Understand the need
Frame a problem from the perspective of the people experiencing it.
Innovation in practice
Learn how to turn uncertainty into useful evidence.
Practise understanding a need, challenging an assumption and designing a small test before committing to a bigger idea.
A different way forward
INSO workshopsTurn ideas into action
- Suggested format
- Tailored session or pathway
Format follows the audience, starting point and opportunities for practice.
- Who it is for
- Shaped around practice and feedback
Teams, innovators and founders who need a practical way to explore and test ideas.
- How we work
- Live · blended · on-demand where useful
Scope, format and preparation agreed around your team.
When this helpsIs this your
Is this your
situation?
Ideas gain momentum before anyone checks the need. Build a habit of investigating the problem, surfacing assumptions and learning before expanding the commitment.
- Solutions arrive before the need is understood.
- Teams confuse enthusiasm with evidence.
- Experiments lack a clear learning question.
What changes
Practical progress you can use in the work.
Leave with more
than a good conversation.
Choose what to learn
Find the assumption that matters most to the idea.
Design a useful test
Connect a small experiment to a clear next decision.
Inside the workshopA clear shape.
A clear shape.
Room for your reality.
Suggested workshop outline. We shape the sequence and depth around your team.
Our approach to building capability01Explore the problem
What we do
Separate an observed difficulty from the preferred solution. Practise asking questions that invite useful evidence.
What this produces
A need statement grounded in a situation.
02Open the possibilities
What we do
Develop different ways to address that need. Explain the value each might create and the assumptions it relies on.
What this produces
A set of options and their assumptions.
03Design the smallest useful test
What we do
Select an important uncertainty. Design an experiment or prototype to investigate it, recognising the limits.
What this produces
A test card with a learning question.
04Interpret and decide
What we do
Work through possible findings. Practise choosing whether to adapt, investigate further or stop, and explain the limits of the evidence.
What this produces
A learning record linked to the next decision.
What you keepUseful in the room.
Useful in the room.
Useful on Monday.
- A practical need-framing template
- An assumption and experiment card
- A learning record for the next decision
Before we beginA little preparation.
A little preparation.
A more useful session.
- Bring a live idea or recurring customer problem.
- Share any existing evidence.
- Identify a realistic opportunity to test after learning.
After the workshop
Keep it moving.
Run an agreed test, then review findings with a peer or manager. What changed in the team’s understanding?
Try a different way of thinking
Test the need before the feature
A team wants to build a self-service tool because users often ask for help.
Illustrative exampleStep 1 of 3
Understand
Look at when people ask for help. Is the task unclear, the information missing or the process difficult?
01 / 03
- Understand
Look at when people ask for help. Is the task unclear, the information missing or the process difficult?
- Test
Choose the most important assumption. Try a simple alternative that lets you observe whether the difficulty changes.
- Learn
Compare what happened with the learning question. Decide what to adapt before investing in the full tool.
The useful shift
The purpose of a test is to improve the next decision, not to defend the original idea.
In practice · University of Oxford
From founder ambition to practical progress.
The cohort completed seven weeks of structured company-building, applying the work to their own ventures as they went.
Related work at EnSpire Oxford: INSO co-led a founder programme that connected customer need and experimentation to participants’ own ventures. This outline brings that emphasis on learning through practice to your team.
Read the storyA good fit when
People who need repeatable innovation practice, not just more ideas.
Another approach may fit better
A guarantee that an idea will succeed or a substitute for full validation.
Explore the ways we can helpBefore you choose
A few useful answers.
Is innovation only about new products?
No. A service, process or way of working can provide a meaningful need and something useful to learn.
Do we need specialist tools?
We choose tools around the learning task. Simple materials often make the assumptions and reasoning easier to see.
What are you working through?
Interested in innovation in practice? Tell us about your team, the situation and what you would like to leave with. We can shape a useful starting point together.
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INSO · Innovation in practice · Suggested workshop outline. Format and scope are agreed around your team. /workshops/innovation