Goal
Transform how a global mining company approaches innovation by designing and facilitating a series of cross-industry open forums to generate a pipeline of transformative technology opportunities, shifting from incremental improvement to step-change thinking.
Research
Discovery interviews with internal stakeholders · Competitive landscape analysis across mining and adjacent industries · Participant recruitment across 6+ sectors and 50+ organizations · Stimulus material development per forum theme
Frameworks
Double Diamond design processOpen innovation modelDesign thinking facilitationOpportunity portfolio mappingRepeatable method & playbook
Insights
Step-change innovation would require looking outside of mining to unlock analogous solutions from aerospace, energy, logistic, and more
Engagement, pacing, and surprise will be critical to maintaining creative energy across three full days for a group of participants new to design thinking, uncomfortable with ambiguity, and trained to be risk-averse
The right amount of context is a design decision: orient participants too little and the conversation stays surface level, too much and experts stop imagining and start defending
Participants from sometimes competing organizations will need a clearly defined understanding of how outputs and IP will be handled
Internal champions will need a repeatable method to sustain the pipeline of transformative opportunities and explore feasibility and viability outside of the stage-gate process
Impact
Concept pipeline
Generated a pipeline of transformative opportunities spanning improvements to existing systems and truly disruptive approaches
New partnerships
Secured expressions of interest from non-traditional partners to explore concept development and pilot testing
Repeatable method
Delivered an open innovation playbook that internal champions can run independently
"Company leadership described the forums as transforming the way we think about mining — driving step-change value, reducing environmental footprint, and propelling the organization into the next phase of mining evolution."
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