The strategic problem this addresses
Capability programmes fail when people arrive with different assumptions about what innovation means, who it is for and what will be expected of them. Sponsors need a common baseline before investing in taught days.
Intended audience
- Every participant entering the Innovation Capability Pathway
- Senior leaders and sponsors before Strategic Innovation Leadership
- Innovation Ambassadors and local champions
- Whole business units at the start of an enterprise academy
Prerequisites
- None
Duration and delivery format
45 to 60 minutes. Self-paced digital module, available on your learning platform or ours.
Capability outcomes
By the end of the programme and its workplace application, participants can:
- 01Explain what innovation capability is and why it differs from a course
- 02Recognise the five stages of the pathway and where each role fits
- 03Identify a live challenge worth working on
- 04Understand how the Capability Portfolio evidences progression
Course experience
Participants work through a sequence of short segments: the capability gap most organisations face, the pathway stages, the role of evidence, and how AI supports the work with human judgement in charge.
An initial diagnostic asks participants to rate their current confidence across research, framing, experimentation, delivery and facilitation. The result shapes a learner profile and a recommended starting point.
The module closes with participants naming one challenge from their own work. That challenge becomes the first entry in their Capability Portfolio and the raw material for the next stage.
Methods
- Capability diagnostic
- Learner profiling
- Challenge identification
- Goal setting
Tools
- Capability Portfolio
- Your learning management system or our hosted platform
Where AI supports this programme
Guided challenge framing prompts, Diagnostic summaries for sponsors. Human ownership of decisions, source checking and your organisation’s information-handling rules apply throughout. How we govern AI use.
Practical outputs
Work products recorded in the Capability Portfolio.
- Initial diagnostic
- Learner profile
- Personal learning goals
- Initial challenge identification
- Capability Portfolio activation
Workplace application
Participants name a real challenge and record it in the Capability Portfolio. Sponsors receive an aggregated view of the challenges surfaced across a cohort, which often becomes the first version of a challenge portfolio.
Assessment and recognition
Completion of the diagnostic and challenge entry. No formal assessment at this stage.
Capability Portfolio record
Completion and workplace evidence are recorded in the participant’s Capability Portfolio and count toward facilitator and leadership stages.
Position within the wider pathway
The first stage of the pathway, Aware. It precedes Innovation Processes for most roles and precedes Strategic Innovation Leadership and Portfolio Governance for senior leaders.
- 1Aware
- 2Align
- 3Apply
- 4Deliver
- 5Sustain
Part of the recommended pathway for: Innovation Ambassadors; Innovation Practitioners and Unit Teams; Core Teams and Capability Specialists; Senior Leaders and Sponsors. See the role-based pathways.
Related programmes
Place in the Innovation Capability System
Introduces the whole system and where each role enters it.
See the whole systemEnterprise deployment options
Standalone programme
One programme, one cohort, one live challenge each
Best for: A team or unit that needs a specific capability now, or an organisation testing the approach before committing further.
Facilitated cohort
A role-based pathway for a cohort, with sponsored challenges and coaching
Best for: Developing practitioners, facilitators or leaders for a defined part of the organisation with visible results.
Enterprise capability academy
The full pathway run at organisational scale, with internal facilitators
Best for: Organisations building innovation and AI capability as a permanent asset rather than a programme.
Relevant case study
Defence and government
Building innovation capability across UK Defence
UK Ministry of Defence
A structured pathway, funded through UK Defence Innovation and the Defence Academy, that develops innovation practitioners across ranks and functions and turns training into applied work on live defence challenges.
Read the case study