Spotlight on David Thomas, Six 'I's? Certified Practitioner, Helping Hong Kong Innovate and Improve

Natalie: Hi David it’s a delight to speak with you. Tell me a bit more about your background.

David: Hi Natalie, the first half of my career was in Australia and spanned technical, sales and management roles where I picked up experience across diverse industries, such as textiles, food & beverage, building services and engineering (for automotive).  I moved to Hong Kong some 22 years ago, to work for a Hong Kong electronics manufacturer before moving into senior roles with Hewlett-Packard (HP), and Philips Electronics, Lighting sector.  

Since 2013, I have been running a consulting and coaching practice in Hong Kong, specialising in Strategy, Innovation and Change.  We help leaders and their organisations diagnose their challenges and find practical ways to navigate critical transitions and accelerate sustainable growth, through planning workshops, consulting and implementation coaching.  The business has its roots back in 2002 when my now partners in America, PKP Inc, trained me to become a Black Belt for HP.  Following this I became deeply involved in Strategy and Change Management for both HP and Philips Lighting, and then moved further into innovation work in Philips Lighting.  This work sparked a fire in me.

I had also seen the importance of leadership in driving change, and at the same time in 2013, I started a separate executive coaching and leadership development facilitation practice called Associates in Leadership Development.  Both businesses support each other to deliver value to our clients. 

Natalie: That's great David, what an interesting background. So what attracted you to The Six ‘I’s??

David:  I had been involved in Deming-based business improvement coaching and training for 20 years, in which we often talked about 3 types of changes in a business: (1) Making improvements to an existing process, product or service; (2) Developing entirely new value-creating processes, products or services; or (3) Making wholesale shifts in business systems.  And then when I saw the Six ‘I’s? in a seminar you gave, I thought, that is perfect! - There is not enough focus on the 2nd type of change – Innovation.  

The Six ’I’s? picks up on the PURPOSE focus for innovation, the people-dependencies in change, innovation as an iterative process of trial and learning and takes the complete journey that Design Thinking does not.  

Most importantly it is a framework that helps manage the complexity of innovation in a simple way.  It ties in very closely with the change management philosophies I have been working with for all these years.  For me it was immediately obvious that I should learn to become a Certified Practitioner.

Natalie: So, in your work, do you have some examples of where you have seen value added by using The Six ‘I’s??

David:  Yes, I have a couple of examples.

The first was the way it helped a leadership team find its innovation mojo.  Whilst they were already aligned on their purpose and growth focus, they were not always aligned on how to achieve it.  The Six ‘I’s? helped each person see how they could play a role in the process and better engaged them to bring their ideas to successful implementation.  The business is thriving as a result, despite the privations of COVID, in an industry that is mostly not transferrable online.

Another example was when a client started to use The Six 'I's? as an innovation management tool for all of their projects in a sort of Kanban approach.  They now report on and manage progress through the various stages of the Six ’I’s? in their management meetings.

Natalie: That is great, so how are you incorporating The Six ‘I’s? in your work?

David: Aside from helping companies learn how to apply the tools, methods and mindsets of innovation, I have recently developed a ‘fun day’ program called “Spark!”  The program has been designed as either a one day face-to-face workshop, or given the needs these days, a three module Virtual-Instructor-Led online workshop.  The idea with Spark! is to create a highly engaging and fun competition where participants form teams, develop a long list of ideas around a specific innovation focus, and then choose one of their ideas to carry forward to create a pitch presentation.  As each team delivers their pitch, the other participants vote, with the winner having the highest score.  Spark! combines elements of learning, skills development, innovation improvement planning and team building into one fun experience.  As an added bonus, the organisation has a range of innovative ideas that can help to spur growth. I plan to help as many organisations as I can become more innovative, and The Six ’I’s? is a great vehicle for this.

Natalie: What would you like to say to those considering using The Six ‘I’s??

David: To drive change in any organisation, you need to be mindful of a number of things, including Purpose, People, Process and Performance.  The Six ’I’s?, as a purpose and people-centred approach, is an ideal framework to manage all aspects of innovation.  It is easy to learn and practical to implement.  Applying it will bring a multi-fold return on both investment and effort in your organisation. 

Natalie: Thank you David, where can people contact you to find out more?

The best way to get me is via my email – [email protected] or go and check out my website https://www.pkpasia.com/.  Our contact information is there also. Thanks!

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