Yves Pigneur and I continuously improve them based on what we learn in the field. I started conducting Masterclasses in 2009 as simple workshops to finance my time on writing our first bestseller, Business Model Generation.

Few people knew me at the time, and I certainly didn’t know as much about corporate innovation as I know now. It’s almost embarrassing to look at the slides from back then, but it’s also an indicator of how much our thinking and methodology has improved since 2009.

Masterclasses are among my favorite engagements for creating a hands-on innovation experience — from soup to nuts. It’s incredibly rewarding to help participants understand state-of-the-art of innovation practices and bust a couple of innovation myths along the way.  

Here are the four half-day blocks that we find most important and which we pack into two intense days of hands-on, innovation work-shopping:

• Innovation Performance & Management:
  The main goal of the Masterclass is to help participants understand what it takes to create a world class innovation engine. We show them how to boost innovation performance and explain what they'd need to put in place in order to systematically churn out new growth engines successfully. That ranges from managing an innovation portfolio all the way to designing the right org chart.
  
  
• Managing Innovation Risk, Testing, and Innovation Metrics:
  One of the biggest advances of our Masterclass is the block on how to manage and reduce the risk of innovation. Based on Steve Blank and Eric Ries’ thinking, we show participations the nitty-gritty of how to go from idea to validated business case. That is topped off with the introduction of the Strategyzer Innovation Metrics that we co-developed with several multinationals like Bayer, Bosch, and Cargill.
  
  
• Design Thinking, Ideation, and Prototyping:
  In this part of the Masterclass we practice design thinking as it relates to business model innovation: how to generate innovative business models, prototype them, and assess them.
  
  
• Competing on Business Models:
  Our Masterclass still starts with the Business Model Canvas and Value Proposition Canvas, but teaches even experienced users how to get to the next level. We show participants how to go beyond competing on products, services, tech innovation, or price alone, in order to create a competitive advantage based on superior business models and value propositions.
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One of the aspects that Yves and I enjoy most when it comes to Masterclasses is the search for the right interactive and engaging approach that will keep the energy high and learning elevated throughout the event.

We are both firm believers in learning by doing, and we created a sequence of short intensive exercises, where participants get their hands dirty and engage with Strategyzer’s innovation toolset.  Participants are so engaged that they don’t have any time to even open their laptops and barely manage to tweet during the Masterclass!

The most rewarding aspects of running the Masterclass are feeling the energy in the room, observing how engaged participants are in each exercise and watching the progress they make from the moment they arrive to when they summarize their insights.

Over the years and iterations, I believe we have transformed the Masterclasses into an engaging experience that gives participants a practical innovation toolbox and the ability to apply it when they return home.

Get hands-on and level up your innovation skills by joining Alex Osterwalder and the Strategyzer team at one of our virtual Masterclasses.