Innovation · Design Thinking · Leadership · Facilitation · Storytelling

Workshops that inspire,
connect, and create change

I'm Darin Eich, Ph.D., founder of InnovationTraining.org. I design and lead hands-on workshops where the experience itself changes how people think. Participants work on challenges that are real and relevant to them — and leave with actual ideas and skills they'll use long after the day ends. Not someone else's solutions. Their own.

See the workshops → Customize a program

20+

Workshop programs

100+

Organizations served

2M+

People reached

Ph.D.

Univ. of Wisconsin

Darin Eich, Ph.D. — Innovation Keynote Speaker and Design Thinking Trainer

🎓

Darin Eich, Ph.D. Founder, InnovationTraining.org

Workshops & Programs

Human-centered programs
for real challenges

No generic templates or passive presentations. Every program is hands-on and custom-designed: participants work on the challenges, careers, and leadership questions that are actually relevant to them right now.

Design Thinking Workshops & Training

Participants learn and apply the design thinking process, mindsets, and collaboration in a hands-on workshop. Custom agendas for any team — available onsite or virtually in formats from a single session to a multi-day program.

Learn more →

🚀

Innovation Workshops

Fast-paced, interactive programs where participants work on real organizational challenges, moving systematically from problem to idea to action. Perfect for conferences, offsites, and team events.

Featured: How to Innovate Swiftly & Systematically · Team Hackathon Event

Explore →

🧑‍🏫

Innovation Facilitation Training

Learn to facilitate innovation and design thinking sessions — or bring Darin in as your expert facilitator. Tools and techniques for leading groups through real challenges with real results.

Featured: Designing & Facilitating Idea Generation · From Presenter to Facilitator

Explore →

🎤

Business Storytelling Training

Helps leaders and professionals create and tell their story — building storytelling as a core leadership communication skill within the context of innovation and organizational change.

Featured: Business Storytelling for Leaders · Storytelling for Transformation

Explore →

🧭

Future-Ready Skills & Human-Centered Programs

Hands-on workshops for professional development, leadership growth, and the deeper human skills — from future-ready career design to gratitude, connection, and the softest of the soft skills.

Featured: Design Thinking for Professional Development · Growth Mindset Workshop

Explore →

More programs

Change Management Workshop → Strategy Workshops → LEGO® Serious Play® Workshops → Soft Skills & Gratitude Retreats → Storytelling for Transformation →

See all workshops → Customize a program

About Darin

Two decades of
human-centered practice

Ph.D., Univ. of Wisconsin Innovation Design Thinking Facilitation Storytelling Leadership Development Madison, WI

Darin Eich, Ph.D. is the founder of InnovationTraining.org and a widely trusted workshop facilitator, keynote speaker, and program designer. His work centers on three connected areas: innovation and design thinking, helping individuals and organizations generate real ideas and put them into action; design thinking for careers and professional development, applying those same human-centered methods to how people navigate their own growth; and leadership development, including facilitation skills and personal storytelling as tools for leading with clarity and impact.

Darin holds a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where his research on high-quality leadership programs has been cited over 500 times in peer-reviewed literature. His approach has always been experiential and human-centered: every program he runs puts people at the center, working on real challenges in an energizing, collaborative environment. No passive presentations. No off-the-shelf content.

He has worked with over 100 organizations, from Fortune 500 companies and Silicon Valley startups to universities, associations, and nonprofits, reaching over 2 million people through live programs, online courses, and his three published books on innovation and leadership.

500+

citations

Peer-Reviewed Research

"A Grounded Theory of High-Quality Leadership Programs"

Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 2008

Full bio at InnovationTraining.org

20+

years designing
innovation programs

Books

Three books on innovation
you can use right now

Practical guides, not theory-heavy frameworks. Each book is designed to help individuals and organizations actually innovate.

Latest Book

The Design Thinking Mindset

How to access the power of innovation: a practical guide to developing the mindset that makes design thinking actually work in your organization.

Practitioner's Guide

Innovation Step-by-Step

A hands-on workbook for moving from challenge to idea to launched innovation, using the process framework behind all of Darin's workshop programs.

Leadership Development

Root Down & Branch Out

Best practices for leadership development programs, based on Darin's Ph.D. research and years of designing high-impact programs for universities and organizations.

Online Courses

Learn innovation
at your own pace

Two flagship programs bring it all together — 30+ modules, live coaching, and certification. Or explore individual courses below, each built directly from the same content I deliver live.

Train the Trainer: Innovation & Design Thinking Facilitator Program

30+ self-paced modules covering design thinking, brainstorming, facilitation, storytelling, and AI — plus 2 live coaching sessions with Darin and a certificate upon completion.

$1,499 · Non-profit / Educator: $999

Enroll now → Premium · 1-on-1 Coaching

Innovative Workshop Design & Facilitation Coaching

3 personalized sessions with Darin to design, prototype, and refine your own workshop from scratch. Includes design thinking certificate access, AI tools, and a capstone project.

$1,999

Learn more →

Individual courses included in the programs above

🎨

Starting with Design Thinking

An introduction to design thinking mindsets, process, and tools — the foundation for every other program Darin offers.

Enroll now →

🚀

Innovation Step-by-Step

The companion course to Darin's book. Move from challenge identification through idea development to launch using the same systematic process taught in his live workshops.

Enroll now →

🌱

Facilitation Tools & Techniques

The core facilitation toolkit: how to design and lead engaging group sessions, manage dynamics, and create experiences where participants do the real work.

Enroll now →

👥

Brainstorming Training

Structured techniques for generating and developing ideas with groups — from classic brainstorming to systematic creativity methods that actually produce results.

Enroll now →

🔭

Storytelling

Use personal storytelling to communicate your vision, connect with your audience, and inspire action. Built for leaders, professionals, and anyone ready to lead with narrative.

Enroll now →

💼

AI & Innovation with ChatGPT

How to use AI tools like ChatGPT to accelerate innovation, generate ideas, and enhance your facilitation practice — practical skills for modern practitioners.

Enroll now →

See all courses →

Testimonials

What clients say

"I would 100% recommend Darin Eich! He is the best facilitator I have ever witnessed! He has positively influenced our entire company culture in a big way."

Innovation Leader · Major Insurance Company

"At the end of the event, attendees said this was 'the best leadership offsite they'd ever had.' Many came from Apple, Cisco, IBM, Google — a hard crowd to please."

Chief of Staff to CIO · Silicon Valley Tech Company

"Collaboration, innovation, and risk taking replaced the usual 4–6 mundane PowerPoint presentations. Three weeks later I can still hear excitement in the voices of those who attended."

Strategy Leader · Fortune 500 Energy Company

"Instead of generating 20–30 ideas in a 3-hour brainstorm, I was coming up with almost 150. I was amazed at this newfound skill that previously seemed unattainable."

Tech Startup Founder · Silicon Valley

"Darin guided participants to apply Design Thinking to their own real world problems so they walked away with ideas and solutions to their challenges — not someone else's."

Program Director · University of Wisconsin

"Our team appreciated Darin's interactive, relaxed, and engaging approach. He received a 95% overall rating and made innovation seem 'simple' and accessible to everyone."

Senior General Manager · National Commercial Bank Jamaica

Workshops that inspire,connect, and create change

Human-centered programsfor real challenges

Design Thinking Workshops & Training

Two decades ofhuman-centered practice

Three books on innovationyou can use right now

Learn innovationat your own pace

Train the Trainer: Innovation & Design Thinking Facilitator Program

Innovative Workshop Design & Facilitation Coaching

What clients say

Bring innovation and design thinkingto your organization

Workshops that inspire,
connect, and create change

Human-centered programs
for real challenges

Two decades of
human-centered practice

Three books on innovation
you can use right now

Learn innovation
at your own pace

Bring innovation and design thinking
to your organization