How it works
The course is designed to be flexible and adaptable. Every organisation it has been delivered with has incorporated it into their own programmes, timetables and priorities.
The core content is typically delivered over three days, which can be run as three consecutive days, three separate days, or adapted into four days by extending each of the main sections (Prepare, Create, Test and Opportunity). This allows organisations to balance depth of learning with staff availability and competing commitments.
The final day is designed and built in partnership with the commissioning organisation. This session brings together external and internal stakeholders — such as local, regional or national innovation support, academic partners, industry and clinical leaders — to create a realistic and meaningful pitching environment. In many settings, this has been used as a showcase or celebration event, highlighting participant work and organisational commitment to innovation.
Where appropriate, this session can also form part of academic assessment, or provide participants with the opportunity to pitch a new solution (often at concept or virtual stage) to a panel that may consider supporting it as a future development or improvement project.
The format is intentionally not fixed. Delivery can be adapted to suit existing programmes, academic timetables, staff release constraints and cohort size. The sections below outline formats that have worked well in the past, but these are not prescriptive.
I work closely with organisations before, during and after delivery to ensure the course fits local context and achieves the intended learning outcomes. If you’d like to discuss how the final day could be shaped, or explore a different overall format, please get in touch.
Participants
Participants
The course works best when participants actively choose to take part. It is less effective when attendance is compulsory, as the programme is designed to reflect the pace, uncertainty and collaboration involved in real product or service development. This requires engagement, teamwork and some commitment beyond the taught sessions. In practice, host organisations typically advertise the course internally through their own channels and invite expressions of interest or short applications. These usually ask why individuals want to take part, their interest in innovation, and how they think the course may support their role, research or career development. This approach helps ensure a motivated cohort, stronger collaboration, and better outcomes for both participants and the organisation.
Incentive
In some settings, host organisations have found it helpful to introduce a small participation fee as a way of reducing non-attendance or drop-out. This is entirely at the discretion of the commissioning organisation, but in practice even a minimal fee can reinforce commitment and signal that the programme requires active participation. Where used, this fee has typically been reinvested directly into the course — for example, to fund prizes for pitching teams, certificates for participants following the Dragon’s Den session, or other elements that recognise effort and achievement. This approach is not essential, but can be a useful mechanism for improving engagement and maximising value for both participants and the organisation.
Numbers
To ensure that all participants have meaningful opportunities to contribute, collaborate and present their work, cohort size is deliberately limited. The maximum number of participants is 40, which allows for effective facilitation, productive team working and high-quality pitching sessions. A minimum of 18 participants is required to support a rich peer-learning environment and to ensure sufficient diversity of perspectives within teams. These limits are based on experience and are intended to maximise learning quality and participant engagement.
Teams
Teams are intentionally formed to mix disciplines, specialties, seniority, departments and, where possible, organisations. This helps participants work with people they would not normally encounter, rather than defaulting to established teams or social groups. Bringing together different perspectives, expertise and ways of working strengthens problem exploration and solution development, and mirrors how innovation happens in practice. One consistent piece of feedback from external panel members involved in the final pitching sessions is how quickly teams form strong working relationships — often starting as complete strangers and operating as cohesive teams within a few days. Where specific expertise is required to address particular challenges, teams may be shaped accordingly. Even in these cases, care is taken to avoid grouping people who work closely together day to day, ensuring fresh thinking and constructive challenge, even within similar disciplines or specialties.
Facilitators
Relevant internal staff - such as colleagues from research, innovation, technology transfer, improvement or transformation teams - are welcome and encouraged to take part in the course and support facilitation during group exercises. The course is designed as a dialogue rather than a one-way teaching exercise. Participants, facilitators and supporting staff are all encouraged to contribute their own experience and perspectives, creating a richer and more grounded learning environment. Different viewpoints are treated as assets rather than distractions. There are no single “right” answers. The value of the course comes from exposing participants to a wide range of experiences, approaches and interpretations, helping them develop judgement and confidence in navigating complex innovation challenges.
Design and Timetabling
This is not a conference with a fixed agenda. The course is highly interactive, with teams applying taught concepts directly to their own projects throughout each session. As a result, the emphasis is on facilitated working, discussion and iteration rather than tightly scheduled lectures — with breaks being the only elements that are strictly timetabled.
For greatest impact, the course is typically delivered across four core sessions (Prepare, Create, Test and Opportunity), followed by a final Dragon’s Den day. Ideally, each core session runs on a separate day, with time between sessions for teams to continue working together, reflect and develop their ideas.
Where time is more limited, a more condensed format can be used. For example:
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Prepare and Create delivered together on one day
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Test and Opportunity delivered on separate days
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The Dragon's Den as the final day
Other formats are possible and can be discussed to fit organisational constraints, academic timetables or staff availability. The course is also being delivered as a Master’s-level module from 2026, demonstrating its adaptability to formal academic settings.
The Dragon's Den Day
The final day is designed collaboratively with the commissioning organisation and often acts as a showcase or celebration event. It typically includes:
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Short contributions from internal support teams (e.g. Technology Transfer, Research & Innovation, Student Enterprise, Service or Quality Improvement) outlining available next-step support
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Input from relevant external or regional organisations (such as Health Innovation Networks)
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A keynote or practitioner talk from an entrepreneur or innovator
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Dragon’s Den–style pitches from participant teams
This session can form part of academic assessment where appropriate, or provide a realistic opportunity for teams to pitch early-stage or virtual solutions to a panel that may consider supporting further development. I can help source suitable speakers and panel members if required, and it is often valuable to include a mix of internal entrepreneurs and external contributors from different sectors. Where applicable, travel and accommodation costs may need to be covered..
Delivery Patterns
The multi-day format can be delivered:
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As a block over a single week, or
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Spread over several weeks (for example, one day per week), with project work carried out between sessions
The latter approach often works particularly well for NHS staff who may not be able to commit to consecutive full days away from service. In some settings, Day 1 (Prepare & Create) has also been delivered as a stand-alone course, providing a focused introduction where a shorter intervention is required.
What's Included
Fabian will work closely with commissioning organisations to ensure the agreed format delivers meaningful learning and value through the team projects. The focus throughout is on helping participants understand how innovation works in practice, rather than attempting to turn people into entrepreneurs. By experiencing the innovation process directly:
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Those with a natural inclination towards innovation are able to flourish
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Managers and support teams gain insight into how to better enable and support them
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Organisations are better placed to foster a more open and collaborative culture around innovation, engagement with industry, and adoption and spread of new ideas
Course materials and resources
All core materials are provided as part of delivery. This includes:
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Printed workshop materials brought on the day
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Accompanying digital handbooks for each session, emailed to participants
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Electronic PDF copies of all materials for participants’ personal future reference
Together, these form a practical resource that participants can continue to use after the course.
Projects and case studies
For academic cohorts, pre-designed team case studies are typically used. These are based on real clinical unmet needs and are deliberately structured to focus on development, implementation, adoption and spread, rather than technical detail.
Where appropriate, real local clinical unmet needs can be used instead. In these cases, I will carry out light commercial and feasibility due diligence in advance to ensure the challenges are suitable for the course format and learning objectives.
Speakers, panels and follow-up
I am happy to liaise with internal and external organisations to source suitable speakers and Dragon’s Den panel members where required. This includes working with the commissioning organisation before delivery, during the course, and afterwards where follow-up or review is helpful.
Venue and practical requirements
The host organisation is typically asked to provide:
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A large, light room set up in cabaret style for group work
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A lecture theatre or equivalent space for the final pitching session
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Basic presentation facilities (projector, screen, audio)
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Post-it notes (plenty) and A3 table-top flip charts