The first Innovation Day at WestLotto was a huge success

Exciting speakers and dedicated employees took a look into the future

 

The German game of chance market is changing at a fast pace. More and more providers, legal and especially numerous illegal companies are meanwhile crowding the lottery and sports betting market. For the German consumers it is becoming more and more difficult to filter out trustworthy offerings from the multitude of game offerings. WestLotto, as a state provider of lotteries such as LOTTO 6aus49, the GlücksSpirale or Eurojackpot wants to tackle these changed framework conditions.

This is why WestLotto organised on October 31, 2014, in cooperation with noventum consulting, the first WestLotto Innovation Day under the motto „Playfully to more innovation". Invited were all employees of the headquarters in Münster; of the staff of 340, more than 140 participated in the workshop. Excited participants tweeted still on the same day „Wow, that was great! The first Innovation Day of WestLotto just came to an end" and „Mrs. Kuka‘s presentation was a real highlight. Makes you want to attend university again."

Managers from all levels of management as well as employees are tasked with the topic of „Innovation at WestLotto" and one of them, Dr. Frank Wallow (Head of the IT Production department at WestLotto), had the idea for an open innovation workshop. „I was inspired by the last three future congresses by Matthias Horx in Frankfurt that I attended. These congresses deal with what is ahead or even just likely to be ahead. And that was quite interesting to me and I wanted to know more." Together with the consultants of noventum consulting, Dr. Wallow conceptualised a varied schedule for the day that invited active participation.

Nick Sohnemann, one of Europe‘s leading experts in the area of trends and innovation research, laid out „The world of tomorrow" in a rousing presentation, part promise, part warning. Daniela Kuka, experimental media and communications researcher as well as game developer, invited to the „Gamble with the future" in her contribution. Uwe Rotermund moderated the „Cross-Innovation Workshop" – here, all attendees of the Day were allowed to become active and develop their creative potential for their own company.

 

novum: That was a great mood at your Future Workshop!

Dr. Wallow: Yes, I am more than positively surprised! We are really excited about the reactions of and feedback by the employees!

novum: At your event, you carried out a blend of presentation and activation. The schedule was, in part, outside of the typical working hours. Wasn‘t that very brave?

Dr. Wallow: Through the seemingly unattractive event schedule outside the regular working hours we were able to reach colleagues in particular who want to become active and who are interested in change within the company.

novum: A workshop like the one you organised does, of course, work less on simplistic and concrete problems but is rather picking up more hypothetical and fundamental ideas and attitudes to support and mobilise them. Are you able to take home „results" from this day‘s event, anyway?

Dr. Wallow: Yes, for sure. On the one hand, the staff has noticed that our company is dealing with the future and does not do so without them! That is also why it was important that we invited all employees. The result proved us to be right because people from all departments of the company attended and worked together across hierarchies. Maybe that is why everybody had so much fun. I am sure this spirit will continue to have an effect on the company.

novum: Will there be any follow-up activities?

Dr. Wallow: Yes, of course! None of the ideas and suggestions that we worked up will remain without consideration. We will include all of it into the innovation management and will deal with it piece by piece. The energy and enthusiasm with which the employees experienced their own activities makes that a binding obligation. And the ideas were really good! We would be able to implement some of the smaller ideas immediately. The best ideas will then be detailed further and presented to executive management.

novum: How was the cooperation with noventum?

Dr. Wallow: The cooperation with your team of consultants was a beautiful foretaste of our Innovation Day: creative, euphoric, and a tad visionary. The profound experience with respect to the planning and carrying out of such an event, in particular, that noventum brought into our project was very helpful.

novum: Thank you very much for the interview.