IAG Design Community: Creative Intelligence Program

In 2018 IAG set a strategy that focused on innovation and growth. Chief Innovation Officer Julie Batch emphasised that creativity would be a key mindset required to achieve this. While the Design Community system addressed key design capabilities, it became clear that an intelligent application of creativity was essential to grow it: curiosity and confidence to explore new business areas and customers; and context, conflict, and connectedness to constructively collaborate across teams. The brief was to create a program that suited IAG’s company culture, which could be used on its own, or in conjunction with IAG’s growing use of design.

The Creative Intelligence program accelerates IAG employees’ ability to apply design techniques or complement their expertise with an adaptable open mindset to grow, be more resilient, and do things differently. By investigating: How might we enable effective creativity within IAG? The project team yielded insights and solutions that were tested and iterated to create the program. It contains: - Framework: Demonstrating the creativity process - Principles: Factors required to support participants - Activities: To introduce and enhance components of participants’ creativity - Engagement Model: To embed the creative mindset - Measurement System: To assess creative capability pre-and post-implementation

The CI program has impacted: CFO Leadership introduced curiosity and exploration into people managing. They enabled their 300+ staff with an environment supporting creativity as they redesign how financial services are provided. The New Zealand Enterprise Delivery Team incorporated creativity into IAG’s delivery approach, affecting all NZ IAG brands. Effectively questioning programs and exploring alternatives has enabled them to achieve more human centred outcomes. The Design Team enhanced their ability to collaborate confidently with diverse stakeholders and subject matter experts. This uncovered project ambiguities and created better solutions within flagship programs that cater to over 85% of IAG’s customers.

The Creative Intelligence Program is flexible in how participants engage with it: 1. In conjunction with learning design techniques 2. On its own to enhance existing skills The Program features an engagement model that allows people to embody creativity and curiosity. This involves connecting practice with cognitive knowledge, emotional awareness, and a support framework to actively foster embedment. Participants are guided not to become creative experts, but to be able to apply elements of creativity within their disciplines. The tools, mindsets, and skillsets can be applied within projects, meetings, or personal and professional growth within teams. Alongside the program is a measurement system, developed in conjunction with IAG learning and development experts, tailored to track the impact on participants and the business it is delivered to. This system also feeds into the Design Community so that we can track participants’ competencies and refine the Program’s offerings.