Many practitioners in the creativity field believe individuals can develop skills that open them up to thinking more creatively.  Edward de Bono is one of the more well recognised of these, but the teaching of creative thinking goes back much further to people like Alex Osborn (Brainstorming), Sid Parnes, Paul Torrance and many others.  Read more

In recent days I have been following a fascinating discussion between colleagues in the creativity and innovation field around whether or not being creative is a skill that can be learnt and developed, and how long it takes to become a proficient creative thinker.  As you might imagine, there were many viewpoints that followed different paths.  Read more

How much time to you spend on the road? At airports? On planes? How can you best utilise the time to be more innovative?

There are some real opportunities while sitting on a plane. Take it from me — this month I travelled to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, South Africa, Bahrain and am currently in New Zealand running workshops. This non-stop travel has brought to mind some great ways to make use of all that transit time: Read more

Feeling the effects of the recent global financial crisis? Want to find a cave and hide until things get back to normal? It is natural to want to revert back to the safe, tried and true methods in times of crises.  Cut down on expenses, consolidate your portfolio, put off projects, ride out the storm. Read more

You are standing there, watching the sea of black suitcases go around the luggage belt. Then suddenly you spot it.

Tied in a multitude of knots, around the handle, is THE yellow ribbon, signifying ‘my suitcase’. You instantly pick it up, knowing that you have the right bag.

Often it is just the way it is tied or located. It could be the type of ribbon or, in my case, one of my husband’s neckties, ceremoniously cut up. It is amazing how one little point of difference can stand out and instantly help you claim your luggage. Read more

Creativity really is simple as 1,2,3 (and 4,5,6). It is a common misperception that you have to be born creative or a real maverick in order to think creatively.  Creativity is a process and rule followers are generally more successful in creativity sessions.
 

Marketing guru, Alex Osborn, who coined the term ‘Brainstorming’, and Dr Sid Parnes, developed THE creative problem solving model.

6 Steps/Stages to cre8ive problem solving

Stage 1: Objective Finding (or Mess Finding): Sensitise yourself for issues that need to be tackled. Read more

In tough economic times, should you innovate?  Yes!! was the
unanimous message from the speakers at the Australian innovation
conference, InnoFuture 2008.

Key messages from Day 1 Read more

Highlights from the Boston Consulting Group’s report “ Innovation 2008: Is the Tide Turning” which was produced in conjunction with “Measuring Innovation 2008: Squandered Opportunities” – See other blog post

=====
Click on attachment below to download the full report.

=====

Here are some key points from the report that I think are relevant for innovation practitioners

“If you plan on remaining a going concern, you need to be able to successfully innovate”

  Read more

Here are a few highlights from the Boston Consulting Group’s report “Measuring Innovation 2008” which was produced in conjunction with Innovation 2008: Is the Tide Turning – See other blog post
Click on attachment below to download the full report.

===== Read more

Robert F. Eberle was an educational administrator in

Edwardsville, IL. He wrote about creativity for

children and teachers. His most famous creative

thinking resource book for creativity instructors is

SCAMPER, which is still widely used and available. A

Leader at CPSI for over 30 years Bob was influential Read more

In one of my recent Masters classes, one of my students presented some information on Swarm Creativity, which I had not previously heard of by that name.  While the class worked on a team projects I was able to power browse the book, and later did a bit of research on the web.

The book Swarm Creativity: Competitive Advantage through Collaborative Innovation Networks by Peter A. Gloor is an interesting look at group creativity.  A quick Google search takes you to www.swarmcreativity.net which opens with the following: Read more

Read more

Welcome to the Creative Thinking Group Read more