Have you ever thought about the difference between being future proof or future fit? InceptionU co-founders Margo Purcell and Greg Hart certainly have. In fact, the two Calgary professionals have built a business around it.
InceptionU is a place of meaningful learning where individuals, businesses and organizations go to learn how to prepare for the future and build it with confidence.
Proofing yourself against something means you’re seeking protection from it, while being fit for something means you’re ready, willing and able to handle the challenges that our rapidly evolving world continues to present.
It’s a skill that is harder to develop than you may think.
“The trick is not just to ‘know’ things – which is what school focuses on. The trick is to UNDERSTAND – connecting the concepts to other concepts and being able to apply them,” says Purcell. “We need to build Essential Competencies where people learn how to learn so that no matter what is put in front of them, even if they’ve never seen it before, they know that they know how to figure it out. “
Purcell started her leadership consulting business in Calgary in 2004. As the downturn of oil and gas took hold, she saw engineers, geologists and others lose their jobs and struggle to find a new professional path.
At the same time, her co-founder, Greg Hart, was working in the innovation space, helping entrepreneurs launch startups and scale their businesses. The challenges he saw were lack of access to great talent and innovative thinking.
When a small group started white boarding ideas of what this business could look like back in 2017, it started as Project X and later became InceptionU – the birthplace, if you will, of a new age of talent.
InceptionU’s Evolve Full Stack Developer (FSD) program helps people gain tech skills to become software developers and land other tech adjacent roles.
The award-winning program has been running since 2018 and is widely recognized as an inclusive, diverse and welcoming space for those transitioning into tech. It is uniquely positioned in the market as it’s the only FSD program that offers a responsive curriculum that adapts to what participants, industry and the future requires. It also focuses on the essential skills components that tech workers often fall short on – communication, collaboration, a growth mindset and willingness to constantly learn. In 2021, InceptionU received the Digital Talent Champion Award from Start Alberta for its outstanding commitment and leadership in helping to develop the talent ecosystem and accelerate innovation and diversification in Alberta.
“While all the details are not yet clear, the push of technology into all forms of work will continue and no corner of commerce will be excluded. No matter where you work, you will be in the technology business. Every business will be a tech business some day,” says Hart.
Purcell and Hart are proud of the partnerships they’ve established within Calgary, including the Calgary Public Library. InceptionU’s learning space is located on the third floor of the Library in the heart of Calgary’s Innovation District. In 2022, InceptionU launched a partnership with the Blackfoot Tech Council’s IT Fundamentals program, helping Indigenous learners with the essential skills component of their training, allowing them increased chances for internships and job opportunities.
These days, Purcell and Hart are focused on two new arms of the business. Compass offers total talent solutions and Inception Design offers product and organizational design services to businesses and organizations looking for solutions to complex problems. These aren’t just tech companies, but any company that’s struggling with finding, hiring and onboarding new talent. Through its design services, it offers customized small group workshops to enhance team collaboration and effectiveness.
It’s worked with several notable clients including Virtual Gurus, WINK, Thrive Health and legal tech startup Athennian.
Athennian was looking to adopt a design thinking approach to its product development. The product and engineering group had become “stuck” in their thinking. InceptionU created a custom program of eight workshops called Generating Innovation, where the group was challenged to spend more time thinking deeply about the actual problem, before jumping to solutions.
“On the product and engineering side, it’s important to have this framework to have the thinking up front and do it in a way that you are not pre-determining the solution,” says Duane Wood, who was Athennian’s Chief Technology Officer at the time of the project.
InceptionU continues to grow and has plans for various new services including online courses, a membership community, an app and learning programs for K-12 and post-secondary students.
The goal is to build pathways and connections for the future of talent and the talent of the future – people who can understand anything, build something, and change everything.
