Waikato business audiences will have a rare and unique opportunity to hear from American innovator Justin Wilcox later this month.

Wilcox will speak at two events in Hamilton on August 29.

Justin tours the world helping companies implement innovation practices. Those companies range from early stage start-ups to mid-sized companies including NZ Steel, through to global heavyweights such as Google, Microsoft, HP, and Intel.

Considered one of the world’s thought leaders in the practical application of customer development techniques, Justin is coming to New Zealand thanks to the Heavy Engineering Research Association and Callaghan Innovation.

Callaghan program manager Ross Pearce said Kiwi audiences were wowed by Justin when he was here to speak at Lean 15 in 2015.

“Justin is incredibly passionate and a really engaging speaker, so we’re delighted to have Justin back here,” said Ross.

Justin will speak at a morning session called ‘Getting buy-in to innovate’.

Participants will learn how to get cultural commitment, from executives to entry-level employees, how to identify high priority roles in an organisation that need to buy-in to innovative processes, and when/how to pitch them an innovation mindset.

Also on the agenda is discussion about the power of metrics and incentives to create a culture that isn't afraid to fail, and the personality characteristics that make for the most effective innovation teams.

The afternoon session, titled ‘Executing on innovation’ will be held at Waikato Innovation Park.

Here Justin will talk about understanding the priorities of customers through customer interviews and how to turn their answers into high-value innovation portfolio pipelines.

Participants at this workshop will leave with the skills needed to better understand customers’ needs, as well as how a team can quickly test and validate a portfolio pipeline.

Ross said given Justin’s breadth and depth of experience with a vast range of businesses of varying sizes and scales, the workshops would be “suitable for anyone with a product in the market”.

Tickets for the morning session, held from 9-11am at The Atrium, Wintec House, are $160. To register click here.

‘Executing on innovation’ will run from 12.30-4pm at the conference room at Waikato Innovation Park. Tickets for this session are $250. To register click here.