Creating Innovation (Coursera)

Offered by Macquarie University,
Creating Innovation (Coursera)

The third course of the specialization CREATING INNOVATION will teach you what is at the core of all innovations that solve complex problems and how to foster methods to make big breakthroughs possible. It advances your knowledge of your own field by teaching you to look at it in new ways. CREATING INNOVATION is constructed in the following way: Week I. “What is Innovation?” – What lies at the core of all innovations. Week II. “The Evolution of Human Creativity” – How humans developed the ability to innovate and think creatively. Week III. “Innovation in a Complex Global Network” – How innovations emerge from human networks. Week IV. “Planning Innovation” – How organisations seek out and create the right conditions for new breakthroughs. Week V. “Market Innovation” – What makes innovations more likely to emerge in a market setting. Week VI. “Innovation in the Anthropocene” – How innovations are crucial to meet the problems of the 21st century.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Course 3 of 4 in the Solving Complex Problems Specialization.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
What is Innovation?
Welcome to Course 3 of the specialisation! In this module we will look at what innovation is, in the broadest possible context, and how the innovations humans devise to solve complex problems are the continuation of a much bigger and more critical trend.

WEEK 2
The Evolution of Human Creativity
In this module we will look at the main drivers of human innovation and how they have shaped the entirety of human society and history.

WEEK 3
Innovation in a Complex Global Network
In this module, we will examine the information networks that arose out of increasing human complexity, from the earliest such networks to the global network that fosters human innovation today.

WEEK 4
Planning Innovation
This module will deal with top-down innovations, where large organisations shape their infrastructures to maximize the chances of discovering an innovative solution to a problem.

WEEK 5
Market Innovation
In this module we will examine bottom-up innovation, where the forces of supply and demand can under the right conditions foster innovation and increase the chances of them occurring.

WEEK 6
Innovation in the Anthropocene
In this module, we will look at the future of innovation and how we may cope with the complex problems that arise out of the Anthropocene.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Cracking the Creativity Code: Discovering Ideas (Coursera) Coursera
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology

Cracking the Creativity Code: Discovering Ideas (Coursera)

Skill at discovering new ideas, and delivering them, may be one of the most important practical job skills, in today’s and tomorrow’s job market. Creativity is an acquired skill, one that improves with practice. This course aims to empower individuals who believe they have lost their innate creativity, because they, their employers or teachers prefer the three R's: replication, repetition and rote, to innovation. We show how to re-ignite rusty creative powers. During this course, you will learn proven tools, frameworks and concepts useful for discovery– generating an endless stream of new ideas implementing at least some of those ideas with skill and persistence, based on books and articles written by the instructors.

Jun 8th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Managerial Accounting: Tools for Facilitating and Guiding Business Decisions (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Managerial Accounting: Tools for Facilitating and Guiding Business Decisions (Coursera)

In this course, you will explore how to use accounting to allocate resources and incentivize manager and employee behaviors in using these resources. You will also learn how financial and non-financial accounting information facilitates strategic performance measurement and how to integrate this information to continuously improve strategy.

Jun 8th 2026
4 Weeks
Applications of Everyday Leadership (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Applications of Everyday Leadership (Coursera)

This course covers the following topics: negotiation, feedback and coaching, conflict management, and leading change. The objectives are to learn how to use leadership skills to work more effectively with others, how to use leadership skills to organize others to work more effectively together, and to apply the foundations of effective leadership skills to everyday situations faced by leaders.

Jun 8th 2026
4 Weeks
Managing Talent (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

Managing Talent (Coursera)

In this course, you will learn best practices for selecting, recruiting, and onboarding talent. You will also learn about the key approaches to measuring performance and evaluating your employees. In addition, you will learn how to develop and coach your talent so that they can realize their full potential at work. Altogether, you will gain a thorough understanding of the complete cycle of managing talent and creating a robust talent pipeline for your team and organization.

Jun 8th 2026
4 Weeks
Business Model Canvas: A Tool for Entrepreneurs and Innovators (Project-Centered Course) (Coursera) Coursera
University System of Georgia

Business Model Canvas: A Tool for Entrepreneurs and Innovators (Project-Centered Course) (Coursera)

In this project-centered course*, you will use the Business Model Canvas innovation tool to approach either a personal or corporate challenge or opportunity. You’ll learn to identify and communicate the nine key elements of a business model: Customer Segments, Value Proposition, Channels, Customer Relationships, Key Resources, Key Activities, Key Partners, Revenue Streams, and Cost Structure. Your completed project will be a polished Business Model Canvas that outlines the business case for a new product or service to address your selected challenge or opportunity. You’ll present your case in both a one-page document and a 10-minute video presentation.

Jun 8th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Art & Activity: Interactive Strategies for Engaging with Art (Coursera) Coursera
The Museum of Modern Art

Art & Activity: Interactive Strategies for Engaging with Art (Coursera)

Art can be a powerful catalyst for building skills and understanding a range of subjects. Intended for primary and secondary teachers of all disciplines, Art & Activity builds upon the inquiry-based approaches of Art and Inquiry: Museum Teaching Strategies for Your Classroom, while delving into activity-based strategies that will make your students empowered participants.

Jun 8th 2026
4 Weeks
Engaging in Enterprise Growth and Innovation (Coursera) Coursera
Northeastern University

Engaging in Enterprise Growth and Innovation (Coursera)

You will explore the challenges and processes for harnessing technological innovation for new-business development, with special focus on digital healthcare transformation. You will gain an understanding of enterprise growth and innovation topics through readings, cases, and exercises, including learning how firms from different industries gain competitive advantage through distinctive products and services. The vast expertise of faculty combined with topic perspectives from the Mayo Clinic make this an engaging and unique course.

Jun 10th 2026
4 Weeks
Leadership Through Marketing (Coursera) Coursera
Northwestern University

Leadership Through Marketing (Coursera)

The success of every organization depends on attracting and retaining customers. Although the marketing concepts for doing so are well established, digital technology has empowered customers, while producing massive amounts of data, revolutionizing the processes through which organizations attract and retain customers. In this course, students will learn how to identify new opportunities to create value for empowered consumers, develop strategies that yield an advantage over rivals, and develop the data science skills to lead more effectively, allocate resources, and to confront this very challenging environment with confidence.

Jun 14th 2026
4 Weeks
Inspiring and Motivating Individuals (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

Inspiring and Motivating Individuals (Coursera)

In this course, you will learn how to create a shared vision for your team and effectively communicate it to your teammates. You will also learn how to set effective goals and expectations in a way that best enables your team to attain the shared vision. Finally, you will understand the most important needs and drivers of performance across cultures, and will learn to align rewards with desired behaviors so that your teammates are motivated to attain the team’s objectives.

Jun 8th 2026
4 Weeks
Corporate Strategy (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Corporate Strategy (Coursera)

In this course you will learn how corporations create, capture, and maintain value, going beyond the management of a single line of business. It is thus a complement to (and should typically follow) a course on Business Strategy, which focuses on developing and sustaining competitive advantage for a single business unit. Here, you will be able to better understand and learn the tools to analyze and manage decisions from a corporate-level perspective, which emphasizes the management of multiple businesses and multiple stakeholders. Examples of such decisions include vertical integration, diversification, mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances, international expansion, global strategy, corporate governance and corporate social responsibility.

Jun 10th 2026
4 Weeks
Leading Teams (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

Leading Teams (Coursera)

In this course, you will learn how to build your team, improve teamwork and collaboration, and sustain team performance through continuous learning and improvement. Specifically, you will learn best practices for composing a team and aligning individual and team goals. You will also learn how to establish roles, build structures, and manage decision making so that your team excels.

Jun 8th 2026
4 Weeks
Organizational Analysis (Coursera) Coursera
Stanford University

Organizational Analysis (Coursera)

In this introductory, self-paced course, you will learn multiple theories of organizational behavior and apply them to actual cases of organizational change. Organizations are groups whose members coordinate their behaviors in order to accomplish a shared goal. They can be found nearly everywhere in today’s society: universities, start-ups, classrooms, hospitals, non-profits, government bureaus, corporations, restaurants, grocery stores, and professional associations are some of many examples of organizations.

Jun 8th 2026
5-12 Weeks