Module Cultivating for Innovation
In this module, we will focus on fostering an innovation mindset and culture. Without the right innovation mindset and culture, innovation strategies, structures and efforts will simply be ignored and are doomed to fail.
Start date
- 02.03.2026
Training days
- 2 days
Location
- Antwerp
Language
- English
Price
- Module: €2.250
The need for an innovative mindset
In today’s rapidly changing business landscape, innovation is no longer a luxury but a necessity. Markets are shifting at speed due to macro-economic trends such as emerging technologies, changing consumer behaviour, and evolving societal expectations. What works today may be obsolete tomorrow.
Despite this pressure, and the fact that innovation ranks high on CEOs’ agendas, many organisations continue to struggle: 94% of executives worldwide are dissatisfied with their company’s innovation performance. This is rarely due to a lack of ideas, but rather a lack of structure, leadership, and clear focus.
In the past, leaders often delegated creativity and innovation to specialised departments such as R&D or innovation labs. That era is over. Today, leaders themselves must be creative and act as orchestrators of innovation across the organisation.
However, innovation strategies can only be effective when supported by a climate that enables innovation. Common barriers include the absence of an innovation-driven mindset among employees, resistance to change, and entrenched practices that hinder experimentation.
This module, Cultivating for Innovation, addresses this fundamental challenge head-on: innovation starts with the human dimension and the individual. By developing your own mindset, you can lead and sustain a culture of creativity and renewal.
Module overview
This intensive two-day module focuses on stimulating and embedding an innovation mindset and culture within your organisation. The masterclass provides the tools and techniques needed to cultivate both individual and collective creativity. Without this foundational mindset, innovation strategies and initiatives often fail.
Day 1: Focus on the individual
The first day centres on rediscovering personal creativity. Participants are equipped to ignite their own creative potential and break through fixed thinking patterns. You build a solid understanding of how individual creativity contributes to organisational innovation. The day covers creative thinking techniques—and, crucially, how to make them truly effective.
Day 2: Focus on the collective
The focus then shifts to orchestrating collective creativity. You learn how to strengthen team dynamics and foster an innovation culture, even in complex and dynamic environments, through interactive simulations. The exercises challenge teams to deal with complexity and ambiguity while analysing their group dynamics and creative processes.
In short, the module enables participants to:
• Assess and strengthen their personal creative potential.
• Develop a growth mindset that encourages experimentation and new perspectives.
• Optimise and leverage collective creativity within teams.
• Apply insights from simulations to improve team collaboration in complex, dynamic environments.
Learning Outcomes:
After successfully completing the module “Cultivating for Innovation”, participants will be able to:
- Assess and strengthen individual creativity
Identify personal creative strengths and development areas, and apply techniques to break through mental barriers. - Cultivate a creative mindset
Develop practical strategies to stimulate creativity in themselves and their teams, including fostering a growth mindset that embraces experimentation, learning from failure, and exploring new perspectives to enhance creative problem-solving. - Facilitate collective creativity
Understand group dynamics and learn how to leverage the diverse creative talents of team members, using targeted interventions to achieve shared goals. - Navigate complexity
Apply insights from innovation simulations to improve team collaboration and build resilience when managing innovation in complex, dynamic, and constantly evolving environments.
Alignment with other modules
The Master Class Organizing for Innovation consists of five independent modules that together form a comprehensive toolkit for successfully embedding and organising innovation. The modules address the essential building blocks for increasing innovation success: strategizing, cultivating, leading, structuring, and collaborating.
The role of M1 in the overall journey:
• Foundation: Module 1, Cultivating for Innovation, forms the foundation and opens the masterclass with what truly matters: the human side of innovation. The learning journey moves from the individual to the organisation, and from the organisation to the broader ecosystem.
• Sequence: This module ensures that a culture is created in which innovation can take root. The masterclass is designed so that participants first develop a creative mindset and strong team dynamics (M1), allowing innovation to emerge within cohesive teams. The other modules build on this foundation.
The modular structure allows you to follow the full learning journey (ten days) or to select individual modules that best align with your immediate priorities and the needs of your organisation.
Internationally renowned faculty member: Prof. Jamie Anderson, PhD
This module is led by Prof. Jamie Anderson, PhD, Professor of Leadership & Strategy at Antwerp Management School.
International recognition
Jamie Anderson is a widely recognised expert in innovation culture and creative leadership. The Financial Times named him a “management guru,” and Business Strategy Review listed him among the world’s “top 25 management thinkers.” He is also an experienced TEDx speaker.
Academic background & practitioner expertise
In addition to his role at Antwerp Management School, he is a visiting professor at INSEAD. His research and teaching focus on the interconnection between creativity, innovation, leadership, and change. While his background includes strategy and innovation strategy, he identified creative thinking, both individual and collective, as a prerequisite for innovation.
His articles have been published in leading journals such as MIT Sloan Management Review, California Management Review, and Journal of Business Strategy. His ideas have also been featured in Business Week, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, and the Financial Times.
Role in the module
Jamie Anderson opens the masterclass with what truly matters: the human side of innovation. He guides participants on a journey to rediscover their own creativity and to break through the mental barriers that often block innovation. His insights make him the ideal guide to cultivating the right mindset, before strategy or structure come into play.
Curriculum
Day 1: Developing the individual innovation mindset
This concept forms the foundation of the module and focuses on the participant as an individual (Day 1). It is crucial, as innovation starts with the individual and the development of one’s own mindset.
• Participants are equipped to assess and strengthen their personal creative potential.
• Strong attention is given to the psychology of creativity and the discussion around fixed versus growth mindsets.
• A key objective is identifying and breaking through mental barriers, including personal limitations or imposter syndrome that act as “invisible blockers” of innovation.
• Participants learn practical creative thinking techniques, such as brainstorming and the SCAMPER hands-on exercise, to sustain creativity over time.
Day 2: Orchestrating collective creativity
This concept shifts the focus from the individual to the team and organisational dynamics (Day 2). After all, innovation is driven by teams.
• The goal is to orchestrate collective creativity and strengthen team dynamics.
• Participants learn how to understand group dynamics and how to leverage the diverse creative talents of team members to achieve shared objectives.
• The module emphasises open communication and breaking down silos through dialogue and active listening within teams.
• This collective focus is essential for building a widely shared innovation culture that is supported by everyone in the organisation.
Practical info
Course Dates
The complete innovation program consists of 5 modules, each spanning 2 course days (from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM).
- Module 1 - Cultivating for Innovation: March 2-3, 2026
- Module 2 - Strategizing for Innovation: March 30-31, 2026
- Module 3 - Leading for Innovation: May 7-8, 2026
- Module 4 - Structuring for Innovation: May 28-29, 2026
- Module 5 - Ecosystems for Innovation: June 22-23, 2026
Location
Campus Antwerp Management School
Boogkeers 5
BE-2000 Antwerp, Belgium
Price and Financial Benefits
Registration Fee
The registration fee for this module is €1,750 (excluding VAT). If you choose to enroll in the full masterclass Organizing for Innovation (5 modules), the registration fee is €6,550 (excluding VAT).
Financial Benefits
- AMS alumni receive a 10% discount on the tuition fee, with a maximum amount of €2,500 (excl. VAT). [Click here for more info].
- SME e-wallet: Flemish SMEs receive 20% to 30% subsidies from the Flemish Government.
- A similar subsidy is available for SMEs based in Brussels.
- Participants from Belgian public and social profit organizations may be eligible for financial support.
For more information, please contact the Learning & Development Advisor.
Faculty
This master class is led by top-tier faculty, combining academic excellence with real-world innovation expertise.
Jamie Anderson, PhD
Professor Opening Minds for World Challenges, Digital Marketing & Storytelling and Leading Sustainable Transformation
Start the application procedure
Every year we only accept a select amount of candidates. We advise you to start the noncommittal application process as soon as possible.
A question about this program?
Get in touch.
