Using wellbeing tools to increase innovation in start-up entrepreneurship

Using wellbeing tools to deepen creativity and unlock innovation 

A new generation of start-up entrepreneurs want to create powerful solutions for a flourishing planet, that means being more creative and innovative than ever in ideas for products and services which challenge the status quo in competitive markets. 
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To give them the tools to deepen creativity and unlock innovation, I ran a Flow In Action Innovation Challenge Workshop in collaboration with Webster University Geneva’s Center for Creativity & Innovation (WCCI), during Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) 2019 in Geneva.

In this interactive workshop, we started out with wonder, stepped into love and reverse engineered from 2031, experiencing the tools through playing with ideas. Set in a framework of using design and systems thinking, we focused on how to design around flourishing of the planet.
Dr Vlad Glaveneau, the Director of WCCI, specialises in researching wonder as a trigger for creativity and innovation, so he asked the group to look through the lens of wonder and ask, “What is it? What else is it? What could it be?” to bring new perspectives.
I like to disrupt old ways of seeing, by asking people to look through the lens of love and love for the planet; bringing in a boundary that inspires you to think about impact across systems and supply chains from the end-point of flourishing.

With contributions from Scott Poynton (Principal at Scott Poynton SaRL), Philippe Rudaz (Economic Affairs Officer, UNCTAD-DIAE) and Aurore Bui (Founder, SoftWeb), participants were constantly refreshing their creativity to find new ways of seeing the problems that they want to solve.  

It was also fantastic to be running the workshop live in the Hazu.io platform, capturing in real-time each group’s ideas and concepts in response to the challenges. Meanwhile, Andy Abgottspon the Founder and CEO of Hazu.io turned the workshop into a Virtual Reality demo, enabling us to experience what it will be like to explore our concepts and impacts on the SDGs.

A participant fed back:
"Dear Elaine, Thanks a lot for your workshop. It was as informative as it was fun.
Your original and creative approach enabled us to look for new solutions and fostered a "think out of the box" mindset.
I also appreciated the mix between using our child side with colours, pens and imagination combined with the technology side and mapping.
I can only highly recommend your workshop for any team or organisation who wish to create new product or service.
Or just want a one-of-a-kind team building.
Finally, merci for your kindness and openess.
You managed to motivate everyone and gently pushed us out of our limits."

Solution: Innovation & Impact Challenge Workshop
Theme: Wellbeing Tools to unlock Creativity
Location: Webster University Geneva
Collaborating with: Webster University Geneva’s Center for Creativity & Innovation
Commissioned by: Global Entrepreneurship Week Geneva, Liberez Vos Idees

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