Creativity

Entrepreneurship

Execution Innovation

EEE 5610 — Creativity, Ideation , and Innovation

Spring 2020 Syllabus

The Course

Every business is looking for an edge—faster, better,

cheaper. A way to get ahead of the competition. And

startups can come out of nowhere to become that

competition.

How do you stay ahead of the other guys—or how do you

become the other guys and take on the big, established

players in a given space?

Creativity & Innovation

In this course, we’ll look at where ideas come from, how to

generate more ideas, how to test those ideas, and how to

implement those innovations to increase revenue, build the

brand, and become the market leader.

Books & Materials

1) Schrage, Michael (2014). The Innovator’s Hypothesis. MIT Press.

2) Kim, W. Chan and Renee Mauborgne (2015). Blue Ocean Strategy, Expanded Edition. Harvard Business Review Press.

3) Additional cases, videos, and podcasts

Creativity and innovation can show up anywhere – including new product development, new business creation, marketing, business models, processes, pricing, and technology.

You will learn what existing companies have done to innovate, as well as

generate your own ideas and create experiments to test innovative ideas.

Course Objectives

To help you achieve these objectives and practice your innovation skills,

we will use a combination of approaches:

1) Hybrid class using in-person and online approach

2) Class and online lecture on key concepts, tools, and approaches to creativity and innovation

3) Interactive work in class through discussions and practical exercises

4) Completing specific assignments designed to give you practice in innovation.

The Instructor

Mr. Kyle Eastham

348 Business Bldg

Stillwater, OK 74078

Kyle.Eastham@okstate.edu

Office: (405) 744-2922

cell: (405) 201-1350

Office Hours

Mon 10-12 , 348 Business Bldg

Tue & Thur 3-4, Genius Bar,

Business Bldg, (Stillwater)

and by appointment (in person,

phone, or video conference)

Grading Scale

Grades will follow the 90-80-70

grading scale method.

A = 90-100%

B = 80-89.9%

C = 70-79.9%

D = 60-69.9%

F = below 60%

Prerequisite

Graduate standing at

Oklahoma State University

Objective Program Learning Goal

Explain the symbiotic relationship between

the entrepreneurial process and innovation

Entrepreneurial process

Apply creativity and ideation techniques

given specific parameters

Creativity

Work within a team to develop and present

ideas and complete projects in a

professional, timely manner

Interpersonal skills, team-

work, and leadership

Design innovation experiments to help

discern how and whether a project moves

forward

Business planning

Creativity and innovation involve a lot of ideas—including bad ones. This

class will not only permit, but encourage bad ideas, as they often lead to

better or even breakthrough ideas. New business ventures can succeed in

a variety of ways and business models. Unlike some other disciplines, there

may be lots of “right answers” to the questions presented. There’s not just

one way to be a successful entrepreneur!

The Topics

Design thinking

Go where the others aren’t

Blocks to creativity

DeBono’s Six Hats of Thinking

3 Horizons of Innovation

What Star Trek taught us about innovation

Brainstorming

“Walk in my shoes” – approaching challenge from different perspective

Get lean! - Lean Model Canvas

Assignment Points

Class presentation on best practices 100

Case study 125

Online participation—discussions 150

Innovation experiments 125

Midterm exam 200

Reboot existing company through Blue Ocean Strategy

framework

100

Final proposal 200

Total 1000

The true sign of

intelligence is not

knowledge, but

imagination.

—Albert Einstein

Every once in a

while, a new

technology, an old

problem, and a big

idea turn into an

innovation.

—Dean Kamen

Assignments

Creativity exercises

Creativity and ideation skills

get better with practice. So

we will practice a variety of

exercises in class and online to

develop the creative mindset.

Class presentation on best practices

Students will present, in pairs, a verbal report during class

on an innovation best practice within a company or

industry.

Online participation

Since we meet only a few times face-to-face, a significant

part of class interaction will happen online through

discussions, videos, or other channels—and your feedback

on those ideas.

Case Study

Students will write a

business case study

including multiple

possible courses of

action. See more

details in Canvas.

Innovation Experiments

Based on The Innovator’s Hypothesis book, students will

design a business experiment in order to test measurable

outcomes to provide evidence of whether a new

innovation should be pursued. Topics may include

customer segments, pricing, customer behavior, new

products, marketing approach, etc.

Blue Ocean Strategy reboot

Students will use the

Blue Ocean Strategy

framework to rec-

ommend a new

approach or

business model of

an existing company

in order to differen-

tiate that company

from competitors.

Final Proposal

Teams of students will draw upon all class material and

discussions to create a written proposal (8-10 pages)

surrounding a product, service, or process innovation,

including a budget, timeline, resources needed, and

objections that are likely to be raised. Teams will present

an overview of their proposal in class.

Course Schedule

Week Topic Reading

Week 1

Jan 13

Overview, definitions of innovation, ideation, creativity; where ideas come from;

application of ideas; in-class exercises;

Meet in class Jan 15th.

Week 2

Jan 20

Business models; Lean Model Canvas; Entrepreneurial process map; small

business vs. entrepreneurship; DeBono’s Six Thinking Hats; “Walk in my shoes” (change in

perspective)

Tina Seelig podcast

Week 3

Jan 27

Innovation experiments (purpose, use, design); Levels & degrees of innovation; Blocks to

creativity;

Schrage Chap 2-4;

Schrage Chap 5-7

Week 4

Feb 3

Class presentations—best practices; Case study in innovation—discussion

Meet in class Feb 5th

Case study

Week 5

Feb 10

Midterm exam;

Innovation experiments continued; Lean Launchpad; Innovation lessons from Star Trek,

Improv, 3M, Broadway; Law of Diffusion of Innovation

Lean Launchpad

video

Week 6

Feb 17

Blue Ocean Strategy—concept, canvas, market boundaries;

Blue Ocean Strategy—creating new demand, strategic sequence;

Team experiment assignment due

Kim & Mauborgne

Chap 1-3;

Kim & Mauborgne

Chap 4-6

Week 7

Feb 24

Blue Ocean Strategy—overcoming organizational hurdles, execution;

Design Thinking; Blue Ocean reboot assignment due

Kim & Mauborgne

Chap 7-9

Week 8

Mar 2

Selling your innovative idea; story-telling; Final proposal presentations

Meet in class Mar 4th