Prior to 2020, most people met in person. Today, most people meet virtually through digital platforms like Zoom, Teams and Google Meet.
A few years back, few could have imagined shopping for weekly groceries online. Today, many of us do just that. It’s convenient, fulfills a need and besides, there’s an app for it.
Remember DVDs and LPs? Thanks to streaming services, they’re obsolete as are those who manufactured them.
If the pace of life-altering innovation seems lightning fast, those in highly competitive global business environments see it as necessary. Now, more than ever, organizations feel the pressure so aptly described by Peter Drucker: “Innovate or die.”
But how do corporations that operate within established cultures and structures innovate and do so in a manner that’s sustainable, efficient and ideally with a social benefit? Creating and bringing ideas to life is no easy task and can seem beyond reach to those who don’t consider innovation among their core skill sets.
Realizing an opportunity to fulfill a need, the Notre Dame IDEA Center has launched the Futures Group, a knowledge and community-building program with the goal of bringing together a broad group of industries and individuals seeking to enrich their organizations and themselves in the art and science of innovation. Not just for a weekend or a single course, but for an ongoing journey of discovery and growth.
Leading the Futures Group is Mary Scott. With over two decades of working at Notre Dame under her belt, Scott has a strong background in strategy, finance, innovation, and corporate engagement. She is known for her fearless approach to large, complex projects. Most recently, she led the development and launch of the University’s award-winning ThinkND, a digital learning platform with on-demand content that reaches over 250,000 global participants. Today, she splits her time between being on campus and in industry, with a focus on building collaborations and partnerships.
“What attracted me to the Futures Group role was the opportunity to create a brand-new approach to teaching innovation, which at its core is creative problem solving, at the executive level, but with Notre Dame’s unique ethos as an overlay. Corporate competitiveness and ultimately growth, is driven by innovation. People want to understand how to put it into practice, but there’s also a hunger to benefit society and the world at large,” she says.
“Who better than Notre Dame to take on the challenge and deliver an unparalleled experience where people acquire an innovative mindset and a method, how to apply them in their organization and have a larger positive impact.”
Over the last year, Scott has led the effort to develop and launch the Notre Dame Futures Group. She held more than 100 conversations with faculty, corporate partners, and students to understand pain points, identify opportunities, formulate offerings, and brand the program as a deeply Notre Dame product.
After the intense due diligence process, the mission of the Notre Dame Futures Group became clear: to teach participants to integrate innovation as a mindset and thinking style, and in so doing, inspire confidence in crafting the future of their organization. A key point of differentiation for the Notre Dame Futures Group is that faculty and corporate practitioners provide a unique combination of academic foundation and real-world experience.
“Bringing together academics and businesspeople who have fostered, championed, and succeeded at innovation in their careers as instructors is unique to our program,” Scott says. “What’s exciting is sharing the science with real-world applications. Participants never feel like they’re sitting in a lecture. It’s a dynamic, collaborative format that is designed to engage people in the content and conversation, set minds and inhibitions free for more creative thinking, and encourage ongoing relationships with peers, mentors, and colleagues.”
She adds, “We want every person who joins the Notre Dame Futures Group to walk away with the tools, models, framework, community, and confidence to solve problems and create opportunities in their organizations.”
The net result is a cohesive offering to adult learners that features three major components that recognize that creating a culture of innovation is a journey: education programs, international immersions and innovation communities.
Educational Programs and International Immersions
One educational program is the Foundation of Innovation certificate program. It is a great way for executives as well as entire teams from a company to ignite their innovation journey. The program is appropriate for small, privately held companies up to global corporations that desire to look beyond ingrained structures for new solutions. During the five-day, in-person program held on the Notre Dame campus in South Bend, Indiana, participants are immersed in the Futures Group’s Strategic Innovation Methodology™, an unbiased, human-centered approach that combines the world’s leading innovation tools into a single framework for conscious decision-making.
Scott stresses that the end product of the Foundation of Innovation is not the “big idea” that spawns a unicorn startup with a billion-dollar exit. “We’re empowering people with the tools they need to reinvent internal processes, take a new approach to differentiating product or service offerings, approach legacy markets in new ways, or even transform your brand. It’s a proven and trusted process participants will turn to again and again as your business and the world continue to evolve.”
Custom Programs
The Futures Group’s also offers world-class custom programs tailored to an organization’s unique needs for competitive, cultural or operational innovation. As with the Foundation of Innovation course, custom programs are led by a blend of Notre Dame faculty and practitioners with relevant industry experience. The main difference is how the program is delivered. Custom programs can be held in person at Notre Dame or at the sponsor’s business, delivered virtually, or done in a combination of the two.
Duration is also defined by the organization. The Futures Group will create a one-day immersion for your group, workshops, one-on-one coaching or other format to support a sustainable culture of innovation. Custom programs can also tap into Notre Dame’s global gateway hubs around the world for additional insights and educational experiences.
Innovation Communities
The final component is the most ambitious: industry-specific Innovation Communities focused on building better, more sustainable businesses through ecosystems that include diverse perspectives in law, finance, operations, technology, sales, marketing, corporate leadership and management, and academia. Programming is held on an annual basis and includes symposiums, continuing education and other events. Community members learn, network, and explore trends, opportunities and risk, as well as drive new ideas, research, strategies, and solutions.
Says Scott, “Futures Group Innovation Communities are for those with shared interests and diverse knowledge who are one, purpose-driven, and two, want to learn about current trends and challenges their industry is facing from a variety of c-suite level perspectives. These experiences are designed to spark ideas, innovation, and give participants access to decades of experience and key insights from industry leaders. By becoming a member, you become part of a vibrant community of industry practitioners who are aligned in helping you find strategic partners and identify new opportunities. These networks of trust are centered around specific interest areas of industries. They’re perfect for gaining strategic insights you won’t get from the internet or surfing LinkedIn as well as those who want to accelerate growth in their company or career.”
She adds, “We welcome people at every level of professional life, from students to middle management to C-suite and retirees. Your experience, energy and contributions are welcome.”
Sláinte! Wine, Beer, & Spirits | Industry Symposium
The first Innovation Community is Sláinte! Wine, Beer and Spirits, which will be held on the Notre Dame campus November 15-17. More than 40 industry experts are set to speak. This includes startup founders, leaders from well-known brands such as E. & J. Gallo Winery, Heineken and Diageo, investors, attorneys, and faculty. Topics will range from investing in wine and vineyards, road to success for direct-to-consumer sales, and celebrity investments and sports partnerships. Virtual sessions will be offered.
Additionally, in-person attendees will enjoy premium meals with wine pairings; beer, wine and spirits tastings; and connecting with other guests. Those interested in attending Sláinte! can find more information and register here.
Those who complete a Futures Group learning experience or join an Innovation Community are invited to continue their innovation journey with Notre Dame. The IDEA Center’s many business-formation resources, including expertise, facilities and funding, are available to those interested in startups. ThinkND, a free online learning community that compliments innovation principles and practices with videos, podcasts, articles, courses, and other resources that can be accessed on demand for ongoing enrichment. Additionally, Futures Group “graduates” are invited to join the Notre Dame Alumni Association as a friend of the University.
There’s no better way to acquire an innovation mindset, ignite the ability to be a force for good, and make connections for the journey ahead than the Notre Dame Futures Group Programs.