SBIR Phase I: An online experiential learning platform to instruct participants on the leading practices for innovation

This SBIR Phase I project's broader/commercial impact includes the ability for individuals or organizations, across all geographies, industries and sectors, to benefit from an educational platform that helps them better understand which set of practices, consistently applied, can lead to breakthrough innovations. The ability to successfully innovate is critical. Whether one is looking to develop a new social media platform in Silicon Valley or eradicate disease in a 3rd world country, the leading practices of innovation can serve as a series of guideposts to answer critical questions. These critical questions include; How to determine where to invest limited human and capital resources' How to properly balance high risk/ high reward innovation pursuits with incremental improvements which carry less risk? How to determine criteria that will be used to determine which ideas to pursue and which to pivot away from?. Once the cloud-based version of this product is fully commercialized, it will allow participants to "move the dial" in order to simulate (and eventually overcome) cultural impediments that are preventing meaningful innovation within their organizations. This SBIR Phase I project intends to prove that an experiential learning method is superior to traditional forms of instruction for communicating the leading practices of innovation. To date, leading practices for innovation have been conveyed using traditional forms of instruction such as lecture, case study, and white papers. While experiential forms of instruction have proven useful in many areas of study including accounting, international business and strategy, they have not been use to convey innovation's leading practices. The proposed research will demonstrate that a well-designed experiential game, academically anchored and drawing from existing literature focusing on innovation, will provide participants a richer educational experience resulting in greater learning and retention.