Less is More: Learning That Sticks

Building Future-Ready Talent

Our multinational client wanted to future-proof its organisation by developing key competencies across its talent population.

They decided to partner with The Blue Ocean Company to prepare its next generation of leaders with future-ready skills — especially in project management, a capability essential for ensuring business continuity across its six European branches.

Radical Focus on Three Competencies

Unlike traditional programmes with long lists of learning objectives, the team made a bold choice: focus on just three core competencies — influencing, communication and presentation skills — all directly tied to project management success.

Because these competencies were interlinked and thus reinforced one another, participants found it much easier to adopt them and integrate them into their daily work.

Real Projects, Real Accountability

Each team worked on a business case strategically important to the organisation, chosen by executives to ensure direct relevance.

Teams had to apply the organisation’s internal project management process, assign roles and responsibilities, and ultimately present their recommendations to their senior leaders. The accountability was real, and the stakes were high.

“The programme gave me the courage to go outside my comfort zone. Overcoming the fear of presenting was a breakthrough for me.” – Programme participant

High Voluntary Take-Up

Participation was by invitation but not obligatory. Yet more than half of the 150-strong talent pool eagerly signed up, showing their appetite for growth and career development. Two full cohorts were launched, demonstrating how strongly the design resonated with Honda’s rising talent.

Real Teamwork

With six branches across Europe, this organisation relies on effective virtual teamwork. Participants were grouped into diverse teams across geographies, learning to collaborate online, create sub-teams, assign tasks, and hold each other accountable. The learning was hands-on: they experienced the challenges of virtual teamwork while simultaneously building the skills to overcome them.

The level of engagement was unusually high, because the learning was tied directly to something meaningful to their performance and career. 

“I realised the importance of group support, of using individual strengths to help each other, and of accepting each other’s differences. That made us a real team.” – Programme participant

Expert Facilitators, Seamless Delivery

The Blue Ocean facilitators were recognised authors and experts in all three competencies. Their ability to tag-team and make links between skills gave participants a cohesive experience that felt fresh and energising.

Their content was not generic; it was the product of years of research, development, and refinement. They introduced unusual, thought-provoking angles such as the “political games people play,” resistance tactics, a new stakeholder mapping tool and a seven-step framework for effective presentations.

Learning By Doing

The learning journey combined onsite events, virtual training sessions and teamwork, all culminating in real project presentations to senior leaders. The result: a programme that was both practical and transformative.

Participants had 3 to 4 weeks in between each learning event, so that they had enough time to apply the learning back in the workplace (on-the-job learning) and be able to share with and learn about what worked and what needed to be adjusted (peer learning). 

Visible Senior Sponsorship

The visible involvement of leaders, from the Head of HR opening and closing the programme to mentors supporting participants, gave the initiative weight and credibility. This was not “just another HR programme” — it was an investment in the organisation’s future.

Ongoing Development

After the programme officially ended, a series of coaching sessions were set up with the participants, Blue Ocean coaches and HR and direct managers with the objective that the participants could, with the guidance of the Blue Ocean coaches, identify next steps in their personal development. These were confirmed or further refined during a three-way meeting with the participant, direct manager and HR.

The participants ended up with a clear path for further development at the organisation with visible support from their direct managers and the organisation. The three -way dialogues embedded ownership, accountability, and visible support for career growth.

The benefits

• Talent gained practical influencing and presentation skills they could immediately apply to team projects and daily responsibilities.
• Participants reported breakthroughs in teamwork: thinking outside the box, leveraging each other’s strengths, and overcoming the fear of presenting.
• The programme built confidence, visibility, and clarity for participants’ career development, while also addressing strategic challenges for the organisation.
• Engagement was unusually high: participants described the journey as “positive, hands-on, and energising.”

Participants reported not only new skills, but also new confidence, team spirit, and clarity. They described the journey as “positive, hands-on, diverse, and energising.”