Kaleido - The IBM Innovation Experience
The Africa Innovation Centre (AIC) provides an innovative client and partner environment which aims to stimulate and foster creative “out of the box” thinking and effective collaboration using untraditional techniques and methods in implementable ways.
The objective of this client experience is to take clients into a “white” space where, together 
with business, industry and technology specialists, guided by experienced facilitators, teams can get practical about innovation. This “white” space concept focuses teams of individuals on mindsets, behaviours and collaboration where clients undergo unique facilitation experiences which foster insights into solving complex business and technology issues.
IBM recognises that traditional methods and tools often applied to solving issues restrict creative and ultimately innovative thinking. Hence, Kaleido has been introduced to the AIC experience to facilitate innovation enablement and foster collective fresh thinking.
Kaleido is taken from the word Kaleidoscope. Dating back to ancient Greek, the word “kaleidoscope” is derived from the Greek kalos, eidos, and skopos; meaning beautiful, form, and view, respectively. The innovator’s experience is about seeing into complexity and through patterns or lack thereof allowing a picture, perspective or solution to emerge.
Kaleido techniques aim to:
- Develop lateral thinking skills
- Provide the space for creative thought to emerge
- Improve the effectiveness of communication, and
- Deepen the quality of collaboration.
Kaleido is a discipline which brings together whole system change methods and behavioural development techniques. These approaches stimulate creative thought and a deeper quality of collaboration and insight amongst individuals to benefit clients and IBM.
Through practical workshops using whole system change techniques, clients will experience unique and innovative ways to generate and convert ideas into effective, practical solutions. These ideas and creative solutions will naturally lead to collaboration with the other elements and areas of the AIC supported by IBM’s cross brand centres of expertise.