Creative Lessons From Innovation Experts

I know I’ve been posting lots of links to magazine articles, but recently there have been so many good ones to pass along.

Here’s the latest. In the June issue of Inc. magazine, innovation experts were asked how organizations can foster the creative spirit in their employees. The results were interesting and included a couple of unique ideas.

Write it Down
Frog Design, a San Francisco-based consulting firm, publishes Frog Design Mind, a print and online magazine that serves as a quarterly compendium of staff articles on subjects that excite employees.

Bring in Outsiders
Many top innovation firms tap the perspectives of outside experts — be they physicists, poets, actors, archaeologists, theologians, or astronauts.”

Creative Tourism

Are you like me and seek out learning experiences when you travel or do you want to make your city a creative destination? If so, the Santa Fe International Conference on Creative Tourism may interest you.

It will be held from September 28 – October 2, 2008 in Sana Fe, New Mexico, which has recently been named as the first UNESCO Creative City in the United States.

Some of the program topics include Artist’s Tours: Generating Sales for Artists Through Creative Tourism and Keeping it Real, “Authenticity in the Creative Industries”. There’s also a keynote by Eric Maisel, my creativity teacher.

  • Plan your next creativity trip today.

Creativity Loses Value

The appeal of creativity has exploded during the last several years, with everyone from schools to CEOs proclaiming its importance. So does this eliminate the value of true creativity if everyone is seen as a creative thinker?

Possibly. Thinking creatively is a skill that should be taught and learned by everyone, but are we also learning how to apply that thinking for every day solutions? Probably not. Most creativity books and classes preach expressing our creativity but few help us to use it constructively.

The Arts Column in the Telegraph (via the Applied Imagination blog) recently explored this topic emphasizing the need to learn more skilled crafts or at least a practical use for creativity as this, not solely ideas has sustained humankind.

  • Agree or disagree?

Creative Retreats

I know many people have made a resolution this year to spend more time on creative projects. Ok, I am one of them! So, now is the time to clear your schedule and sign up for a creativity or arts retreat in 2008.

It’s a great opportunity to focus solely on creating without the distractions of every day life. There are retreats held in a variety of national and international locations.

Creativity Retreats

Creativity Workshop features creative writing, drawing, storytelling and memoir

Arts Retreats

ShawGuides lists arts and crafts workshops in the US and abroad

Art and Soul retreats offer instruction in paper, fabric, jewelry and fiber arts

Arcangelo Productions hosts art and life workshops focusing on collage, assemblage and photography

  • Or create your own retreat by designating an hour, a day or a weekend to creating.

Creative Process

I recently finished a creative project for a friend and presented it to her last weekend. Letting go of this creation was difficult, as I’d spent the last several weeks working on it.

This all got me to thinking about the creative process and how each of us has our own style for completing projects.

Typically, the creative process is defined as follows:

  1. Preparation (defining what you will create, researching and studying possibilities)
  2. Incubation (stepping away from your project and letting your mind rest)
  3. Illumination (when the idea explosion occurs)
  4. Verification (testing the final product)

But like so many prescriptions for creativity, there is no set way that the process must flow. Some of us may spend all of our time on the preparation while others may still be waiting for illumination.

  • What’s your creative process?

Color in Motion

You’ll never look at color in the same way after viewing this interactive site that presents an entertaining lesson in color symbolism. It will inspire the way you create.

  • Check it out here.

Do High Ceilings Increase Creativity?

According to research out of the University of Minnesota, people in rooms with 10 foot high ceilings were found to have more abstract thoughts than those, who focused more on specific details, in 8 foot high ceiling rooms.

So does this mean people who think outdoors are the most creative because the sky is their ceiling? Just curious.

Online Magnetic Poetry

If you’ve ever played magnetic poetry on your refrigerator, then you will love the online version. It’s a great way to jump start creative thinking when you are blocked.

  • Try the artist version or any of the others for inspiration.

Write it Down

Do you have a notebook for catching great ideas? If not, why not? Inspiration strikes all the time, especially if you are incubating an idea. If you don’t catch it right away it may be gone for good.

  • Find more ways to record your ideas here.