Wednesday, 26 June 2013

Innovation – Mining for Ideas from Within

       It used to be just another word in the Oxford Dictionary until recently became a buzz word among SMEs, startups, MNCs and even the government sector. Every department is working on ways and means to move ahead and the term status quo do not seem to be accepted by results-driven leaders anymore.

    Instilling the spirit of Innovation has yielded various rewards for many organization. Innovation has helped organizations boost revenue, reduce cost and created a more exciting workplace for staffs of all levels.
Innovation is not possible without commitment, contribution, problem solving and teamwork. Innovation is a habit that needs to be nurtured and it needs to be influenced from an environment that promotes it. A top down approach has to be enforced in promoting innovation.

   
    Every organization has their own challenges and will need their own form of innovation, either in terms of product, service or processes. Human beings do not start off with a job. We lived off the land, we grow our own food and sell the excess for cash, we design and create tools, etc. Innovation has always been within us but it needs to be reignited.

   This innovation workshop can be a platform for organization to generate ideas on how they can move forward to increase productivity and efficiency. Learners will be guided to some useful practical tools to aid idea generation and moving towards a whole new innovation-driven work environment.

   Program Objectives

  • Understanding the roadblocks and highways to innovation. 
  • Understand the value of innovation and idea generation to an organization and one's career progression.
  • Develop a new perspective on challenges ahead.
  • Create ideas within an organization's context.


This program can be packaged as either a 4-hour innovation introductory workshop or a full day program. It is designed for junior staff to middle management leaders. The sessions are designed to be high energy, activity-based.

Course Outline

  • Value of innovation and idea generation in company growth.
  • Value of innovation in career progression of individual.
  • Teamwork in idea generation.
  • Identifying Innovation Barricade, Innovation Highways.
  • Relationship between food, emotion, memory and creativity.
  • Using SWOT Analysis as an idea generation tool.
  • Creating an environment to promote innovation.

About the Trainer



      Mohamad Faizal graduated from National University of Ireland, Dublin, in 2006 with an Honours Degree in Management. He received his Diploma in Electrical Engineering in 1999 from Singapore Polytechnic.

      Mohamad Faizal is an independent trainer and training program developer for school’s enrichment program as well as corporate programs. Some of the high profile clients include the Republic Singapore Navy and the Republic Singapore Air Force where he conducts Innovation workshop under a flagship company, Anne Leong HRD. 

Prior to that, he was the Head of Operations for Moneytree Singapore Pte Ltd and a co-founder/partner in a facilities management consultancy firm, Metropolitan FM Solutions.

A strong advocate in performance management, innovation, training and continuous learning, he lives the cliché that the right training program and an enjoyable learning experience is a bridge towards improved performance and productivity.  

To view his testimonials, click here.

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Friday, 14 June 2013

Innovation & Enterprise Workshop For Anglican High School

I started taking a batch of 40 students from Anglican High in the Innovation & Enterprise Workshop in May this year. There will be a total of about 14 sessions where these students will be innovating, researching, marketing and presenting. Personally, I love running innovation programs. And this program that I was assigned to conduct is the most comprehensive innovation program in Singapore, I dare say, where students get to learn problem identification, brainstorming for ideas, learn to analyse the competition, learn to market and present their ideas.

The first session of the program
The class is made up of secondary 1 students and they are a bright bunch of teenagers. Very driven and full of energy.

 Earlier his year, i made a promise to myself. I must have at least 5 teams from various schools under my portfolio to get into the finals on this year's ICE Challenge 2013. For those who do not know what is ICE Challenge;
I.C.E Challenge is an innovation and enterprise competition held at a national level. The acronym for Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise, this competition is in conjunction with the Global Entrepreneurship campaign. Students will be required to create an innovative product idea and present them with a business plan. The finals will be judged by a panel and all preparation is for this day.

It is not the winning of the competition. It is about competing and this brings the students to another level altogether. It is from this experience that I think will benefit them. The trophy is just a bonus.