL for the Berkeley Innovation websinte. Thanks!

Terry:

Here is the link to Berkeley's Innovation website:

http://innovation.berkeley.edu/


Thanks,

praveen

Praveen,Could you please also share the URL of Managing Innovation Process course of MIT?

What's Open Course Ware?

Yatin:

Here is the link:

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Sloan-School-of-Management/15-351Managing-the-Innovation-ProcessFall2002/CourseHome/index.htm

Open Course Ware is a set of courses made available to public at no cost!

Praveen: I was on the lookout for anything and everything related to innovation for last couple of years, including who is teaching innovation. The very reason because my passion to innovation and ambition to do something on this full time. However, what I learned during this process of searching "who is teaching innovation", I realized that innovation is something I have to teach myself. This posting may sound unrealistic to you, because you are already teaching innovation to high profile students. But I think the word innovation is like galaxy, and business innovation, product innovation etc are just small stars. In my role with the current organization, my job is to teach "matured" engineers "how" to innovate. I feel it is more like I'm asking them how to think. But, they will never think that if they don't want to think. On the "how" to part, I believe in the role of tools and techniques like TRIZ helping me learning innovation better.
Appreciate your comments..
Thanks
Prakash

Hi Prakash:

Thanks for your comments with many good thoughts. Yes, it fist sounds ironic to say teaching innovation. I did a lot of research on the topic of innovation in order to develop a process that can be taught with predictable results. Yes, it involves thinking process using left and right hemisphere. Besides, we also must recognize that innovation process is evolutionary, always builds on something.

My course is based on the book Business Innovation in the 21st Century, which has three parts. Evolution of Innovation, Understanding Innovation, and Institutionalizing Innovation. Evolution of innovatin looks at conventional methods, benchmarks with Einstein's thinking, and Edison's methodology to create innovative solutions on demand. I will be willing to share the syllabus for my course at Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. Students love it, and yes it teaches them the thinking process. Isn't it what we need to do more, THINK?

As to TRIZ, I recognize TRIZ is an excellent rule based methodology for developing innovative solutions, however, more work is needed in terms of developing basic process of innovation that empowers people and frees up thinking with minimum rules to explore the 'galaxy'' of universe in brain.

I hope I gave some information about innovation. If you need I can provide the syllabus that might help you in teaching innovation at your organization.

Praveen

Thanks, Praveen. Appreciate your comments. I would certainly like to see your successful way of teaching people about innovation syllabus. I do believe that we can teach innovation, especially because G. Altshuller made a very interesting statement, "creativity is not a born gift; every engineer can learn to be innovative". However, from my experience with the engineers, I realized that I should try to teach them how they should learn themselves to innovate. I'm experimenting with this by bringing "problem solving" as the key word instead "innovation". (With a hope that solving a tough problem should result in innovation) Techniques like 6 thinking hat, TRIZ and MindMap being used in this context. I'm not sure about the success it may bring. The context here however is different than students you have. For organization the mindset is that the ROI even before implementing the process. I think an organization success is only if they have a mindset of “experiment first" rather than "implement first".

I'm curious to know how you are teaching thinking process, this is where I'm still struggling to find solutions.
The following quote (piece of song) is something that I have in my email signature.. Hope you can get a feel now.. :)

"People will agree with you only if they already agree with you, you do not change people's minds" - Frank Zappa.
Please use the email ID prakasan_k@mindtree.com for sending anything.

Best,

Prakash

Prakash:

Actually, as I have learned that everyone is born creative. The evidence of being born creative is that we do not do anything twice exactly the same way. The challenge is direct our creativity towards a purpose. Innovation is defined as cretivity applied, and business innovation is defined as innovation to create significant value.

To facilitate innovative thinking, I use a method called GCSF, i.e., Good, Crazy, Stupid and Funny. I described this methodology in the article at http://www.qualitydigest.com/mar07/articles/04_article.shtml

I like the idea of experiment first before implement. One must tryout and adapt any methodology before adopting it.

Syllabus is on its way to your email.

Praveen

Praveen,
I am currently writing a draft for a two-day workshop to help teachers employ "innovative teaching strategies" or be "innovative teachers" at the primary and secondary level.

I too would like to see your syllabus if you would share.
EMAIL: dks_dolphin@yahoo.com

I will also look at the article you referenced above.

Thanks for this interesting conversational string.

-Kevin

Just information about fundamental educational program Advanced Master of Innovative Design

http://www.insa-strasbourg.fr/triz/amid.php

I agree with Mr. Praveen's statement, "Everybody is born creative" how ever as we grow up, our educaiton system only stifles our creativity. We are taught more of "what is not possible". When we enter in indusrty this is futher reinforced. Here the method is slightly different, it is like "this is how we have been doing it since last 20 years".
How ever creativity and innovation is essentailly required in business and industry.
In engineering education one method to build innovative skills could be to encourage experimentation. The Laboratories should be left open to students, more and more projects should be encouraged. The students should be encouraged to go beyond the syllabus. Students should design their own experiments. There is a famous quote "Creative person performs best in an exam where the question paper is left blank".
Teaching innovation in industry is relatively difficult. In industry the innovation process is more driven by the culture of the organisation, which is very difficult (if not impossible) to change. It calls for a serious commitment from top management for innovation.

Request Mr. Praveen Gupta to kindly mail the syllabus to me also at parag.khedkar@cgl.co.in.
Regards
Parag P Khedkar

Praveen,

I too would like to see your syllabus. Please email to milleraa@uci.edu.

Thank you,

Allison

have a visit at http://www.systematic-innovation.com

Praveen,

Please email me a copy of your your syllabus to melissa dot koch at sri dot com

Thank you,

Melissa

Done! If anyvody else needs the syllabus for innovation course being taught at IIT Chicago (www.iit.edu), just ask here.

It is a free service!

- Praveen

Hello Praveen,

I too would like to see your syllabus. Please email to tohfay@yahoo.com.

Thank you,

John

Hi:

I would like a copy as well please. I am a high school manufacturing technology teacher in southern ontario canada. Like most manufacturing based economies in north america we are sufferling here as well. Low value added jobs are disappearing. I believe our salvation will be to graduate students who can innovate. The problem is how to go about teaching it.

mike