Stanford University’s innovation culture is in our DNA

Our approach is strongly influenced by the innovation methodologies developed at Stanford University. We match them with over 20 years of best practices gained in industry. Our emphasis is on team- and project-based learning, coaching, and participatory co-design.

IntoActions’ Innovation Framework

#1 Design Innovation is about people

#2 Everyone can be creative

#3 Learn to prototype - Prototype to learn

#4 Diverse and engaged teams: innovation magic

#5 Prototype storming, not brainstorming

#6 Space defines desired behavior and learning

#7 Preserve ambiguity - trust the process

#8 Communicate in tangible ways

#9 Bias to action. Our name says it all!

#10 Co-creation: Design with, not for!

IntoActions’ 10 Key Innovation Principles

Design Thinking: Human-Centered Problem Solving

Design Thinking, a human-centered approach to innovation that puts empathy first, is our Innovation DNA and provides the glue that holds together our comprehensive approach to innovation.

Design Thinking can best be understood as four areas and phases that constantly interact with each other: Discover, Define, Develop and Deliver.

During the Discover phase we explore and start to understand the problem space. The Define phase allows us to bring clarity to complexity by clearly identifying needs and generating unique insights. It helps us to (re)define what the real problem is. The Develop phase forces us to use a range of ideation tools and methods to create many potential solution choices. And the Deliver phase requires us to build and test the best solutions.

Throughout the process our activities constantly alternate between the problem space and the solution space with increasing levels of fidelity. And through rapid, multiple prototyping ideas quickly move from the abstract to the concrete and are transformed into tangible solutions. Failure is encouraged at any point as most of the very best solutions begin with a surprise.

Through our Innovation Labs, we will make sure that the key principles, mindsets and tools necessary for successful innovation will also become part of your organization’s DNA.

“All design activity is ultimately social in nature.”

Professor Larry Leifer, Director
Hasso Plattner Design Thinking Research Program at Stanford

Foresight Thinking™: Long-Range Innovation Strategy

Foresight Thinking™ is a tool-driven approach to support long-range planning and innovation strategy. Its tools and techniques help organizations develop a sustainable culture of innovation by giving teams the language and long-term ability to innovate. By applying Foresight Thinking™, teams prepare successfully for the future by answering three fundamental questions:

How do we begin looking for future opportunities?
How can we create a path to these opportunities that anticipates the inevitable changes along the way?
What can we start doing today that will help us get there first?

IntoActions is a licensed and preferred partner with the Innovation Leadership Board (ILB), the developer of the Foresight Thinking™ methodology and a global leader in the design of tools and processes that enable radical innovation. ILB is based in Silicon Valley.

“Our Social Good Brasil Lab is an immersion program for early-stage social entrepreneurs. The main objective is to empower our participants to put their insights into ideas and then into practice. We have been working with IntoActions since 2013. They are our lead partner concerning the methodology behind our accelerator program. They have challenged our participants to question their assumptions, adjust their mindsets, and apply new tools and techniques so that they can come up with better solutions. In the process, our participants quite often redefine what the real social problem is that they want to address, or who the actual users are.”

Carolina de Andrade
Executive Director
Social Good Brasil, Florianopolis (Brazil)