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Five reasons to attend Ag Innovations Bootcamp

The Ag Innovations Bootcamp returns October 1-2, 2019.  Hosted by Rezare and Fieldays Society, this bespoke training opportunity for New Zealand agricultural businesses offers a curated learning journey to grow your business capabilities.  The two-day bootcamp covers new product development, understanding your customers, business model development, creative problem solving and a whole lot more.

We know there’s no shortage of training opportunities out there, so you could be forgiven for wondering: “What’s so special about Ag Innovations Bootcamp?”

To answer that, here’s five reasons why attending the Ag Innovations Bootcamp will be one of the smartest investments in your innovation leadership and problem-solving capabilities.

  1. You will learn a valuable, value-added skill

    The Ag Innovations Bootcamp will teach you the fundamentals of the framework of Human Centred Design and Agile, and how the two frameworks integrate to create better customer-driven solutions at a faster rate of learning.

    These innovation frameworks are backed by rigorous research with innovation leaders IDEO and management consultancy McKinsey & Co each publishing their findings on the impact of embracing design into the heart of your organisation.

    Their insights? Companies pursuing design-thinking at the core of their business out-performed industry revenue benchmarks by over 100%; and design-driven organisations deliver a total return to shareholders 80% higher than industry benchmarks. Increasing their innovation capability using the model taught at Ag Innovations Bootcamp had the impact of increasing revenue and growing efficiencies, delivering a better end-user experience and a better business result for their organisations.

    In addition, research revealed companies utilising design-thinking de-risk their product development and increase their relationship with end-users.​ We want to stress this point – learning to innovate better is not about becoming riskier. It’s about seeking to de-risk your organisation by leading the charge towards the unknown future rather than reacting to changes that will head your way.

    Over the two days you’ll learn the fundamentals of these innovation processes, and gain a foundation to begin to implement these into your business.

    But it isn’t all theory, because…

  2. You will learn by doing

    Learning the theory of Human Centred Design and Agile is great – but you know what’s even better?

    Learning HOW to do it.

    Ag Innovations Bootcamp is built on the principle of Action Learning – we learn by doing, and we do by learning. Over the two days you will hear about case-studies, models, frameworks, tools and approaches and you’ll also be getting involved.

    You’ll be building things, interviewing people, refining problems, creating prototypes, pitching ideas, playing with canvases, practicing collaboration, iterating, clicking on new websites, downloading new apps, eating good food and learning together.

    It’s not two days of being talked at. It’s two days of listening, talking and doing – ensuring you are engaging with and trialling out the processes, not just hearing them.

    This means when you head home you’re going back as a beginning practitioner, as someone who has dipped their toes in the water of innovation and who can begin to adapt these frameworks to your own organisation.

    We want Ag Innovations Bootcamp to be an investment that makes a difference in your innovation leadership. That’s why we also create the space for Traction Conversations…

  3. You will apply your learnings back to your environment

    Ag Innovations Bootcamp is designed to pull you back to the space where the rubber meets the road. We have regular time for Traction Conversations – where you can question and wrestle with the application of your learnings with the expert facilitators in the room.

    Perhaps you’re questioning how the framework can be applied to your situation? Or you’re wondering how you can interview your end-users when they’re geographically diverse or don’t want to talk to you? Perhaps your management team doesn’t value innovation or you’re wondering whether this whole thing is just a fad?

    We don’t shy away from these conversations – we encourage them. It’s in these questions learning moments occur and we get to co-create together how these valuable frameworks can make a real-world difference in your context.

    The Rezare team connects every learning moment with your organisation and provides intentional space for you to voice your doubts and questions. This is where the magic happens and where we see the light-bulb moments really begin to spark.

  4. You will learn in a diverse community

    At the last Ag Innovations Bootcamp we were delighted with the diversity of our attendees. We had managers from agricultural banking services, developers from ag-tech start-ups, members of large industry bodies, with dairy, beef, sheep, deer and crops all represented.

    We love this. Why?

    Because in diversity, really good things happen.

University of Chicago sociologist Ron Burt’s seminal research explored this concept, mapping out the personal networks of a large electronic company and discovering who submitted the best ideas for improving the organisation.

His results were staggering. The most innovative ideas (as rated by the senior leaders) were thought-up by the managers who had the broadest networks. Managers who created ties across the organisation were most capable at generating new solutions and solving complex problems.

This was supported by research done by InnoCentive, the online innovation broker. When reviewing their InnoCentive success stories, they discovered that, on average, physicists were more likely to find solutions to chemistry problems than chemists and chemists were more likely to find solutions to biology problems than biologists.

At Ag Innovations Bootcamp, you’ll be rubbing shoulders with people from across the agriculture industry. You may be working with a scientist or an app developer from areas you’re unfamiliar with. That’s great – because as you work together and share together, you’ll start to unlock problems and see your business with a new set of eyes.

5. You will grow your toolbox

The strongest innovation practitioners have a solid understanding of innovation frameworks and an ever-growing innovation toolbox. These tools help them adapt to changing situations, facilitate new discoveries and add value across a range of business contexts.

At Ag Innovations Bootcamp, we guarantee you will learn a wide range of tools you can begin to use within your own context.

You’ll learn about new digital tools for capturing ideas, rapidly prototyping digital solutions, crafting beautiful presentations and mapping value. You’ll learn how to use familiar digital tools – such as Microsoft PowerPoint – to create rough testable website prototypes.

You’ll acquire new techniques for generating ideas from your team, engaging in meaningful conversations with your users, listening deeply to customers and ways to create powerful insights from the noise of data you collect.

Your toolbox will grow with new note-taking skills, physical prototyping practice and the ability to craft interview guides focused on discovery and connection.

These tools are clearly explained and then you are coached through the process of using them in context – allowing you to experience them in action and bring them back to your own work situation.
5.

The Ag Innovations Bootcamp provides opportunities for networking and enjoying the laughter and connection that comes with creating.  Our experienced facilitators give you space to bring other work questions to a team of experts.

If these five reasons have sparked your interest and you’re keen to begin developing your innovation skills click here to find out more about the Ag Innovations Bootcamp and register your attendance for October 1-2, at Mystery Creek.