Innovation Management

How to keep up in a rapidly changing world?

The world around us is changing at an unprecedented speed. For organisations it is now key – more than ever before – that they develop a creative climate, accept challenges and experiment, while also generating new products and services that keep up with the competition’s.

Innovation is not a fortuitous process, neither is it the result of spur-of-the-moment inspiration. Innovation is the pinnacle of years of work and know-how gain. However, for the great ideas generated through innovation to come into being, there is a great need for openness towards experimenting and failing, as well as becoming familiar with methods and processes that take us on a structured path towards innovation.

Not în the least, innovation can entail any enhancement to the services you offer, the daily processes, in the team’s way of work, or any novelty that brings added value to clients (internal or external) or team members.

Who is it for?

This course is for organisations, as well as individuals interested in identifying more effective, yet less obvious solutions to their problems.

Course objectives

  • Becoming aware of the importance of innovation for the company
  • Appropriating basic tools to stimulate innovation within own teams
  • Learning best practice from innovation pioneer-companies
  • Becoming aware of the hurdles preventing innovative behaviour

Main topics

  • How is the world changing, and why should we be a part of that change?
  • What blocks innovation processes in organisations?
  • Innovativ management – basic principles of innovation
  • Design Thinking – tool for stimulating innovative approaches in companies
  • Stages of an innovative process. Simulation
  • Tools and methods for developing creativity within own team
  • Best practice and rituals to help boost our team towards innovation

Adela Cristea

Managing Partner & Founder Ascent Group

Adela Cristea is the managing partner of Ascent Group and founder of the consortium. Adela's academic background is in Economy and Law, at the "West University" Timișoara and "Vasile Goldiș" University, Arad. Throughout the years she's become specialised in numerous areas, studying at universities abroad (Gent University - Belgium; Göttingen University - Germany; National Democratic Institute - USA), as well as become trained in the Systems Thinking course at Oxford University.

Adela's wide experience of 20+ years, particularly that pertaining to the area of management and human resources, has been accumulated with multi-national companies such as Unilever or International Resources, as well as with consulting groups, such as Archimedes Consulting Group and Ascent Group.

All along, Adela has been engaged in multiple business start-up projects, company restructurings, labor conflicts and training, for multi-national companies, as well as for local businesses in a wide array of fields, both in Romania and abroad. Adela's multi-disciplinary experience is rounded off with a 15-year stretch teaching at the university.

Since 2017, Adela has become the co-founder of Design Thinkers Academy Eastern Europe, contributing to the development of the company to reach over 20 countries in Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Central Asia.

Diana Simion

Senior Trainer

With a background in academic and marketing research, Diana has a Ph.D. in Communication Studies and significant experience as a facilitator in Design Thinking projects, as well as with brand consulting.

Her inter-disciplinary awareness and curiosity to explore and connect people from various areas of activity have made her activity, over the last 15 years, revolve around organisational consulting and diagnose, soft skills and personal development trainings, brand consulting, marketing research, Design Thinking, customer & employee experience, communication and marketing.

Diana is a relentless explorer, who, whether online or in class, building on the relevance and clarity of her content, engages with participants as a highly empathetic and playful trainer, enabling a unique learning experience for them, one in which not only their curiosity will be catered to, but one in which good cheer and smiles are a natural byproduct, too.