In rising to the challenges of our times, Federal leaders must cultivate a culture of innovation, embrace creative solutions, and navigate complex systems.  It’s no longer enough to possess exceptional analytical and deductive skills; today’s leaders must learn to aggregate insights and resources from disparate communities and organizations to solve wicked problems.

OPM’s innovation and problem solving curriculum puts participants into a collaborative action learning environment where they will exercise the techniques of Human Centered Design: a framework for exploring the root cause of problems, expanding the creative space for imagining unique and meaningful approaches, and developing and testing solutions through a process of rapid iteration.  HCD has been embraced by many of the world’s most successful organizations.

Participants can enroll in individual workshops, and can earn an OPM recognized certificate upon completion of curriculum requirements.  Certificate holders will stand among an elite community of problem solvers and be approved to facilitate workshops and train others within Federal agencies.  The value of your training investment exponentially increases as you develop innovation capacity in others.

Learning Outcomes:

• Learn the principles of Human Centered Design
• Develop a set of tools that helps tame the complexity of intractable challenges;
• Gather insights that uncover latent needs and expose the root of problems;
• Collaborate with multi-disciplinary, inter-agency, and cross-sectoral partners;
• Learn to understand, respect, and embrace the norms, values, strengths and perspectives of disparate organizations;
• Create fertile space for new ideas;
• Learn to harness risk and conflict as opportunities;
• Leverage low-resolution prototyping to reduce risk and development costs;
• Navigate the change environment;
• Develop confidence and experience by working real problems;
• Learn to work in asynchronous and distributed space;
• Become a member of a respected community that is leveraged to work challenges of global significance.