Second day of the "Creativity and Design" module at the Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 2017

1. Creativity and Design 2017
Day 2: Who?

2. Selected themes from Day 1
• Problems and symptoms
• Sudden realisation: I can be creative
• Creative diversity: from talent to training
• Reframing problems by asking questions
• Getting people involved: diverse voices
• Embracing the power of not knowing
• Uncovering hidden problems
• Biases of creativity: not limited to art
• Creativity of process/outcome
• Creativity does not happen from 9 to 5
 Importance of ‘unlearning’
 Challenge the status quo
 Types of contributions

3. Questions from Day 1
• Cost of change? How to reduce risk?
• Resistance to change? Strategies, techniques
• Design or creativity? Differences
• How do I manage/lead for/sell creativity?
• Structured processes?
• A.I./big data roles in creativity
• Differences across domains, cultures, industries
• Motivations and incentives?
• What do most creative people do differently?
• How to recognise/evaluate creativity?
• What is a good problem statement?
 If everyone can be creative
their own ways… what is
“not creative”?
 What makes me creative?
 Secrets to be always
creative?
 Ok… how and where to
start?

4. http://amorebeautifulquestion.com/

6. http://www.robotmayor2030.co.nz/

7. Everyone loves creative ideas, right?

11. Activity 2.1: Resistance to change
Duration: 30 minutes
Mode: Pairs

14. http://www.lifehack.org/

15. Morning break
15 minutes

16. Activity 2.2: Growth mindset

17. 1a: Your intelligence is something very basic about you that you can’t change very much.
1b: No matter how much intelligence you have, you can always change it substantially.
2a: You are a certain kind of person, and there is not much that you can do to really change that.
2b: You can always change basic things about the kind of person you are.
3a: Trying new things is stressful for me and I avoid it.
3b: All humans without a brain injury or birth defect are capable of astounding levels of learning.
4a: People who excel in their field have an inborn talent.
4b: People who excel in their field have a history of perseverance, practice, and luck.

19. http://www.wall321.com/
WRONG

20. Please define yourself in 10 statements

21. All human cognition is social
http://www.todayonline.com/
Family
Culture
Nature
Friends
Media‘you’

22. Re-framing problems

25. Activity 2.3: Wicked framings
Duration: 45 minutes
Mode: Think, Pair, Share

26. Framing hard problems as wicked problems
• No definite initial state and no definite
end state: open ended
• Vast solution space
• Co-evolution of problem and solution
• No definite set of operators, algorithms
• High complexity, high ambiguity, high
unpredictability, high uncertainty
• Variable constraints, externalities
• Tip: brainstorm problems, not solutions
• The main flaw of “design
thinking” is to hide the framing
of situations as wicked
problems

27. Activity 2.4: Powerful questions
Duration: 30 minutes
Mode: Think, Pair, Share

29. A Powerful Question
• generates curiosity in the
listener
• stimulates reflective
conversation
• is thought-provoking
• surfaces underlying assumptions
• invites creativity and new
possibilities
• generates energy and forward
movement
• channels attention and focuses
inquiry
• stays with participants
• touches a deep meaning
• evokes more questions

30. Activity 2.5 A creative person is…
Duration: 15 minutes

32. Creative people
• Do not fit into a single profile
• Are not ‘special’ at birth
• They become ‘special’ through
hard work
• They don’t have mental
disorders (at least not before
being creative, perhaps society
‘drives them crazy’ by rejecting
new ideas?)
• “Creative people” are those
individuals who exercise their
creative capacities and build
confidence
• “Not creative people” are those
who oversee, neglect, or restrain
their creativity
• Perhaps… not so useful to focus
on “creative people” as much as
“creative interactions” between
people?

33. Lunch
1 hour

34. A creative team is…
A creative idea is…
A creative organisation is…

36. http://www.innovationmanagement.se/imtool-articles/10-rules-for-creative-teams/

38. https://rework.withgoogle.com/guides/understanding-team-effectiveness/steps/foster-psychological-safety/

40. Activity 2.6: Creative teams
Duration: 15 minutes

41. What type of creativity may fit
your team and organisation?

42. Key factors to consider…
• Diversity
• Autonomy
• Knowledge
• Culture change
• Breadth-depth trade-off
• Strength of weak ties
• Hierarchies
• Synergies in collaboration
• Sharing: giving and taking
• Exploration-exploitation modes
• Physical space
• Internal, not external motivation
• Walk the talk
• Playful sandbox attitude
• Document success & failure as
learning opportunities
• Stimulate reflection

43. Afternoon break
15 minutes

44. DIY Activity: Idea tournament
Duration: 15 minutes
Mode: Recruit supporters

45. End of Day 2 Activity
Duration: 30 minutes
Mode: Individual journaling

46. “Lesson #1 that I learned
today…”
A specific action that I can put in practice
based on this learning…
“Lesson #2 that I learned
today…”
A specific action that I can put in practice
based on this learning…
Biggest question that I have today… My best contribution today was…
? !
O O

47. Creativity and Design 2017
Day 2: Ok, sounds good… but… who? Me, really? And
who else?