Gregg Fraley

JANUARY 15, 2021

Scaffolding is THE Key to Learning AND Innovation. Learn to Play Piano in Days. Control Shift Piano to Launch January 27th. Steven Jenkins and I have something in common. We’re both frustrated piano players. I took lessons as an adult for several years and never achieved fluency. Traditional lessons teach music theory. I can read music but I’m so slow I can’t really keep a song flowing without practicing for months.

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Innovation Learning System Video 95

Gregg Fraley

JANUARY 4, 2021

Creativity is a Choice and a Habit. Join the Creative Flow Challenge. Starts Jan. 11th — 18 Days to Creative Power. Learn How to Apply Creativity to All Your Projects. Yes, you can improve your creativity. It doesn’t matter if you think you’re creative or not. It doesn’t matter if you can’t draw, write poems, paint lovely pictures, play guitar like Eric Clapton, sing like Joni Mitchell, or improv like Robin Williams.

Creativity 52

Creativity Project Brainstorming Creative Thinking 52

Gregg Fraley

DECEMBER 9, 2020

18 Day Challenge Builds Creativity. Create An Amazing 2021. Register now for a transformative experience. The Creative Flow Challenge is an 18 day adventure in personal self-expression. The benefits of better access to your creativity AND consistent creative effectiveness are achievable. You’ll create daily, inspired by prompts to get you into flow.

Creativity 52

Creativity Exercises Meeting Groups 52

Gregg Fraley

OCTOBER 23, 2020

Adjust Innovation Project Roadmaps Now. Fraley Oracle Predictions for 2020 & 2021. Like everyone else innovators have been thrown a loop during Covid19. Strategic plans so carefully developed now look like Napoleon’s disastrous return from his invasion of Russia (see graphic). Napoleon didn’t adjust his plans. He lost his army and his empire.

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Roadmap Ideation Innovation Project 100

Gregg Fraley

OCTOBER 1, 2020

Digital Technology Remains An Unharvested Field. There is so much innovation potential being left on the table, right now, that our future could truly be that shining city on the hill. The potential, much of it, lays in digital technology. Your future could be that company that thrives amidst chaos. Your future could be that person who surfs above the waves of massive change.

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Roadmap Technical Review Technology Innovation Processes 98

Gregg Fraley

AUGUST 28, 2020

We Still Can Learn From “The Ken” Sir Ken Robinson Leaves a Legacy That Still Inspires. Educators, Creators, and Innovators, Revisit His Work! The creativity and innovation world has lost one of its finest just this last week. Sir Ken Robinson was the most articulate speaker and author in the field of applied creativity we’ve ever known.

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Creativity Video Training Creative Thinking 105

Gregg Fraley

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

Skilled Facilitation Makes a Difference. Success is Determined Before a Meeting. Combining tools & techniques is an art form. I recently completed a really difficult and complicated facilitation. It consisted of about three weeks of planning, a very intensive two day session, and a report. Success! Getting to Clarity. It was a challenge that took time to understand.

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Training Brainstorming Meeting Tools 52

Gregg Fraley

JANUARY 25, 2020

Main Culprit? Lack of Education in Science, Manufacturing, Construction, and Engineering. Infrastructure and Education Project Idea: Learn, Build, Innovate USA. Learn, Build, Innovate USA is an idea for a national project. It would address two major shortfalls in the economy: education in “maker” sciences, and, the crumbling infrastructure.

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Training Project Innovation Learning 59

Gregg Fraley

NOVEMBER 18, 2019

Lessons a Forager Can Lend Business. Relax, Stay Hopeful, Keep Looking. I’m a mushroom hunter. I wander the woods foraging, especially in the fall season. Southwest Michigan has a lot of edible varieties but there is one particular delicacy I love. It’s called a Hen-of-the-Woods. It’s a unique shape, something like a cauliflower, and about that size or larger.

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Project Training Tips Tools 62

Gregg Fraley

NOVEMBER 15, 2019

Experiential Learning Accelerates Innovation. Innovation Session Designs Don’t Engage. New Study: Drawing is the Fastest, Most Effective Way to Learn. I read with interest an article stating that drawing accelerates learning. It does. Using experiential learning tools like drawing isn’t really new in innovation process. What’s new is the hard proof, and, using tools more deliberately.

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Learning Underperforming Technical Team Training Innovation 45

Gregg Fraley

NOVEMBER 5, 2019

Momentum. …Accelerating Teams Through Assessment and Training. It’s a sad fact of organizational life that only a small percentage of teams achieve high function. Most teams muddle along, and get the essential things done — or not. Some teams are absolute disaster zones, and are not only ineffective, are actually destructive. Imagine someone pouring crazy glue into your car engine, that’s how a bad team can affect an organization.

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Underperforming Technical Team Training Software Review Collaboration 40

Gregg Fraley

OCTOBER 19, 2019

Build Innovation From The Ground Up. Creative Thinking Can Be Trained. Train Creativity First, Innovation Next . It’s mind numbing all the literature I read about innovation. I’m also a bit weary of chasing or developing the latest, greatest, and most sophisticated tool for ideation. Frameworks are fascinating, but have mercy, it’s overwhelming.

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Creativity Training Creative Thinking Innovation 71

Gregg Fraley

SEPTEMBER 9, 2019

The Classic Pitfalls of Innovation. Mandates, Training, Process, Talent, Conflict, Risk. Where Have Your Initiatives Failed? Innovation programs are like a labyrinth designed to have you lose your way — and die! Organizations fail with initiatives for many reasons, with lots of good intentions. I was thinking about an upcoming talk I’m giving on innovation pitfalls — and got bored looking for graphics.

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Training Innovation Design Thinking Agile 45

Gregg Fraley

AUGUST 30, 2019

Public Training Offering — Getting Innovation Started. Attention Michiana, NW Indiana, Chicago. Establish Fundamentals and Avoid Pitfalls. Gregg Fraley Innovation (GFi) and The Society of Innovators at Purdue Northwest Collaborate on Public Training Seminar. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 30, 2019. PORTAGE, Ind. — The Society of Innovators at Purdue University Northwest (PNW) is hosting a public innovation educational seminar from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 19, at its

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Training Innovation Case Study Creative Process 45

Gregg Fraley

AUGUST 22, 2019

Rural Development Hinges On The Creative Class. Attracting the Creative Class is About Culture, Tolerance, and Quality of Life. Where Creative Workers Locate is Where Innovation and New Businesses Happen, Site Locations Follow. Richard Florida is, in my view, the top theorist in the USA with regards to economic development. His seminal book the Rise of the Creative Class should be required reading for anyone with an interest in creating jobs, and attracting companies to locate in a particular re

Creativity 40

Creativity Underperforming Technical Team Culture Project 40

Gregg Fraley

JULY 16, 2019

The Innovators Monologue. with profound apologies to William Shakespeare. by Gregg Fraley. To innovate or not to innovate — that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to stagnate or create while. feeling the slings and arrows of peers and loss of fortune. or to take up arms against inaction and seek to disrupt or improve. and if I fail to find sweet perfection or green fields, I die — no more to market, sell, deliver, enrich, enable — the end of the enterprise,

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Innovation Entrepreneurship Project Marketing 40

Gregg Fraley

JULY 10, 2019

Edition #2 of An Innovation Minute. Qualitative Research in B2B. With Host, Gregg Fraley. The message of this edition of An Innovation Minute is simple: Use of qualitative research techniques in business to business companies (B2B) is woefully under-utilized. Click here to view. The opportunity in using qualitative techniques is more focused innovation.

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Design Thinking Video LEAN Survey 45

Gregg Fraley

JUNE 26, 2019

Basic Innovation Messaging to Operational Employees. Keep it Straight Forward and Clear. Live Up to Your End & Keep Communicating. After doing a recent short video (“Innovation Minute”) on basic innovation training for operational employees, I was asked a number of questions. Leaders asked: Where to start? The next was, how much detail should we provide?

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Innovation Training Project Innovation Programs 45

Gregg Fraley

JUNE 15, 2019

Improv is a Swiss Army Knife for Problem Solving. I just completed another workshop for high level executives in the use of Improv for Problem Solving. Most of the group were skeptical at the start. It shows up in their body language; arms folded across chests, quizzical looks, and self-conscious laughs. I get it. When I was in their shoes I would have resisted games to, I would have been afraid to act silly (or vulnerable).

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Team Building LEAN Design Thinking Agile 53

Gregg Fraley

JUNE 3, 2019

Hope is a Four Letter Word in Innovation. Hope — the cornerstone of innovation culture. Hope is inspired by successful projects; the lesson of Washington at Trenton. In the innovation space there is a great deal of discussion about mindset. Rightfully so, attitude and thinking patterns have everything to do with setting the table for a productive innovation culture.

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Project Innovation Training Culture 77

Gregg Fraley

MAY 22, 2019

The Benefits of Innovation Training for Operational Employees. 85% of CEOs put Innovation as a Top Three priority. Consider a Brown Bag Innovation Training or Immersion in Innovation Concepts. Why is it that organizations don’t invest in training operational employees? It’s an opportunity to improve innovation culture that few are taking up.

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Training Innovation Technical Review Culture 45

Gregg Fraley

MAY 14, 2019

Brown Bag Innovation. “Innovation is everybody’s job.” Gregg Fraley, keynote speech, circa 2006. “Innovation is everybody’s job, but you have to provide smart ways to contribute” Gregg Fraley, keynote speech, 2019. . I’m excited to talk to you about a new offering, Brown Bag Innovation. It’s a lunch time workshop for those who are typically not involved in focused innovation efforts.

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Innovation Training Disruption Culture 9

Gregg Fraley

APRIL 22, 2019

What You Should Be Learning in Innovation Training. But you probably are not! Eleven Innovation Bullets to Dodge, in no particular order. Lack of Managment support will effectively kill any innovation program no matter how well conceived. If you don’t have Talent, superior talent, you’ll fail. Design Thinking alone will not guarantee success (or any other framework, Agile, Lean, etc.).

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Training Innovation Programs LEAN Innovation 58

Gregg Fraley

FEBRUARY 28, 2019

80% Of Brainstorming Sessions Don’t Work. Seven Idea Generation Fails. Redefine Brainstorming and Get Better Results. I might be getting to old to hold back on saying this about ideation, aka idea generation, aka brainstorming. My inner skeptic and snarky soul wants to scream it. Based on my experience, about 80% of idea generation doesn’t work.

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Brainstorming Idea Generation Ideation Training 52

Gregg Fraley

FEBRUARY 26, 2019

Are You Having Fun? Innovation Should Be Fun, Joyful, and About Playing With Concepts. The One Question Innovation Culture Assessment. A lot of fuss is made over innovation culture. I get it — it’s probably the most important fundamental to put in place if you actually want innovation to happen. Organizations spend a great deal of time and energy investing in training, speakers, communications, systems, frameworks, and assessments.

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Culture Training Creative Thinking Innovation 52

Gregg Fraley

FEBRUARY 15, 2019

Facilitation of Innovation Meetings Requires a Highly Specific Set of Skills, Frameworks, Tools — and Experience. Professional Facilitation and/or Training Makes a Difference*. Seven Facilitation Fails. Innovation projects are about a lot of meetings. Meetings about getting a project mandate, visioning, what to innovate, how to innovate, challenges to take on, jobs to do, experiences to create, research exploration, insights development, problem framing and problem reframing, project road-

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Meeting Project Training Brainstorming 67

Gregg Fraley

FEBRUARY 6, 2019

Why Don’t B2B Companies Use Qualitative Research? Qualitative Studies Leads to Insights, and Innovative Results. Open-ended Questions Are Powerful. Qualitative research is an effective way to understand your market better. Consumer product companies spend a great deal of time and money doing qualitative, essentially, talking to consumers. They often use the focus group method, but also do one-on-one interviews, and observational research or ethnographic studies.

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Technical Review Study Marketing Survey 53

Gregg Fraley

JANUARY 30, 2019

Innovation Training. “Innovation Intensive, beyond Design Thinking” Public Course* With Master Trainer Gregg Fraley. Comprehensive Immersion Course for: Innovation Project Managers, Teams, Executives, Facilitators. Keith House, Chicago, Thursday March 28th, 2019. This one day course consistently receives high marks from innovation executives and training professionals.

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Design Thinking Training Ideation Course 9

Gregg Fraley

JANUARY 24, 2019

Do Purpose First, Select a Framework, Then Do Projects. Without a Clear Purpose, Innovation Drifts Off Course. It may seem obvious but unless you know who you are, and what your purpose is, as an organization you will flounder. Innovation Leaders sometimes get it backwards. This wastes Time and Money. In the innovation space there is endless discussion about frameworks.

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Project Idea Generation Innovation Design Thinking 70

Gregg Fraley

JANUARY 18, 2019

Innovation Emergencies Happen. Emergent See Innovation from GFi Available February, 2019. I advise pro-active, and continuous, innovation. It’s always easier to work with a challenge when you have time and the leisure to incubate, think, and in general work the clay of research insights, trends, prototypes, paper-based concepts, or a business model canvas.

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Underperforming Technical Team Innovation Project Creativity 45

Gregg Fraley

JANUARY 4, 2019

Innovation Learning Points From the Great Faucet DIY Fiasco. DIY is a Form of Innovation. I’m the Abraham Lincoln of home fix-it DIY projects. Like Lincoln, I ultimately win, but painfully fail many, many times before I “git-er done” (FYI: DIY = Do It Yourself.). As an innovation consultant who is a facilitator, team builder, idea person, and strategist, my need for hands-on engineering skills are minimal.

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Project Training Innovation Underperforming Technical Team 58

Gregg Fraley

NOVEMBER 20, 2018

Economic Development and the “Home Run” Complex. Amazon has finally made a decision about it’s new HQ. I have to say I’m a bit awestruck at how much time and energy was wasted by so many cities and regions around the country, only to have Amazon do the obvious thing and go with the world capitals for corporate HQ’s — New York and Washington.

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Underperforming Technical Team Training Brainstorming Entrepreneurship 45

Gregg Fraley

OCTOBER 4, 2018

It’s fall and it’s time to go back to school. If you’re in the Chicago or Denver areas, check out these innovation training course offerings. Gregg Fraley Innovation (GFi) is offering three public courses in late October and early November. Click on the course title to register. Don’t wait to register, these are popular offerings. .

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Course Training Brainstorming Design Thinking 53

Gregg Fraley

SEPTEMBER 28, 2018

Innovation is Learning. For many years I kept the concepts of innovation and learning in separate boxes. I thought innovation was creating new things of value, and, learning was understanding new things. I always suspected there was a closer connection. I now believe that learning and innovation are joined at the hip. You can’t innovate without an exploratory learning process.

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Ideation Learning Innovation Exercises 85

Gregg Fraley

SEPTEMBER 18, 2018

Off-Site Innovation can indeed spur creativity. I like what Cardinal Health and Crimson Cup are doing in Columbus, OH with offsite innovation spaces. I like the attention they’ve paid to team diversity and on a customer-centered process. P&G’s Innovation Gym is another great dedicated off-site innovation space. I think these organizations are doing the right thing — for their contexts and purposes.

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Project Innovation System Training 53

Gregg Fraley

AUGUST 28, 2018

Innovation Intensive . Thursday, September 13, 2018, The Keith House, Chicago. Master Innovation Trainer: Gregg Fraley. Register Now: gregg@greggfraley.com. Course Description: Innovation Intensive is a one day, deep dive, into fundamental and advanced concepts in innovation. It immerses participants in the relevant theory and systematic practices critical to organizational growth.

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Course Training Idea Generation Innovation 26

Gregg Fraley

AUGUST 22, 2018

Training Accelerates Innovation. 94% of managers are unsatisfied with their companies innovation performance. 70% of CEO’s see innovation as a key driver of growth. That’s what McKinsey says in this article. Why then is corporate America so woefully undertrained in innovation fundamentals? Energy is Not Enough, Get Training in Innovation .

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Training Idea Generation Innovation Creative Thinking 48