Innovation Leadership Evaluation

In this course, you have explored four main concepts:

• How contemporary leadership practices and models support innovation in the global context.
• The personal skills and leadership practices that drive innovation and the creation of innovative organizations.
• The models of innovation and change management leaders use to create a culture of innovation.
• Communication strategies, including storytelling, that support culture change in innovative organizations.

The last assignment for this course challenges you to integrate these concepts while focusing on a particular idea for a change of process, procedure, or product in your current industry or sector, or one which you aspire to in the future. You will build on the work you began in the Unit 4 assignment. You will integrate what you have learned from the course studies, discussions, your individual research, and previous assignments to demonstrate your mastery of the course competencies.

Assignment Instructions

For this assignment, you will write a 7–9 page paper which continues and concludes the work you began in your Unit 4 assignment. You will continue to use the potential process, product, service, or procedure for innovation you presented in your unit four paper. That idea may have come from your current work, one you thought of in a past work environment, one from your personal life, or one you have read about in the Wall Street Journal or other resource. The point is to take an example of a potential innovation and continue to apply it to this assignment.

This assignment tasks you with synthesizing and applying what you have learned throughout the course.

Your readings and other resources have introduced you to several models of innovation and change management as well as the leader’s role in the process. You have also researched additional articles and Web sites for this assignment, including:

• Two articles or resources on design thinking.
• One additional resource on change management.
• One article focused on leading innovation in your current or future specialization, industry, or sector.

Using all of these resources, you will develop your assignment as described below.

Analyze and apply the first four components of the design thinking process to your chosen innovation. Recall you wrote about the first three in the paper in Unit 4; edit that section based on the feedback you received, and then add the fourth component to your section on design thinking for this assignment.

1. Empathize (learn about your audience).
2. Define (create a point of view based on needs).
3. Ideate (brainstorm ideas. Be wild).
4. Prototype (Build a representation of a minor idea to show others).

Develop a communication strategy including a story that you will use to overcome complacency and create passion in the organization for the innovative change. Remember to include a visual map for your story using the model you learned in the Stories that Move Mountains: Storytelling and Visual Design for Persuasive Presentations book.

Evaluate three personal leadership skills and practices from your personal assessments in Units 1 and 2 that you will use to lead this innovative change process. Explain how you, as the leader, would use storytelling to engage the audience (those in the organization you wish to influence) and what skills you will need to further develop to be a successful leader of culture change in the organization.

You will be evaluated on how well you communicate your insights and analysis. It is expected that you will communicate in a manner that is professional and consistent with expectations for members of the business professions. To aid you in doing this, follow these guidelines:

• Carefully organize your paper so there are three major headings devoted to each of the following topics. You may want to use subheadings in the first section to ensure the reader can find each of the four components of design thinking. Make sure that the reader can easily find:
  • A section that analyzes and applies the first four components of the design thinking process to your chosen innovation.
  • A section that develops a communication strategy including a story and visual story map to influence and engage your audience.
  • A section that evaluates three personal leadership skills and practices that you will incorporate into your innovative change process.
• Optionally, graphs or diagrams may be included in appendices, if they are well-explained and applicable.
• Each section of the paper must be supported using the course readings, and additional scholarly resources or reputable industry publications may be used, if needed. Three to four supporting resources are recommended.

Your assignment will be scored on the following objectives; see the scoring guide for details. Once again, provide examples where it would be useful to your reader:

1. Analyze the relevance of key design thinking components to a chosen innovation. Specifically, you should apply the first four components of the design thinking process to your chosen innovation.
2. Apply key components of design thinking process to a chosen innovation. This should be the first four components of the design thinking process.
3. Develop a communication strategy including a story map visual that you will use in this innovative process.
4. Evaluate three personal leadership skills and practices that you could incorporate into your innovative change process.
5. Communicate in a manner that is professional and consistent with expectations for members of the business professions.

Submission Requirements

• Written communication: Writing should be free of errors that detract from the overall message.
• Paper length: 7–9 pages, excluding appendices, cover page, table of contents, and references page.
• APA formatting: References and citations should follow APA style guidelines.
• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.