Certified Innovation Professional (CINP)

The Certified Innovation Professional is GInI’s recognition of working professionals who have demonstrated an advanced understanding of key topics relating to business innovation and innovation management.

CInP certification affirms the individual’s proficiency at key, foundational innovation methods and tools, including such methods and tools as: research & insights mining, brainstorming & the GInI Breakthrough Innovation Method, Design Thinking, innovation project structuring, the GInI Breakthrough NPD Method for product & service innovations, the GInI Innovation Management System, engagement & intrapreneuring, core innovation teams, open innovation, and innovation storytelling.

Regardless of one’s career stage, certification as a GInI Certified Innovation Professional is a valuable professional asset that distinguishes you as having the knowledge and ability to drive focused and purposeful innovation pursuits inside a business enterprise.

Target Audiences

CInP® certification is for those with little or no experience working directly in Innovation, but who wish to gain an understanding of Business Innovation and how to drive it inside the business enterprise.

It is also for those who – on top of having significant Innovation experience – wish to demonstrate their knowledge and mastery of Business Innovation.

CInP® certification is intended for both front-line working professionals and mid-level managers, including those with limited or no Innovation experience. If one has no direct experience working in Innovation, or less than four years’ total professional experience, then they should first begin with CInP® certification.

The training associated with CInP® certification is designed to impart an understanding of a number of foundational topics on Innovation and Innovation Management, including: the fundamentals of Business Innovation; the different types of innovation that businesses produce; the profiles of different innovator types; an understanding of imagination, creativity, ideation, and brainstorming; how to drive Innovation projects inside of businesses; the use of insights research for Innovation; what Design Thinking is; storytelling; idea evaluation and selection; the Innovation Management process; the role of Innovation Program Leaders; and the role of Innovation Project Leaders.

Course Outline

• The Innovation Professional – World Changers of the Business World
• The Innovation Fundamentals – Getting to Know Business Innovation
• Getting Innovation Done – Running Innovation Projects in the Business
• Innovation’s Design Outputs – The Many Forms of “What’s New”
• The Effective Innovator – Einstein, Edison, Jobs, and You
• Creativity, Ideation, & Brainstorming – Tapping Into Innovation’s Source of Life
• The GInI Breakthrough Innovation Method
• Getting Innovation Done – Running Innovation Projects in the Business
  • Running the Front End of Innovation
  • Running the Mid Zone of Innovation
  • Running the Back End of Innovation
• The Big Dig – The Role of Research in Innovation
• Core Concepts in Research
  • Problem / Solution Research
  • Forward-Looking Research Methods
  • “Hard” Research
  • Developing the Insights Plan
• Design Thinking, Human-Centric Design, & The Role of Design in Innovation
• The Innovation Manager – Grand Masters of the New
• The Innovation Manager as Project Leader – Driving Focused Innovation
• Leading & Building a Core Innovation Team
• The Innovation Management Process
• Program & Project Management Tools for Innovation Management
• Engagement – The Art of Participatory Innovation
• Designing Innovation Spaces
• The Innovation Manager as Liaison – Leveraging Open Innovation
• Storytelling – How to Spark the Imagination & Turn Ships
• Selecting the Winning Ideas – My Innovation is Better Than Your Innovation
• Integration – Putting It All Together