ICC Global Leaders Academy returns with human-centred design theme

Cricket’s current and future leaders join together in Dubai for the third immersion of the ICC Global Leaders Academy this week which aims to develop and inspire the leaders of the sport.

The program consists of– eight senior leaders in the ‘Executive XI’, and 20 emerging leaders in the ‘Trailblazers’. It challenges participants to think differently and build a skill set to allow them to tackle cricket’s many complex issues.

This immersion has a component focusing on human-centered design, an emerging approach to problem-solving which turns traditional approaches on its head. It seeks to understand people, and the way they live their lives, before developing solutions that can solve human problems. It forces leaders to step back and take a beginner’s mindset.

Both groups were tasked with the problem of ‘how would you change the game in order to increase participation and grow the global fan base?’. One month of research, conducted by all participants, will culminate in a ‘hackathon’ type session and pitching the best ideas to ICC senior management.

A feature of the Global Leaders Academy is looking outside of sport for inspiration. Delving into human-centred design thinking is just one example. Both groups have visited a number of exciting companies since the Academy launched in March across different locations. Ski Dubai and Vox Cinemas in Dubai showcased their strategy to consider the ‘customer’. Magic Bus in India was a truly inspiring experience for the Executive XI which took the participants out of their comfort zone.

All participants have been on professional and personal journeys which have already shown great development of how Members together lead to grow the game of cricket.

ICC Development Services Manager, Andy Hobbs, “We are delighted to be hosting the third immersion of the ICC Global Leaders Academy at the ICC headquarters. The investment into the current and future leaders of international cricket is crucial to the growth of the game.

“The schedule is bursting with new activities, which will encourage the participants to continue to think differently and take that back into their own organisations. It will be an exciting week for all those involved.”