Lessons learned – configuring innovation labs as spaces for intrapreneurial learning

ABSTRACT

This article discusses the question ‘How is learning supported within innovation labs and what are its impeding factors?’ It is based on three case studies already carried out on innovation labs in the social welfare sector in Germany. The use of innovation labs creates a specific setting for learning in the context of the workplace for its participants. The goal of the researched labs is to develop entrepreneurial education of the participating social intrapreneurs, which are mainly employees of different social enterprises. Participants are introduced to a combination of methods to foster social innovation through an open innovation process. The author points out three success factors for intrapreneurial learning, which are the lab process and methods used, the collaboration of the participants and the involvement of the organisations that sent their employees. The last chapters present the research results which are connected to the discourse of Adult and Continuing Education and strengthen the potential for organisations of continuing education as well as the need for research on integrated learning opportunities in the context of upcoming challenges in Germany.

KEYWORDS:

• continuing education
• innovation lab
• adult learning
• organisational learning
• curriculum
• German social welfare sector

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 TEPSIE, ‘The Theoretical, Empirical and Policy Foundations for Building Social Innovation in Europe.’ European Commission – 7th Framework Programme, Brussels: European Commission, DG Research.

2 INNOSERV is a social platform on innovative social services. The platform is established to suggest innovative research agendas which will help define future research activities. http://innoserv.philnoug.com/de.

3 Even if the authors here refer to the structured inclusion of entrepreneurial training, e.g. in the higher education sector, the characterisations mentioned for a suitable learning environment for entrepreneurial action are just as true for the cases at hand.

4 Based on the literature of social innovation, social entrepreneurship and corporate social entrepreneurship.

5 A ‘persona’ is a fictive person, which contains all concrete needs, wishes and ressources of the potential future user.

6 In two of three studies the author was the project member.

7 All original quotes in German, translation by the author.

8 Fixed timeframes for each task step.

9 Tuckmańs stages of group development are adopted numerous times since the original of 1965.

Additional information

Funding

This article is based on the work that was supported by the Hessian Ministry for Social Affairs and Integration [ZS61 0003/2016] and Nikolaus Koch Stiftung [17/132 v. 25.10.2017]. The paper was presented at the 11th International Conference on Researching Work and Learning (RWL 11), Giessen/Germany, July 2019. The author would like to thank the audience for their questions and the fruitful discussion and especially the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive and very detailed reviews.