Course: Fostering Innovation in Australian Workplaces

A quiet truth up front: innovation won't happen because you hang a poster in the staff kitchen. That's blunt, but useful, companies need practical, repeatable systems, not slogans. Below is a detailed, pragmatic course outline designed to embed innovation into Australian workplaces, a blueprint we'd use for a six week blended programme aimed at emerging leaders and HR managers. It's deliberately practical, workshop heavy and measurable. I've run versions of this in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra and it works, when the leaders lean in.

Quick baseline statistic to frame the urgency: Australia's gross domestic expenditure on R&D sits around 1.79% of GDP (recent national data), which puts pressure on organisations to turn intellectual effort into commercial and operational outcomes. That's not a problem for policy alone; it's a workplace problem.

Target audience (randomised): Emerging leaders, team leads and HR managers from mid sized organisations (50 to 500 staff) across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Practical focus: equipping people who influence culture and operational design, not just the executives.

Preferred duration & format (randomised): 6 week blended programme. Five weeks of virtual live workshops (3 x 2 hour weekly sessions) plus one full day, face to face capstone in the host city (Sydney or Melbourne). Self paced microlearning and follow up coaching introduced between weeks.

Delivery mode (randomised): Hybrid, live virtual workshops for core theory and interactivity; local face to face capstone for practical simulation and cross pollination; asynchronous microlearning for reinforcement.

Price constraint (example): $495 inc. GST per person for virtual only cohort; optional $995 inc. GST for hybrid with in person capstone (includes facilitation, bespoke workbook, two coaching check ins). Headcount minimum 12; maximum 24 per cohort.

Primary learning outcomes (behavioural & metric based):
- Behavioural: Encourage measurable risk taking: participants will run at least two low cost experiments in their teams during the programme.
- Metric: Increase idea generation by participating teams by 30% in the 90 days after the capstone (baseline via pre workshop idea audit).
- Behavioural: Evidence of cross functional collaboration, participants will implement at least one cross team initiative within 60 days.
- Metric: Improvement in psychological safety scores (pre/post pulse survey) by one full point on a 5 point scale for at least 60% of participants.
- Business metric: At least one experiment should reach a defined MVP assessment (feasibility, desirability, viability).

Assessment & measurement (randomised): pre program diagnostic survey; fortnightly pulse checks; roleplay scoring during capstone; manager observation checklist at week 8; post program innovation metric dashboard.

Overview, Programme rationale and structure
Module sequencing is intentional: culture and leadership first, then tools and methods, then execution and measurement. Start with the soft stuff (mindsets), then the practical (processes, data) and finish with sustained systems (idea funnels, training loops). No technology fetishism. Tech is an enabler, not a strategy.

Programme modules (detailed)

Week 0, Preparatory work (asynchronous, self paced, two hours)
- Pre course diagnostic: baseline survey covering psychological safety, idea generation rate, previous experiments and team cross collaboration scores.
- Pre reading: short brief on Australian innovation landscape + one pager summarising R&D expenditure statistic and implications.
- Manager alignment form: one page commitment from each participant's manager outlining permission for 2 to 3 hours weekly experimentation time.
Deliverables: baseline dashboard, manager commitment note, motivation statement from each participant.

Week 1, Leading for innovation: mindset, psychological safety and incentives (3 x 2 hour virtual)
Session A: Leadership and the innovation mandate
- Why leaders matter more than tools—real world examples from Australian services and manufacturing sectors.
- Short provocations: "Agile is not only for IT" and "Publicly celebrate failure", both contentious, intentionally so.
- Activity: Leadership reflection and commitment canvas, short, sharp, videotaped 90 second pledges.

Session B: Psychological safety (practical)
- The five behaviours that underpin experimentation friendly teams.
- Micro practices leaders can use in daily stand ups and 1:1s.
- Roleplay: Giving permission to fail, three graded scenarios, scored for empathy, clarity and corrective framing.

Session C: Rewards and risk calibration
- Non monetary incentives that actually work, time allowance, visibility, career currency.
- Framework for defining acceptable risk: red/amber/green matrix for team experiments.
Deliverables: Team psychological safety plan; a risk calibrated experiment template.

Week 2, Idea generation and cross functional collaboration (3 x 2 hour virtual)
Session A: Structured ideation techniques
- Divergent exercises (SCAMPER, provocation prompts) adapted for hybrid teams.
- Bias awareness: making space for quieter voices and culturally diverse input.
- Live ideation lab with mixed teams to produce 20+ ideas in 45 minutes.

Session B: Cross functional teaming for speed
- How to form lightweight, high performance project pods: roles, charters and sprint plans.
- Communications matrix for inter departmental work.
- Case workshop: rebuild a simple internal process (e.g., onboarding) in a 90 minute sprint.

Session C: Idea triage and prioritisation
- A pragmatic scoring model: impact, effort, strategic fit and regulatory friction.
- A decision gate for "Try now" vs "Prototype" vs "Park".
Deliverables: Backlog of prioritised ideas; charter for at least one cross functional experiment.

Week 3, Experimentation design and rapid prototyping (3 x 2 hour virtual)
Session A: Hypothesis driven experiments
- Crafting clear hypotheses and learning goals.
- Designing MVPs that minimise cost and maximise learning.
- Template: experiment blueprint with control variables and measurable outcomes.

Session B: Low cost prototyping techniques
- Tools and tactics: paper prototypes, role based simulations, concierge testing, shadowing.
- Ethical guardrails for experiments, especially customer facing ones.

Session C: Measurement and learning loops
- Leading and lagging indicators; lean metrics.
- "Fail fast" debrief method: how to run a blameless post mortem that yields usable insight.
Deliverables: Three experiment blueprints per participant; measurement dashboards template.

Week 4, Digital tools, data analytics and emerging tech (3 x 2 hour virtual)
Session A: Technology as amplifier, not solution
- Mapping Business problems to tech options, simple decision trees.
- Quick wins: automation of admin tasks, simple analytics dashboards, customer feedback loops.

Session B: Data literacy for non analysts
- Basic analytics primer: what to ask, not how to code.
- Using data to validate experiments: sample size logic, signal vs noise, basic A/B thinking.

Session C: Emerging technologies and ethical considerations
- Brief tour of AI, ML, IoT and how they change work design.
- Risk checklist for adoption: security, bias, job impact, customer consent.
Deliverables: Tech opportunity map for participants' teams; analytic checklist for experiments.

Week 5, Agile ways of working and idea management systems (3 x 2 hour virtual)
Session A: Applying Agile outside software
- Sprints, retrospectives and minimal governance for corporate teams.
- Hybrid cadence: how to run monthly innovation sprints alongside quarterly planning.

Session B: Idea management practices
- Building an idea funnel: intake, triage, development, pilot, scale.
- Selecting or building an idea management tool: lightweight vs enterprise approaches.

Session C: Governance and stakeholder engagement
- Board and exec reporting that avoids the "Shiny new thing" trap.
- Decision rights and funding windows for experiments.
Deliverables: A one page idea funnel and governance blueprint; sprint calendar for next quarter.

Week 6, Capstone day (full day face to face)
Morning, Simulation and roleplay
- Participants run their experiment prototypes through simulated Customer trials, using actors or roleplay.
- Real time coaching from facilitators on measurement, communication and pivot decisions.

Afternoon, Scaling plan and executive pitch
- Each team prepares a five minute executive pitch: hypothesis, experiment outcome, next step and request (funding or permission).
- Peer and facilitator panel provide feedback for refinement.

Late afternoon, Implementation commitments and three month roadmap
- Each participant leaves with a signed commitment from their manager (virtual or in person) and a detailed 90 day plan.
Deliverables: Executive pitch deck (one slide), 90 day roadmap, signed manager commitment.

Assessment strategy (detailed)
- Pre program diagnostic: psychological safety, idea throughput, manager support (quantitative baseline).
- Roleplay scoring at Weeks 1 and 6: standard rubric with scores on empathy, clarity, governance adherence.
- Experiment assessment: each team runs at least two experiments; one assessed against MVP criteria (feasibility, desirability, viability).
- Post program measurement: 30 and 90 day pulse surveys; manager observation checklist at 60 days; final dashboard measuring idea throughput and psychological safety.
- Optional ROI mini evaluation: estimate cost saved or revenue opportunity from scaled experiments over 12 months.

Facilitation team and materials
- Lead facilitator (senior consultant, Melbourne based), industry experience in services and manufacturing.
- Two co facilitators for breakout coaching (one specialising in data analytics; one in change management).
- Online workshop kit: slide deck, editable experiment templates, measurement dashboards, facilitator guide (for internal roll out).
- Participant pack: workbook, microlearning links, roleplay cheat sheets, leadership commitment template.

Practical activities & tools (examples)
- Rapid ideation labs (timed, cross functional)
- Experiment blueprinting with peer review
- "Permission to fail" roleplays
- Analytics triage clinics, bring your own data (BYOD) sessions with light coaching
- Governance negotiation workshop with senior sponsor roleplay
- Post mortem clinic using blameless debrief structure

Customisation options (tiered)
- Essentials: virtual only 6 week cohort (standard templates and group coaching).
- Plus: hybrid with in person capstone and two one on one coaching sessions.
- Enterprise: onsite delivery with bespoke case studies, tailored idea management implementation, and 6 month coaching partnership.

Risks, mitigations and governance
- Risk: manager sponsorship drops away. Mitigation: require signed manager commitment pre course; include manager in capstone.
- Risk: experiments breach compliance. Mitigation: compliance gate in prioritisation matrix; legal touchpoint for customer facing tests.
- Risk: participants revert to BAU. Mitigation: schedule two follow up coaching check ins and provide a simple KPI dashboard for exec reporting.

Scaling the programme internally
- Train the trainer option: two day intensive for internal facilitators, plus an accreditation micro assessment.
- Internal rollout model: cohort based expansion, followed by "innovation champions" network and monthly patch liaison calls.
- Resource library: templates, short video explainers, sample roleplays, and a governance playbook.

Measurement framework (KPIs to track)
- Leading indicators: ideas submitted per month, percentage cross functional ideas, experiment start rate.
- Lagging indicators: number of scaled ideas in production, time to market reductions, cost savings or revenue attributed to experiments.
- People indicators: psychological safety score, discretionary effort (pulse), retention of innovation champions.
- Business health indicators: customer satisfaction change on impacted journeys, process cycle time reduction.

Manager & executive engagement
- Pre program executive briefing pack: the business case for funding two low cost experiments for each team.
- Regular check ins: 30 minute monthly steward meetings with exec sponsor to highlight quick wins and escalate blockers.
- Reporting template: one slide status for board/exco covering experiments, learnings and requests.

Follow up & reinforcement (sustainability)
- 90 day check in workshop (virtual): review progress, troubleshoot stalled experiments, re prioritise pipelines.
- Microlearning drip feed: 10 minute modules on topics like hypothesis writing, basic analytics and facilitation skills.
- Community of practice: moderated Slack or Teams channel; monthly "Share & Tell" where teams present short learnings.

Case studies and examples to use in delivery
- Re tellings of cross industry experiments (service redesign, manufacturing line tweak, HR process automation), anonymised to respect client confidentiality.
- Positive examples from named Australian companies (publicly praised) integrated where relevant; always framed as inspiration, not prescription.

Two opinions I'll state bluntly (readers may disagree)
- Opinion 1: Agile practices should spread beyond IT, finance and HR need sprints just as much. You can roll eyes. But it works.
- Opinion 2: Failure needs a firm, visible celebration ritual. Quietly learning is fine, but public rituals accelerate cultural change.

Logistics & tech requirements
- Virtual platform: Zoom with breakout functionality, Miro for collaboration, and LMS for microlearning assets.
- In person capstone: room with flexible seating, whiteboards, AV and breakout spaces. Catering for sustainment.
- Data security: non sensitive data only in BYOD sessions; any customer data must be anonymised and pre cleared.

Budget example (per cohort of 15)
- Virtual only version: $495 pp, includes facilitation, templates, microlearning.
- Hybrid version: $995 pp, adds face to face capstone, printed workbooks, and two coaching calls.
- Custom enterprise pricing available for onsite deliveries, tailored content and extended coaching.

What success looks like at 90 days
- At least 60% of participants have run two experiments each.
- A measurable uplift in psychological safety scores by at least one point for 60% of teams.
- A visible experiment that proceeds to a pilot with executive funding.
- A functioning idea funnel and committed Sprint calendar for next quarter.

Facilitator notes & trainer pack highlights
- Use short, sharp energisers to keep virtual cohorts engaged, 7 minute activities work best.
- Bring real client problems into exercises, authenticity matters.
- Keep senior sponsors involved, their presence at capstone changes outcomes.
- Expect resistance. Normal. Address it in roleplay not in lecture.

Optional deeper modules (add ons)
- Advanced analytics for innovation teams (two day intensive)
- Building an internal incubator, governance and funding models
- Customer co creation workshops, methods and facilitation
- Policy and regulatory sandboxing for experiments in regulated sectors

Exit checklist for participants
- One signed manager commitment with time allocation
- Two experiment blueprints documented and scheduled
- One executive pitch deck for a pilot ask
- Membership in the community of practice and one follow up coaching session booked

Concluding note (short)
This outline balances leadership, practical tools and measurement, the three legs a workplace needs if it's serious about innovation. It's not magic. But with executive sponsorship, a firm commitment to psychological safety and a few well run experiments, organisations can move from slogans to sustainable practice. If you want this turned into a facilitator manual or a tailored corporate cohort, we can adapt the content to suit your industry and local constraints.