Executing Breakthrough Innovations with the Three Box Solution

This course is a part of Leading Innovation with Vijay Govindarajan, a 2-course Professional Certificate series from edX.

When companies launch Box 3 innovation initiatives, they typically allot most of their time and energy to the thrilling hunt for the breakthrough idea. That much-ballyhooed burst of inspiration is merely a starting point. The real innovation challenge lies beyond the idea. It lies in a long, hard journey—from imagination to impact.

In this course, part of the Leading Innovation Professional Certificate program, Vijay Govindarajan (VG) reveals how to execute a Box 3 innovation initiative. The crux of the challenge is that business organizations are not designed for innovation; they are designed for ongoing operations. And there are deep and fundamental conflicts between the two.

This course is based on the frameworks and ideas from The Three Box Solution: A Strategy for Leading Innovation book. Using three modules, VG shows you how to:

Build the right team for your innovation initiative: Determine who will be on the team, how it will be structured, and how it can partner with ongoing operations. Anticipate and prevent conflicts.

Run a disciplined experiment: Test assumptions, translate results into new knowledge, and measure progress.

The content of this course is relevant for a large corporation, a mid-size business, a startup or a nonprofit organization. Because innovation is a team sport, the course is useful for individuals who intend to advance careers in R&D, Engineering, Manufacturing, Marketing, Sales, Service, Human Resources, Accounting, and Finance.

What you'll learn

• Module 1 Overcome the Forgetting Challenge: Building a Dedicated Team for the Box 3 innovation initiative
• Module 2 Overcome the Borrow Challenge: Creating a healthy partnership between the Dedicated Team and the Core Business and managing the resulting conflicts
• Module 3 Overcome the Learn Challenge: How to amplify weak signals and test critical assumptions that are inherent in Box 3 experiments