Know Thyself Creativity

I’m getting ready to present a master class at a great conference next week  – fresh materials for facilitators so they can know their own style and expect the style needs of others to inform their session design and delivery. The purpose?  To grow the confidence of group facilitators to be inspiring and engaging when [...]

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Does Brainstorming for Innovation Work? Maybe not… when you consider personality style

  “Fresh ideas come when your brain is relaxed and engaged in something other than the particular problem you’re embroiled in… This is the polar opposite of what happens in brainstorming sessions. Long showers, soaks in a tub, long walks, or doing chores are frequently when those “synapses” that find alternative solutions to a problem [...]

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Where to look for new ideas – insight from Leonard Cohen

The Future is an album by Canadian musician Leonard Cohen. His song, Anthem, provides a strong metaphor for insights into where to look for new ideas. Anthem The birds they sang at the break of day Start again I heard them say Don’t dwell on what has passed away or what is yet to be. [...]

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Stanford Crash Course on Creativity – Creative Teams – Week 6

Working on teams is hard and worth it.  Each person brings his/her own skills, experience, hopes and inspiration for a collective desired outcome. Finding out how each team member thinks, his or her style, is important and can help teams over hurdles to using creative thinking. Personality style indicators help executive leadership teams innovate faster [...]

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Looking to engage office creativity? Eliminate psychological harassment

Wonder why people aren’t engaged when asked for creative ideas ?  Could be that there’s some psychological harassment going on. If people you work with behave as in the list below, you can bet that there are interpersonal factors that block to allow free thinking and new ideas. Make rude, degrading or offensive remarks Act [...]

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Are older folk getting in the way of our younger leaders? FourSight insights

United Way Toronto has a CITY Leader program which provides young adults with the practical knowledge and tools to become effective leaders, navigators and connectors in Toronto’s non-profit communities. Last weekend I helped them to get to know how to use the creative process in their work.  It was enlightening and inspiring to see their [...]

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Refund denied. Helpful Hints for Dealing with Holacracy One.

Just back from a disappointing one week Holacracy One (HO) certification program that promises participants will • Explore the leading-edge of human organization • Learn new “sense and respond” habits and practices • Learn how to “facilitate beyond ego” • Practice, practice, practice their method! It doesn’t promise to ruthlessly crush others as needed, yet [...]

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Are these powerful questions powerful for you?

While cleaning out file drawer today I found a non referenced handout from a conference a few years ago, Powerful Questions. According to the tiny description on the green sheet, the purpose of these questions is to stimulate new knowledge and creative thinking. They don’t work so much for me.  It’s hard for me to [...]

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Whose creativity is a priority at a creativity conference?

Conference Fran is at a waterfront hotel at a conference promising to show people how to create, innovate and lead change, one she’s attended annually for more than half of her life when spring reveals summer’s promise. Creativity and innovation are her passion and business. It’s more than a mind thing to Fran, creativity is [...]

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Type and Creativity

There’s a difference in the way people approach getting new ideas and making new decisions. Creativity professionals use this information to facilitate new thinking. Some people get ideas from inside, through reflection. Others, when interacting with the world outside of themselves. Some people get new ideas from taking a look at the physical world, others, [...]

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