GIANT Innovation

Innovation is like mastering your grandmother’s famous cake recipe—you can't just read about it; you've got to do it to get it right... That’s why we were excited to launch Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)’s "Advanced Innovation Bootcamp!” This is another example of DFW demonstrating how organizations can maintain operational excellence, while still fostering an innovative company culture. After wrapping up our first two cohorts, here is what stood out: 🔍 Real Problems, Real Solutions: Participants didn’t just show up with ideas—they brought real challenges from their day-to-day roles at DFW. From operational inefficiencies to opportunities around sustainability, they worked through these issues using advanced tools designed to generate creative, actionable solutions. 💡 Ideas with Impact: What set this bootcamp apart was the focus on not just brainstorming, but launching ideas. Participants learned how to test, iterate, and refine their concepts, giving them practical insights into how to turn an idea from a sketch into reality. 🛠 Tools of the Trade: Attendees got their hands on the DFW Innovation Toolkit, a set of problem-solving strategies that they can now apply to any challenge, well beyond the workshop. A big congratulations to all our Advanced Bootcamp grads, we wish you much success on your innovation journey! Brian Burdette, MBA, PMP, CSM Glenda Diaz, MBA Troy Green Waad Abdullah, PMP, ACP Janet Thys Jodie Brinkerhoff Paul Puopolo Ingram Brown Pranjal Maheshka Muhammad Rafique, REM Erik Nelson Iqbal Mohiuddin

Most innovation training focuses on the usual suspects—brainstorming, prototyping, and problem-solving. They are all important, but here’s the kicker—if you can’t get people on board for an idea, the rest doesn’t matter. That’s why we created our latest self-paced course: “The Persuasive Innovator: How to Communicate Any Idea.” In large organizations, having a great idea is just the first step. The real challenge is convincing others to support it. That’s what this course is all about. This course includes tools for how to map, engage, and pitch to stakeholders. For those who want a more personalized touch, we also offer live, instructor-led versions. Check out the video below to get a sneak peek at how to use storytelling in any presentation. How do you usually get people to say “yes” to your ideas?   #BeAnInnovationGIANT #Communication+Innovation #DailyInnovation 

What a day! We were thrilled to facilitate the 2024 Maine Impact Forum, which is a dynamic one-day gathering that brings together 80+ members of Maine’s vibrant life sciences community to tackle the biggest challenges in the state. Here are some highlights: 🚀 Collaborative Spirit: With 35 different organizations represented, including universities, industry, and the state government, the ability to break down silos and collaborate was truly remarkable. 🔍 Problem Solving: Life sciences is much more than biotechnology and is becoming a key driver of Maine's economic development. 💡 Innovative Ideas: We came up with new ventures that would leverage Maine's unique assets, particularly Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences algae collection. We are excited to see the innovations that come out of this day soon! We would like to thank all participants for their commitment. And a special thank to the organizing team of Aileen Huang-Saad and Jesse Billingham and our passionate steering committee of Michael Lomas Elena Brondolo MBA, MPH, EdD Caitlin Howell Ian Slaymaker Sigrid Kuebler Leo Waterston And much gratitude to our sponsors and partners: FocusMaine Maine Department of Economic and Community Development The Roux Institute at Northeastern University.

We are beyond excited to congratulate our good friends and collaborators at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) for receiving the 2024 Outstanding Corporate Innovator (OCI) Award from the PDMA - Product Development and Management Association! This prestigious recognition shows DFW’s dedication to building a culture of innovation over the last five years. DFW isn’t just about planes; it’s about "Travel. Transformed." Achieving this vision requires a deeply ingrained culture of innovation that involves everyone. It has been an absolute privilege to partner with DFW on this remarkable journey. A huge congratulations to their exceptional innovation team and everyone at DFW! Jodie Brinkerhoff Paul Puopolo Read more in the PDMA announcement: https://lnkd.in/gSmADJpg

AI, AI, AI, AI summarizes almost every conversation we are having with partners now. The promise of AI is indeed dazzling. But in the scramble, something crucial is getting lost: the people. To fully benefit from an AI investment, you need a human investment. And yet, too many organizations are pouring all their resources into tech without giving a second thought to the human side of the equation. It’s as if we’ve forgotten that innovation doesn’t start with machines; it starts with people. People who:  ➡ Ask more questions (and better ones).  ➡ Solve problems creatively for their customers (both internal and external!). ➡ Generate ideas that are both novel and useful.  ➡ Test their ideas quickly because no one (and I mean no one!) can tell initially which ones are “good.”    Organizational innovation begins (but doesn’t end) with people. AI is the accelerant.  What are you betting on, bold technology or bold minds? 

We recently hosted a group of cross-industry leaders for a Culture Change Roundtable with our good friends at Turner Construction Company! Our goal was to dig deeper into how organizations can foster a more innovative company culture, while also looking at some of the more tactical behaviors that help to accelerate change. We explored behind-the-scenes case studies of leading organizations doing exactly this, such as Jodie Brinkerhoff from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Andy Nichols from ExxonMobil, and our host Jim Barrett from Turner. GIANT's passion is transforming people into Daily Innovators who creatively solve their customers' problems. It was our pleasure to share our lessons from our work about how any organization can unlock the innovative potential of their people. We were fortunate to be joined by a top group of innovative leaders who shared their insights and experiences: Rachel Souder-Arguedas Rachel Grimmelmann Mark Cassetta Lisa Oswald Nina Brandt Jennifer Sager Shivani Kaul Liliana Uruburo Ashley K. Sara Krzyczkowski  Sudeep Kesh Molly Woodriff And a special thank you to the pioneering innovation team at Turner who helped facilitate and organize the day: Kris Wahl and Jim Barrett. PS The amazing view from Turner's office on the 35th of Hudson Yards (which they themselves built) didn't hurt either!

Building an innovative company culture is hard enough, but how do you do it in an industry that also prizes operational excellence? And how do you empower everyone in an organization to participate, regardless of their job role or function? Together with the amazing Jodie Brinkerhoff, we wrote about how we did exactly this at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) for AAAE's magazine for airport executives, Airport. The key question our program tried to answer was: How can we create an organizational culture that makes innovation part of the day-to-day responsibility of employees while continuing to uphold operational excellence? From the article: "DFW’s Program has infused a new level of creative problem-solving across the airport and it continues to grow and evolve. It has proven that employees who are empowered to question prevailing assumptions and educated on how to drive new ideas forward will continuously improve their operation, enhance safety and deliver winning customer experiences. This validates the belief that innovation and operational excellence can thrive hand in hand and sets an important precedent for the airport industry and beyond." You can read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/edGYuqu9 Welcome any feedback you might have! PS If you have tips on building a more innovative culture in your organization I would love to hear about them in the comments... #DFWinnovates #BeAnInnovationGIANT Carter Morris Pat Raker Cathy Haggerty, CPLP Paul Puopolo

16 teams, one day, one mission: Help Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) Airport improve air field safety! We were thrilled to recently facilitate the BOOST Employee Innovation Challenge for DFW Airport. Almost 100 employees from all departments joined in an effort to tackle a critical issue: How might we enhance airfield safety by reducing employee and vehicle incidents? By the end of the day, the teams went through the various stages within the innovation process: problem identification to uncover opportunities for change, ideation, concept development, and testing. Finally they pitched their ideas to judges and fellow participants to narrow down to three finalists. Taken together, these efforts are the small steps towards achieving a big goal - creating a safer and more secure airport! A big congratulations and thank you to DFW's stellar Innovation department, the airfield operations department, judges, and all the participants. Jodie Brinkerhoff Maria Smith-Brackenridge Paul Puopolo Chris McLaughlin Chris Suerth Ricky Griffin Jr Erik Nelson Iqbal Mohiuddin Glenda Diaz, MBA Janet Thys Robertha Balroopsingh, ACEA Lisa Gahm, M.S., A.A.E., ACE, ASE Jarin Horton, MBA, A.A.E., ACE Joseph Z. Ilona Münzer, MA, ACE Kinh Tieu #DFWinnovates #DFWBOOST #BeAnInnovationGIANT

Some of our favorite courses are helping innovation sprout up in unexpected places, and airports are showing they are about more than just runways and terminals! We're excited to have recently wrapped up an Innovation Skills Bootcamp, specially crafted for professionals working in the aviation industry, in partnership with our good friends at AAAE. During the Bootcamp, participants dove headfirst into the latest innovation techniques, including design thinking, lean startup principles, and creative problem-solving. Congratulations to all our Bootcamp graduates, we wish you much success on your innovation journey! Evelyn Bian Aaron Brennan Carrie Countryman Chad Koehnen Tim Quayle Clio Ramsey Charli Sand, PMP, CSM Arnold Watkins, IPMA-SCP, USAP Jodie Brinkerhoff Cathy Haggerty, CPLP Carter Morris Lisa Harbeson Shai R.

The party continues! As part of the celebrations for our 10-year anniversary we are excited to launch a new website - www.giantinnovation.io! From detailed case studies to practical field guides, it’s all there for our friends around the world. From the start our mission has been clear: How might we help anyone -- especially people in large, complex organizations -- become Everyday Innovators. We hope our new website is another step in this journey and we can’t wait to hear what you think. Check out www.giantinnovation.io and feedback is very welcome. More big announcements coming soon... Lastly, a special thank you to all of our partners over the last decade. As much as we hope we have taught your organizations, we also have learned from each of you!  Jodie Brinkerhoff Londono Tatiana Emily Stevens Kris Wahl Michael Camison Pancorbo Caitlin Cronk, MBA Abdelrazak Al-Sharif Nina Brandt Jim Barrett Michael Mainiero Raymond Kozikowski Paul Puopolo Erica DePiero Sandra Stevenson Peter Fox David K. Park, PhD Lindsay Fletcher, CPTD (He/Him/His) Jamie Showrank Jessica Morgan Andy Nichols David Sinclair Dexter Toh Megan Madel Bartek Jaślikowski Aileen Huang-Saad Ryan Edmonds Joe Williams Anna Wackerbauer Kelly Glynn Carolyn (. David Madigan Rob Schapiro Petra Winkler (she/her) Tarun Krishna Yvette Standberry Karen O'Leonard Stacey L. Gleeson Carolyn Moore Mary John