John DeGraff

Adjunct Marketing Professor, University of Wisconsin Whitewater

John DeGraff is an Adjunct Marketing Professor at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater and Managing Partner for the Innovatrium consulting firm. Over the last seven years, John has worked with 20 of the Fortune 500 teaching Leading Innovation and Growth workshops at the Innovatrium and with the University of Michigan, Ross School of Business Executive Education. He has led innovation and growth programs with notable companies like GE, Eaton, Hagerty Insurance, McDonald’s, NBC, Pfizer, and Prudential. John’s early career was defined by his role as a young leader who realized that innovation was the surest pathway to growth. Over the past 25 years he has successfully launched over 150 new products, including two product lines that have earned over 1 billion dollars (Gerber Graduates and first multipack microwave popcorn in Wal-Mart Pop Weaver).

One of the most valuable training programs I have participated in. They not only teach you a good process for developing innovation projects and how to get the support needed to have success, but also teach you tools that can be used in any project. You will learn tactics to successfully communicate with all of the different personality types.
- Joe Kankal, Ammara Designs
Innovation is often misunderstood. It can be thought of as 'play' at work. It can be demanded irrationally with unrealistic expectations. The tools taught through the Innovatrium lead to intelligent insights and practical steps for finding creative breakthroughs where organizations often suffer paralyzing blind-spots.
- John Kuzava, Xperience
My biggest take-away from the CPI course is that true, lasting innovation requires all types of personalities, not just the creative go-getters we think of when we picture an innovator! Any innovation that reaches a certain level of success will have a team of creative, collaborative, control-orientated and competitive roles, fulfilled to the level necessary for that organization and product's needs. Jeff and the Innovatrium team have changed my thinking around what is possible in my organization and in my career. Thank you!
- Anonymous
Due in part to this CPI program, I am redefining the business model for my small start up company to take advantage of our forward position in an expanding market and am also leveraging the skills developed within this program to lead a strategic planning and visionary effort within my primary organization.
- Josh Schaidle, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
I am excited to explore making a start up company. I envision a day when I see other people using my product.
- Victoria Hicks, Meritor
The Innovatrium's CPI Program helped me to make a long lasting change in myself and my career. I happily recommend the program to anyone who is looking to improve their ability to innovate, be it by changing their perspective or helping them find the tools that they need to succeed. The CPI leaders, Jeff DeGraff and Bill Lloyd, are best in class educators and mentors who have decades of experience innovating and helping innovate. Let them be your guides and they will not let you down.
- Michael Skrzynski, Stryker
The Innovatrium program structure helped me to create an innovation practice through its unique instructional approach: prework, in-person session, biweekly breakout sessions for the following three months with opportunities for 1on1 coaching and a Project presentation after four months with excellent personal feedback. Jeff and team's approach uses clearly articulated principals and well-designed tools which support very rich application to many different types of projects, as we witnessed within our class in addition to the breadth of examples Jeff shared in person.
- Barb Termaat, Cisco

Instructor

John DeGraff

Adjunct Marketing Professor, University of Wisconsin Whitewater

Staney DeGraff

Jim Fish

Jeff DeGraff

John DeGraff

W. Ethan Eagle

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Instructor

John DeGraff

Adjunct Marketing Professor, University of Wisconsin Whitewater