Hidden within the University of Cincinnati's 1819 Innovation Hub is a game-changing resource for large companies and startups alike.
The 1819 Learning Lab is an innovative space where Southwest Ohio's business leaders and entrepreneurs unlock the insights and expertise needed to launch their teams to new heights.
More than 1,000 representatives from over 60 unique organizations have gained expert insights at the Learning Lab in the last eight months. Below, we'll break down four cutting-edge sessions that helped 1819 partner companies reach their full innovative potential.
Engineering design firm Kinetic Vision turned to the 1819 Learning Lab to learn how to overcome the "strategy trap" - a deceptive pitfall that can cripple teams when businesses prioritize strategy while deprioritizing the very strategists who drive those decisions.
- Five habits
- Four skills
- Three choices
- Two fixes
- One mission
To help its business avoid strategic failures, Kinetic Vision's team received a clear message: "The best way to generate more effective strategies is by cultivating more skilled strategists."
The seminar's clear messaging led directly into interactive role-play opportunities and small group sessions, enabling Kinetic Vision's team to turn words into action. Ultimately, attendees left the Learning Lab better prepared to craft strategy by developing and enabling strategic thinkers.
The accounting and finance teams at Western & Southern Financial Group traveled to 1819 to learn about designing thoughtful experiment plans. There were three main objectives for the session:
The highlight of the Learning Lab visit, though, may have been its focus on experiment planning. Attendees brainstormed ways to construct experiments to increase internal efficiency. According to Partridge and Rudolph, a key feature to process improvement is to identify what to keep doing, eliminate or change - "prioritizing the riskiest assumptions and testing them in experiments as early as possible to quickly and conclusively validate or invalidate them."
The teams acted on these words in the latter half of the Learning Lab session, ideating on potential business experiments. Finally, attendees considered next steps - from setting up a debrief session to conducting experiments identified at the Learning Lab.
U.S. Bank attendees weren't just at the Learning Lab to listen; Partridge and Rudolph organized activities for participants to incorporate SIT principles themselves. Subtraction, one of the five SIT patterns, was especially highlighted during a team-building activity. Finally, the U.S. Bank team was tasked with incorporating SIT using ChatGPT, blending two critical innovation skills simultaneously.
Thinking through Fifth Third's current process improvement strategy had value, but the session's main goal was to lead the team to envision future changes. Working in smaller groups, Learning Lab attendees reimagined current process improvement strategies to create a more effective game plan for their teams moving forward.
Whether by planning out innovative experiments or harnessing the potential of young hires, the 1819 Learning Lab offers countless opportunities for forward-thinking change. Tapping into the expertise of this gem in the Cincinnati Innovation District provides Southwest Ohio's leaders with a crucial asset for revolutionizing their businesses.
Partridge views the Learning Lab as an extraordinarily valuable tool for Cincinnati's innovation community. "The 1819 Learning Lab is where teams come to level up their innovation game - building skills, strengthening collaboration and tackling big challenges with fresh thinking," he states. "If you're a business leader looking to future-proof your team and spark breakthrough ideas, this is the place to be."
Most people may be unaware of the 1819 Learning Lab, but the region's business and community leaders have certainly taken note. Corporate titans like Procter & Gamble and Great American Insurance Group and smaller groups such as the Corryville Community Development Corporation have joined the four companies above in collaborating with the Learning Lab; will you join them in unlocking its potential?
Featured image at top: Learning Lab attendees posing outside the space. Photo/Rebecca Rudolph
