Multibillion Dollar Corporation Drives Customer-Centricity Through Design Thinking & Innovation
Industry: Manufacturing
Location: Southeastern U.S.
Service: Design Thinking & Innovation Coaching Workshop
Results:
Strengthened leadership capabilities through immersive design thinking and innovation strategy tools
Identified behaviors and culture shifts needed to enable sustainable innovation and to continue to ensure customer-centricity in decision-making
Rated “Best of the Week” by participants, with a 9.4/10 satisfaction score
The Challenge:
A multibillion dollar manufacturing company aspired to transform the business through advancing leadership capability with their high potential leaders. Working in partnership with the University of Georgia (UGA) Executive Education Center, the company designed a business accelerator two week program to build business and leadership acumen. Deepening leaders' innovation capabilities with a customer centric mindset was an essential part of the leadership program.
The Solution:
In partnership with UGA Executive Education, the organization engaged Bridge Innovate to lead the Design Thinking & Leading Innovation session as part of their Business Accelerator program. The session was built around immersive learning, hands-on exercises, and collaborative teamwork.
Highlights included:
Design Thinking Foundations: Leaders learned to reimagine business challenges through a customer-centric lens, using empathy mapping and “How Might We” framing to identify new opportunities.
Team-Based Innovation: Participants worked in cross-functional teams aligned to key customer segments, allowing them to apply insights directly to their real-world business contexts.
Innovation Strategy Tools: The session introduced Keeley’s Ten Types of Innovation, helping teams explore multiple dimensions of innovation—beyond just product—to include business models, customer engagement, and organizational capabilities.
Culture and Mindsets: Through guided reflection, leaders examined how their current culture either supports or limits innovation, surfacing key behaviors needed to foster a more creative, adaptable environment.
The Result:
As a part of the program, participants completed an empathy map for their top five customer types. Once prioritizing the needs and pain points across the customer types, participants identified top opportunities. The session demonstrated how generative AI can be used as a brainstorming enabler to jump start the innovation process. Additionally, the participants evaluated their current and future innovation portfolio using Keely’s Ten Types of Innovation.
The program delivered a high-impact experience, as confirmed by overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants. Responses emphasized the effectiveness of the hands-on format, the quality of facilitation, and the relevance to leadership and culture.
Participant feedback included:
“Super engaging. Liked the flow of sharing concepts and then putting them into practice.”
“Jenny’s facilitation is excellent. Her ability to engage the audience with relevant examples opens leaders’ minds.”
“Engaging content and thought-provoking exercises. Love the focus on leadership behaviors.”
“Best of the week.”
With a stronger understanding of innovation strategy, cultural enablers, and customer-led thinking, this cohort of leaders is now better equipped to drive breakthrough solutions across the business.
Need help establishing customer-centric thinking within your organization?Contact us to create your own custom workshop.