What do you see when you envision the future? Let us guess … jet packs and flying cars in the sky? Maybe a virtual reality headset in every home? It’s easy to focus on technology when thinking about the future, but we can’t lose sight of people along the way, especially younger generations. This can lead to another important question when it comes to envisioning the future: how can today’s students learn to solve tomorrow’s problems?
Here at Go Studio, we constantly investigate emerging technologies and consider how they can solve essential problems for our partners. Yet innovation is about more than technology – it is also about understanding the skills and processes that actually solve problems, explore novel ideas and bring new solutions to life. Helping students and young professionals learn these skills is critical to the future of the financial technology (fintech) industry, and the state of Georgia has dedicated considerable resources to achieve that goal over the last several years. One of the state’s most successful initiatives is the Georgia Fintech Academy, a talent development initiative launched in 2019 by the University System of Georgia. The Georgia Fintech Academy focuses on preparing students for careers in fintech. Go Studio and InComm Payments have worked closely with them since their inception to help students learn the skills that fintech businesses seek in prospective employees. Most recently, we collaborated with the Georgia Fintech Academy to host an innovation training program for college students studying technology in our local Atlanta community.
The seeds of this training program were planted when the Georgia Fintech Academy approached our team about hosting a training session for fintech students. Students were interested in learning how they could apply innovation mindsets to their jobs when they enter the industry. Our own Billy Harbinson, Director of Innovation at Go Studio and InComm Payments, rolled up his sleeves and designed the curriculum. His primary goal: teaching students that innovation isn’t about sitting around and waiting for inspiration to strike. You have to know how to approach problems critically, how to work as a team and how to explore potential solutions, especially when figurative light bulbs are not going off over a head to bring a brilliant idea.
“Successful innovators identify a problem and iterate toward a solution without expecting a ‘light bulb’ moment.”
–Billy Harbinson, Director of Innovation, Go Studio and InComm Payments
“Many students today, especially at the end of their academic careers, become singularly focused on grading criteria when they design a solution,” said Harbinson. “This makes sense – every student wants their work to earn a good grade – but that can lead to tunnel vision. Students might forget to look for other possibilities that could solve a solution in a more efficient, effective or sustainable way than their grading criteria stipulates. Successful innovators in the fintech industry and beyond have a solid grasp of different frameworks and methodologies. That’s why we designed this training program to start students on the right foot.”
The innovation program attracted students from a wide range of schools and provided them with hands-on training in innovation methodologies such as problem framing, design thinking, and more. Students then applied these frameworks in collaborative exercises, simulating what they may experience as full-time employees in a workplace.
“We had hands-on projects that really solidified what we were being taught.”
-Robert Velarde, Digital Financial Technology Masters Student at Kennesaw State University
Students who participated in the four workshops had high praise for the experience. Many said that they enjoyed learning about the different ways to solve problems. Kennesaw State University student Robert Velarde said that the program “was very informative” and enabled him to “look at problems in a different light. We had hands-on projects that really solidified what we were being taught,” he added.
Learning about design thinking and how human-centered approaches of empathy can impact end-user solutions was especially enlightening for them. Georgia State University student Khoa Phan noted that the program was “an eye-opening experience” that introduced her to many different concepts and frameworks. “I can already see how these methodologies will follow me forward when it comes to decision making,” she said.
The program was a huge success and Go Studio will continue to collaborate with the Georgia Fintech Academy to offer workshops in future semesters. Georgia State University student Darius Bernard summed it up best, “This program has really shown me that in every second of your life there is something that can be innovation!”
“Grown-Up” Innovation Education
While our collaboration with the Georgia Fintech Academy was focused on students just beginning their journeys, there is also much that seasoned professionals can learn from these training sessions. The Go Studio team regularly hosts workshops for corporate teams to explore the problems facing their organization and what frameworks they can use to find solutions. We believe no industry professional is too old to learn new tricks, and our office hours are always open if you’d like to find out more about how we can help your team learn innovation practices. Contact us today!
