Leading for Innovation: Are we nurturing or squelching creative thought? Susan Baum, Ph.D. International Center for Talent Development

21 st Century Skills

What is a culture of innovation? What is the role of creativity?

The Creativity Crisis For the first time, research shows that American creativity is declining. What went wrongand how we can fix it. Newsweek – July 10,2010

Culture of Convergent Thinking High stakes testing Focus on one right answer vs. process Need for control Disregard for play or messing about Need for practical applications

It is in fact nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry--for this delicate little plant aside from stimulation stands mostly in need of freedom; without this it goes to wreck and ruin without fail. (Einstein)

10 years old. skinny, sensitive, non- athletic, and clumsy in sports. He is a a troublemaker and poor in school. Math is a major problem. His parents complain that he gets in trouble at home as well. He is always trying to find ways to terrify his sisters. He told them a story of a wartime flier's body rotting in one of the family closets. Taking a a plastic skull, he put his father's World War II aviator cap and goggles on it and put it in the back of a closet. He then dared his sisters to go into the dark closet, and when they did he closed the door. With a rigged-up device he lit up the skull from within and caused them to scream with terror

Stephen Speilberg

This teenager is quite wild. Last year she was shooting rifles with her friends when a young man stood in the way. She shot him. The young man was paralyzed. Her grandfather was charged with letting unsupervised and inexperienced teenagers control rifles. She continuously runs away but does return home. She is now 15 and is going to drop out of school. Her mother supports this.

LUCILLE BALL

This young man really dislikes school and finds it too strict.. He continuously gets suspended for mischievous deeds. For instance, He and his friend changed the combinations of everyones bike locks and set off explosives in teacher's desks.

Steve Jobs

This young student is doing poorly in school. Her father died when she was very young. Her mother who sang and had some brief movie roles is her hero. She loves watching her Mom perform but really dislikes school and is often absent. She cannot read or write and is planning to quit school when she turns 16.

Cher

Researchers say creativity should be taken out of the art room and put in the homeroom.

Creativity sparks innovation in all disciplines

The necessity of human ingenuity is undisputed. A recent IBM poll of 1,500 CEOs identified creativity as the No. 1 leadership competency of the future... All around us are matters of national and international importance that are crying out for creative solutions, from saving the Gulf of Mexico to bringing peace to Afghanistan to delivering health care. Such solutions emerge from a healthy marketplace of ideas, sustained by a populace constantly contributing original ideas and receptive to the ideas of others.

DO YOU NEED TO BE GREAT TO CREATE? :

Big C --- Little C continuum

PRACTICAL MANAGER TYPE GIVE ME THE BASIC IDEA AND I CAN MAKE IT BETTER

LEARNED EXPERT TYPE GREAT SYNTHESIZER OF IDEAS: SEES PATTERNS MAKES CONNECTIONS

CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVER TYPE ENTREPRENEURS, INVENTORS, RISK TAKERS WONT TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER

Jonathan Baum Yahoo! Sports Jonathan Baum Jonathan Baum is assistant managing editor at Yahoo! Sports. He graduated from Alfred University with a degree in communications. Send Jonathan a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast. Add to My Yahoo! RSS

PEOPLE PERSONS CREATIVITY FROM THE HEART. FEELINGS DRIVE THEIR CREATIVE EXPRESSION

CREATIVITY: A MULTI FACETED CONSTRUCT Person/ PERSONALITY TYPES Process Product Press/environment

Blocks to Creativity

Factors affecting creative productivity Theresa Amabile, Ph.D. Expected evaluation Surveillance Reward Competition Restricted choice– how to approach the work Extrinsic motivation

Creative Environment When you treat people with respect, acknowledgment, and genuine positive reinforcement, you significantly increase the odds of creativity -- and by extension, innovation -- flourishing in your organization.

When people are inspired by their own interests and enjoyment there is a better chance that they will explore unlikely paths, take risks, and in the end produce something unique and useful. (Amabile, 1986). It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be promoted by coercion and a sense of duty (Einstein).

Perceptual Blocks

Connect the dots using the fewest possible straight lines.

Connect the dots using the fewest possible straight lines. Could you do it in 4 lines?

Connect the dots using the fewest possible straight lines

Connect the dots using the fewest possible straight lines. Could you do it in 3 lines?

Connect the dots using the fewest possible straight lines

Connect the dots using the fewest possible straight lines. Could you do it with 1 line?

Connect the dots using the fewest possible straight lines

How many ways can you divide this square into 4 equal shapes?

How many ways can you divide this square into 4 equal shapes? Like this for instance.

Here is another way. Can you think of others?

Did you consider this one?

How many ways can you divide this square into 4 equal shapes? An infinite number of ways?

Play: Take your childhood along with you

Richard Feynman All genius – all buffoon I do physics for the fun of It

Alexander Fleming: Quiet but Quirky delighted in creating images out of the bacteria he was growing on agar plates by arranging the initial colonies so that they would grow to form a recognizable colored picture.

Problem finding and discovery in science RECOGNIZING PATTERNS MAKING CONNECTIONS TAKING RISKS CHALLENGING ASSUMPTIONS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF CHANCE SEEING IN NEW WAYS BARRON& EISNER

DISCOVERY LEARNING MESSING ABOUT ASKING QUESTIONS FORMING HYPOTHESES TESTING HYPOTHESES DRAWING CONCLUSIONS

Playing around with 7-up and raisins Take a glass of 7-up, and half a dozen raisins. Play. What do you observe? Ask 5 questions that start with I wonder about… or I wonder what would happen if…

My Plan Question: What do I want to know? My hypothesis… How will I conduct my experiment (materials and steps) Observations and conclusions

Creative drama

Lets try a little improv!!!

DIVERGENT THINKING Fluency = lots of ideas Flexibility = different Originality = unique idea to solve the problem. Elaboration = Adding details

Make this into something that no one else would think of? Give it a title k/photo/2010/07/10/creativity- test/_jcr_content/body/photogallery/image1.i mg.jpg/ jpg

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Make this into something that no one else would think of? Give it a title k/photo/2010/07/10/creativity- test/_jcr_content/body/photogallery/image1.i mg.jpg/ jpg

Make this into something that no one else would think of? Give it a title k/photo/2010/07/10/creativity- test/_jcr_content/body/photogallery/image1.i mg.jpg/ jpg

Make this into something that no one else would think of? Give it a title k/photo/2010/07/10/creativity- test/_jcr_content/body/photogallery/image1.i mg.jpg/ jpg

SCAMPER Substitute Who else? What else? Other ingredients? Other materials? Other process? Other power? Other place? Other approach? Other tone of voice? Combine How about a blend? An alloy? An assortment? An ensemble? Combine units? Combine purposes? Combine appeals? Combine Ideas? Adapt What else is like this? What other idea does this suggest?Does the past offer a parallel? What could I copy? Whom could I emulate? Modify Magnify? What to add? Minify? What to subtract? New twist? Change Meaning, color motion, sound…? P ut to other uses Do its form, weight, or structure suggest another use? New ways to use? Other uses if modified? Change context? Eliminate Suppose we leave this out? Fewer parts? Condensed? Lower? Shorter? Lighter? Understate? How can we make less more? Reverse Rearrange? Turn it upside down? How about opposites? Reverse Roles? Turn tables? Interchange components? Other sequence? Change pace? Change Schedule? Transpose cause & effect

In the curriculum Math: how many ways can you do this problem? Arithmetic is finding the answer. Math is questioning the answer = 51 (Pick a number between 1-7) How many ways can we spell laugh? Justify by applying a rule of phonics or exception Ask open ended questions. Invent new ways of doing things, new worlds, visioning.

A real product with a real audience… Encourage Creative Productivity

Competitions Celebrating the Achievements of Children TM Check out the winning stories fromthe Amazing Kids! "Story Starter" Short Story writing contest! Read the winning essays from our "Appreciation" 2002 essay contest in Amazing Kids! eZine #5! Check out the winners of the "My Amazing Future" 2002 contest! Winners of the first-ever AK POETRY CONTEST. See who won! (Follow the link at the bottom of the AK eZine #4 page.) Check out the Amazing Kids! Poster Design contest 2001 winners! "My Amazing Future" 2001 essay contest winners Check out the winners of our Animation Contest 2000! These 6 lucky winners worked with Frank Gladstone, a professional animator from DreamWorks as their mentor! Check out the winners of our Amazing Babies essay contest! Check out the winners of our 1st comics drawing contest! The grand prize winner, 17 year old Laura Tisdel worked for a year with her mentor, professional cartoonist Guy Gilchrist. Check out her Amazing Kids! Comic Adventures! Check out the winners of our 1st writing contest!"Story Starter" Short Story writing contestAmazing Kids! eZine #5"My Amazing Future" 2002 contest!See who wonAmazing Kids! Poster Design contest 2001 winners"My Amazing Future" 2001 essay contest winners Guy Gilchrist Amazing Kids! Comic Adventureswinners

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Encouragers Know the difference between creative leading and leading for creativity Provide opportunities for play and problem finding. Have a creativity corner. Teach divergent thinking skills and integrate them into the curriculum. Model creativity and spontaneity. Environment of risk taking Action research approach Authentic problems Encourage QuirkinessDont cure it.

Think different

Think Different.