Staying on Top can be Difficult.

Microsoft was the world’s leading software company and had historically created some of the best-loved, most innovative products in existence. But once they reached the top, complacency set in and employees started to resist changes to “they way things are done.” The pace of innovation slowed and employees were becoming more focused on their past successes, rather than generating the new ideas Microsoft needed for the future.

Have You Tried Rebooting?

The Brave New Workshop Creative Outreach stepped in and helped re-ignite innovation at the grass roots level bringing together different groups within Microsoft to collaborate on product development. We started by loosening things up with their first ever multi-silo brainstorming session, exploring how products can be cooler and hipper. We then helped them brainstorm with their partners (as well as entertain and thank them) at the annual Microsoft Partner Council, an event that illustrates how important partnerships are to the company’s business. We also helped them test a collaboration platform by performing real time improvisation and conducting a brainstorming session using drawing-based whiteboard technology as part of the training performed by Sweeney.

The Results

“When John talks he will lead his audience to think about business solutions that under "business as usual" circumstance would never have been thought of. I highly recommend John Sweeney to anyone as a professional speaker, seminar leader, master motivator, business leader, and problem solver. His message and methods are fantastic!"
- Phil Fawcett, Program Manager, Microsoft Research (Microsoft employee since 1985)