In today's competitive marketplace, it's not enough to generate great ideas within your organization - you also have to deliver results. Nearly all executives (98%) agree or strongly agree that innovation is important for the future success of their organization, but that's not today's reality: fewer than one in five say they work for a very innovative organization, according to the Association for Talent Development. Innovation may seem like an overused word, but the successful practice of innovation can leapfrog your company ahead of the competition.   

How can your organization bridge this gap between dream and reality? High Performance Learning is delighted to announce a highly creative training program, Innovating for Results™, designed to guide your managers and employees to approach problems with a fresh mindset that produces innovative solutions that work. Intended for senior leaders as well as all managers and employees, this high-energy workshop encourages participants to examine their typical approaches to problem solving, identify and then challenge typical barriers - their personal fears, the "fire-hosing" of their ideas by others, and the company's "sacred cows" that prevent change - and help them to take smart risks to better drive results.

Working together with sociologist and best-selling author Louis Patler, PhD, the HPL team is excited about this new addition to our performance improvement program offerings. Patler's program draws on more than 20 years of research on the subject of innovation, including gathering extensive survey data and conducting dozens of focus groups. His work has yielded what he sees as five keys to successful innovation - the core of Innovating for Results™. The training focuses on creating and empowering innovators rather than just promoting innovation, as Patler has found that learning how to encourage and support innovators in greater numbers will lead to far more innovations.

"All too often, companies try to promote a 'culture of innovation' which always sounds nice. Unfortunately, without developing teams of innovators that will be able to thrive in that culture, the 'let's just talk about our culture of innovation' strategy does not always lead to meaningful results," says Steven Aronson, president of High Performance Learning. "Innovating for Results™ will shift your employees' thinking into high gear, help them imagine novel solutions to ever-changing market challenges as well as equip your leaders with new skills to cultivate a company of innovators."

"Our research focuses on 'innovators' rather than on innovations," agrees Patler. "Our data also showed that the commitment to results drives successful innovators and leaders. We have found that the three most common paths for innovators are: prototyping by partnering with change; iterating by inventing the solution; and transforming via simplicity by taking smart risks." Innovating for Results™ takes teams through this entire cycle of innovation, from initial idea to something practical that can be successfully implemented.

During the training, cross-functional teams are asked to address an existing problem and solve it - with an innovative solution. The training can be particularly useful for managers and employees in:

• All types of organizations seeking to cultivate teams of innovators to gain a competitive edge.
• Highly competitive industries, where alternative approaches are needed to meet important new product and project goals within tight time frames, limited budgets and other constraints.
• Companies who have recently undergone a merger and/or acquisition and need to integrate two disparate corporate cultures.

If you would like to learn more about how to train and develop more innovators in your organization, please contact HPL today at 508-877-3600.

HPL will be hosting a 30-minute Innovation Webinar with Louis Patler, PhD, on Tuesday, June 2 at 12:30 p.m. EDT for a limited number of participants. Register here to save your spot for this complimentary event. Please click here to learn more about Innovating for Results™.  

High Performance Learning is proud to celebrate its 21st year in business! Since 1994, HPL has worked with over 300 client organizations world-wide, providing consulting services and results-oriented training programs. We would like to celebrate our 21st anniversary with you by offering a special 21% discount on all of HPL's e-learning courses available on our website. These e-learning courses are as follows: 

• Project Management Short Course
• Project Management Long Course
• Agile Short Courses
• Agile Long Courses
• Six Sigma
• Leadership 
• Management
• Human Resource Management
• Finance

This discount will be effective through September 1, 2015. Thank you for making these first 21 years fly by! The entire HPL team looks forward to working with all of our valued clients in the future!