case studies

“Engagement with Art allowed me to understand that innovation can come from the beauty of things”

Context and Challenge

How can you require an admission department to be innovative and creative when their tasks are often monotone? Management at IE’s Admission area of the School of Human Sciences and Technology (HST) was facing this question. The HST team needed to hone their creative skills, as well as to humanize their daily professional experience. Moreover, the team was doubled in a short period, in an unexpected reorganization. This led to two groups with different working styles, products, and management to be required to work as one, adding up to the challenge of working in innovative ways.

The School of Human Sciences and Technology (HST) is a specialized department, within Instituto de Empresa (IE), grounded upon the science of human behaviour; an organization forming disruptive-thinkers and innovative individuals.

The Artian’s solution

We designed an integral 6-months program consists of keynotes, workshops, and outside activities. The program was tailored to ignite an artistic mindset and develop creative skills in the department.

Provoking activities

The admission team at HST was in the need of breaking mental barriers to approach the customer engagement process differently. A great way to achieve this is to expose individuals to content that challenges their way of thinking. This is why our training began with an interactive keynote “Renaissance of Renaissance Thinking”, a session advocating for the connection between artistic talent and entrepreneurship.

Observing, questioning, and imagining workshops: art-based skills for innovation

Our training is based on the three fundamental skills for developing an Artistic Mindset – the ability to observe, question, and imagine, which can lead business professionals to develop innovative practices in their day-to-day work and to open their minds to working with people from different backgrounds.

Hands-on experiences: visit the Prado and meta-experience with the artist Enrique Radigales

We provided a guided tour and workshop at Museo del Prado de Madrid. The activity’s purpose is to highlight the connection between innovation and culture, reinforce observation in real life, and learning about the power of an image as a way to transmit ideas (The team is often presenting to potential clients).

In another activity, we practiced a user experience workshop with the artist Enrique Radigales, allowing the team to learn from artists and the way they create experiences using technologies. The activity is done in teams and therefore is designed to cover team building aspects.

Results

100% of HST participants became aware of the need for observation skills to provide value to customers:

“I learned how important it is to go deeper and see things with new perspetives when we observe the environment around us, specifically our customers. The world is too fast and we are losing way too many details that students and customers value”

90% of participants have applied their learnings and renovated creative skills to their daily jobs

“Art teaches you to create feelings and emotions that engage customers”

“I learnt many soft skills that are applicable in many aspects of my job. For me, it was like stretching the muscles of our mind and pushing them to be better. Like a really good and rewarding workout!”

Observation and questioning skills facilitated the mesh of two departments

“The training motivated us to think out of the box, which allowed us to break the barriers in order to work with the new team with more motivation

“The training was a reminder that people think differently. I felt overall the activities helped us both see each other differently and value the creative inputs of others”