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INNOVATION TRAINING
In an era of rapid change and disruption, how might we identify, design and test new opportunities for greater educational growth and resilience?
THE CHALLENGE
The world of work is rapidly changing and educators and educational institutions are hard-pressed to continuously provide relevant and meaningful learning content and environments for students.
Our client, a prestigious secondary school, approached us to build an innovation portfolio and design new venture concepts to help them lead the change for the future of education - for themselves, but moreso for the future of their students.
OUR APPROACH
To meet this challenge, we designed a bespoke futures design approach that integrated aspects of strategic foresight, innovation strategy, design research, and business model design.
We first convened school leadership to consider the changing nature of education today and imagine possible futures for what secondary school may look like in 20 years. To inform these futures, we guided groups to consider global trends in education, large-scale drivers of change, and existing orthodoxies and how we might flip them to uncover new opportunities.
We then worked through a rigorous innovation strategy process to co-design an innovation ambition and identify innovation themes.
THE OUTCOMES
With the innovation strategy in place, we developed five unique venture concepts representing new ‘where to play’ and ‘how to win’ market niches. For each venture concept, we employed aspects of design thinking, service design, and business model design. We then built out the details of one venture including initial prototypes, user research, competitive landscape analysis and initial market sizing.
The outcomes of this work were five business model concepts with one concept fleshed out, describing the full initiative experience and with initial user research to support the core value propositions.
THE IMPACTS
The client further validated the venture concepts with their marketing and business intelligence teams and decided to move forward with one concept in market. The concept is currently in pilot phase and marks a significant step forward for the school as they build their innovation portfolio and work towards greater resilience for themselves and their students.
CLIENT RESPONSE
As one of Canada’s oldest and most sought-after independent schools, we are constantly looking to better serve our students and families.
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We initially reached out to OCAD U CO to help us imagine new areas of possible growth for the school and to be our partner in developing the initial venture concepts for building an innovation portfolio.
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After helping us make sense of the pressures impacting education today, and imaging new possible futures for our school, the OCAD U CO team developed innovative yet grounded venture concepts that we might pursue. Through their partnership with our leadership team and Board of Directors, we gained confidence in the ideas and decided to move forward with one as a pilot program.
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Overall, we could not have gotten to where we are today without the partnership, confidence, and direction of the OCAD U CO team.