James Janega
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship
James Janega
Build an Innovative Organization
Turn Bold Ideas to Scalable, Disciplined Innovation
Next Session
May 12-May 15, 2026
View All Dates
Location/Format
In Person
Gleacher Center, Chicago
Investment Fee (in USD)
$9,000 USD
Questions? Connect with our enrollment advisors.
Next Session
May 12-May 15, 2026
View All Dates
Location/Format
In Person
Gleacher Center, Chicago
Investment Fee (in USD)
$9,000 USD
Questions? Connect with our enrollment advisors.
Build an Innovative Organization equips executives with the structure, discipline, and evidence-based frameworks required to make innovation deliberate—not accidental.
In this three-and-a-half-day program at Gleacher Center—Booth’s downtown Chicago campus—leaders learn how to institutionalize innovation and overcome the execution barriers that slow progress. Drawing on real-world practice, behavioral science, human-centered design, and Nobel Prize–winning insights from portfolio theory and decision-making, the program offers a practical, immediately applicable playbook for scaling innovation with rigor.
This program serves as an elective to:
Across seven sessions, you will master discovery habits to uncover real customer needs, validate concepts through fast, disciplined experimentation, and design a three-speed innovation system—Exploration, Validation, and Acceleration. You'll learn to diagnose organizational roadblocks, clarify governance and accountability, align stage-appropriate KPIs to C-level outcomes, and build the storytelling capabilities needed to mobilize stakeholders and sustain momentum. You’ll leave with a clear blueprint—governance, metrics, and methods—to build a repeatable, high-performing innovation engine that delivers lasting competitive advantage.
By attending this program, you will explore key themes in:
Designing Responsive Organizational Models
- Build structures that sustainably support innovation, adaptability, and change.
- Create organizational systems that enable teams to move quickly and effectively.
Governance, Accountability & Alignment
- Clarify roles, responsibilities, and decision rights to overcome fragmentation and role ambiguity.
- Establish governance mechanisms that keep innovation efforts disciplined and aligned.
Diagnosing Barriers to Innovation
- Identify the organizational, cultural, and process-driven obstacles that commonly stall execution.
- Apply diagnostic tools to uncover root causes and design targeted solutions.
Executing Innovation at Scale
- Translate bold ideas into actions that deliver measurable, repeatable results.
- Strengthen processes that enable innovation to scale across functions and business units.
Culture & Leadership for Innovation
- Foster an environment where creativity and disciplined execution reinforce one another.
- Lead teams in ways that promote collaboration, trust, and sustained engagement.
Strategic Approaches to Change & Transformation
- Integrate innovation efforts into broader organizational goals and long-term strategy.
- Drive transformation through evidence-based frameworks and clear leadership guidance.
Building a Repeatable Innovation Engine
- Develop a blueprint for scalable innovation that strengthens long-term competitiveness.
- Equip yourself with tools and practices that enhance both organizational performance and personal leadership impact.
Who Should Attend
Mid- to senior-level executives who seek the expertise to institutionalize innovation within their organizations. Participants typically lead cross-functional teams, set strategy, or drive transformation in complex environments.Leaders from all industries and sectors will benefit.
Faculty Teaching This Program
At Booth, our distinguished faculty exemplify dedication and expertise, bringing deep passion to their teaching. Their steadfast commitment extends beyond traditional instruction, focusing on empowering every Executive Education participant, across all programs and global campuses, to achieve their professional and leadership goals.
Practitioner Insights
Learn Directly from a Leading Industry Practitioner
This program often features world-class guest speakers from globally recognized organizations. Participants gain firsthand insights from senior leaders who share real-world perspectives on strategy, leadership, and organizational transformation.
Program Outline
Spotting Opportunity—and How to Scale It
- Institutionalize observing, questioning, testing, and connecting behaviors.
- Hardwire curiosity and exploration into operating norms.
- Convert individual habits into enterprise culture.
Understanding What People Actually Need
- Target growth arenas using demand-side customer progress.
- Direct investment toward validated jobs-to-be-done.
- Translate insights into a prioritized opportunity roadmap.
Human-Centered Design Discovery
- Orchestrate rigorous discovery at scale across functions.
- Define advantage through differentiated customer experiences.
- Set strategic design criteria for market separation.
De-Risk Innovation with Evidence, Not Optimism
- Establish “must be true” thresholds for ideas.
- Govern learning with staged experiments and kill or pivot criteria.
- Redirect resources using evidence over intuition.
Design an Innovation Organization
- Architect the three-speed innovation engine.
- Separate exploration from exploitation with clear governance.
- Allocate portfolios by strategy, not politics.
Metrics and KPIs for Innovation
- Link learning metrics to financial outcomes.
- Build stage-appropriate leading and lagging indicators.
- Create CFO-ready dashboards for portfolio visibility.
Entrepreneurial Storytelling to Build Support
- Craft evidence-backed strategic narratives that compel action.
- Align stakeholders and unlock resources at scale.
- Sustain momentum through clear value paths.
Upcoming Sessions
Program dates are subject to change.
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