A groundbreaking new program – the Master of Creative Intelligence and Strategic Innovation – is helping organisations adapt and thrive with a unique approach to empowering workforces with new skills and thinking to solve complex business challenges.
Fostering resilience. Navigating uncertainty. Wicked problems. The new normal. Once considered corporate buzzwords, today these terms are a challenging reality facing Australia’s most successful industry sectors.
But what can organisations do to adapt and thrive in these times of unprecedented change, and how can they rebuild their operations to create dynamic, resilient futures?
UTS is introducing a transformative new program designed to help organisations empower their workforce to meet these complex and emerging challenges.
Launching in June, the Master of Creative Intelligence and Strategic Innovation (MCISI) is an enterprise-focused postgraduate program that helps organisations unlock the innovation capacity of their people and apply leading-edge approaches to business problems in a uniquely immersive learning environment.
Transforming organisational problem solving
Professor Kees Dorst, a global thought leader in innovation and academic at UTS’s Faculty of Transdisciplinary Innovation, has led the creation of the new program, with his world-leading research and practice on design innovation underpinning the MCISI course.
"Today’s problems are more open, complex, networked and dynamic than ever before, and this is causing huge challenges across every area of society and industry," he says.
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Professor Dorst, who has also been tasked by the United Nations to help develop platforms to support the global implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, says solving these challenges requires organisations to think outside existing systems and frameworks to reframe wicked problems and create sustainable, lasting change.
"Many organisations are finding that you can’t fix these new problems with old ways of working. The scale and complexity of these emerging challenges means we urgently need to rethink conventional problem solving and create new and agile approaches to innovation.
In this rapidly evolving environment, the future belongs to the quickest learner.
“The MCISI is a paradigm shift in organisational learning, designed specifically to equip organisations and their people with new tools, practices and ways of thinking as well as providing a dedicated space for participants to work on their organisation’s most complex and pressing challenges.”
Reimagining collaboration and innovation
Created in close consultation with industry, the MCISI program has been custom-made with flexibility at its heart, allowing organisations to create curated learning pathways for their participants, tailored to their specific business needs.
The program’s ‘bring your own problem’ approach and its cohort structure – where emerging leaders from across an organisation learn and work on problems together – is designed to foster a culture of collaboration by giving teams a common language and shared practices, helping to break through organisational silos and find faster, more creative solutions to problems.
Consisting of a small units of subjects, or ‘microcredentials’, the program also provides flexibility in the level of participation – while some participants may embark on the whole Masters program, others can engage in one, or maybe two or three subjects to develop specific skillsets.
Rodger Watson, MCISI Course Director, says the program is a win-win for both organisations and their people.
"As well as building innovation capability within organisations, this program brings together the private sector with public and community sectors to take on some of the biggest systemic challenges of our time," he says.
We are bringing together the brightest minds with cutting edge learning tools and approaches to deliver a transformational lifetime learning experience.
Watson says the program is an invaluable way of recognising and empowering top talent within organisations with future-focused skills, experiences and networks in a dynamic and engaging environment.
"For some participants, this program is changing their career trajectory, while for others it’s more about rewarding and reinvigorating their drive, and leaning in to the latest thinking on creative intelligence and strategic innovation."
Future-focused skills for resilient futures
Professor Louise McWhinnie, Dean of Transdisciplinary Innovation at UTS, says that equipping today’s workforce with the skills to foster resilience, navigate uncertainty and anticipate and adapt to unforeseen challenges is paramount.
"Our world’s great challenges – and impact of the current COVID-19 situation is a strong example – have shown us that to survive and thrive we must be flexible, adaptable learners.
"We know that organisations across all sectors are facing new types of highly complex challenges that are outpacing normal innovation capacity. The MCISI is the next step in our learning portfolio, designed specifically for organisations to uplift the innovation capability of their top talent and grow their innovation ecosystem.
"Through our award-winning degrees, we have transformed the way that universities and industry can collaborate to solve complex challenges, explore new ways of working and find and grow talent. The MCISI is the perfect applied, enterprise learning experience for the times".
Important dates:
September intake start date: 28 September 2020
Enrolment deadline for September start: 21 September 2020
More information:
Contact us to learn more:
For more information please contact: Amanda McGregor, Strategic Partnerships Director at UTS TD School
E: amanda.mcgregor@uts.edu.au or mobile: 0490 430 531