Innovation Network

Results

What the work produced, and what stayed behind.

Every case study follows the same structure, so you can compare them: organisational context, capability challenge, roles involved, pathway or intervention, live challenge, evidence and work products, decisions or outcomes, capability retained internally and the next stage.

Featured case studies

Three engagements in depth

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.

Roles and pathway
Innovation Ambassadors and champions in units and headquarters; Innovation Practitioners leading challenge work
Evidence created
Framed challenge statements from unit teams, Stakeholder and user maps, Assumption maps and prioritised concepts
Capability retained
Certified practitioners and internal facilitators now run sessions within their own units, and an alumni community sustains practice between cohorts. The department can commission programmes for whole units and route people to the right stage of the pathway.
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Enterprise, consumer goods

Faster from concept to shelf

A global consumer goods company

A multi-stage programme in agile and lean methods that reset how product teams at one of the world’s largest snack companies moved from concept to launch.

Roles and pathway
Product development and marketing teams; Innovation and portfolio leads
Evidence created
Current-state process assessment identifying bottlenecks, Prioritised concepts with explicit selection criteria, Consumer-tested prototypes
Capability retained
Teams continued to use the agile and lean routines introduced in the programme in their day-to-day product development, and the organisation adopted a culture of testing before committing.
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Government

Innovation Ambassadors for a government ministry

A government ministry in the Middle East

A cohort of Innovation Ambassadors trained and coached to break down departmental silos and run structured sprints inside a large national ministry.

Roles and pathway
Innovation Ambassadors drawn from across departments; Department heads as sponsors
Evidence created
Framed cross-departmental challenges, Sprint outputs and tested prototypes, Facilitated decision sessions
Capability retained
The ambassador network remained in place after the engagement, with ambassadors continuing to run sprints and facilitate cross-departmental work.
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More case studies

Sprints, accelerators and university programmes

Enterprise, food service

Faster quarterly planning

A leading UK quick-service restaurant brand

Sprint methods and agile working applied to quarterly planning, reducing planning time and speeding up the route to market.

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How we measure

The proof system behind the pathway

We track results in ten areas across programmes, cohorts and academies. Figures are published only when they have been verified against delivery records and, where a client is involved, approved by that client. Sponsors receive the full picture for their own organisation in cohort and academy reports.

  • 01People developed
  • 02Countries reached
  • 03Organisations supported
  • 04Live challenges addressed
  • 05Internal facilitators developed
  • 06Workplace projects completed
  • 07Evidence portfolios completed
  • 08Measured time or productivity gains
  • 09Participant recommendation scores
  • 10Portfolio or operational outcomes

Participant feedback

In their words

“One of the best courses I have been on during 17 years in the military.”
Course participant, UK Ministry of Defence. Innovation Processes.
“Potentially one of the most beneficial courses I have ever done. I can genuinely see the positive impact this would have if implemented and adopted widely.”
Course participant, UK Ministry of Defence. Innovation Practitioner.
“Often with these things I feel it is a gloss over a novel and difficult subject. This was very enlightening and something I shall use going forward.”
Course participant, UK Ministry of Defence. Innovation Processes.
“It was an amazing experience; now I’m a believer in Design Thinking.”
Senior Manager, Strategy, Etisalat. Innovation workshop.
“Really good, strong content, excellent trainer.”
Partner, Pinsent Masons. Innovation workshop.
“The best training session I have ever attended.”
PhD student, Imperial College London. Entrepreneurial bootcamp.
“Great training, very hands-on.”
Project Lead, Pentland Brands. Innovation workshop.

Organisations we have worked with include UK Ministry of Defence, UK Defence Innovation, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Imperial College London, UCL, London School of Economics.

What capability does your organisation need next?

Tell us about the challenge, the roles involved and the timeframe. We will come back within one working day with a view on where to start.

Discuss your challengeExplore the pathways