Linda Carson/Creative Thinking 1

Ideation: A crash course in

creativity

If I only had time for 3 things…1. big fish2. convergent/divergent3. priming, pros & cons

4. intrinsic/extrinsic5. seven steps

Linda Carson/Creative Thinking 2

“How to catch a big fish:1. Catch a lot of fish.2. Throw back all the little ones.”

Linda Carson@lccarson

lccarson@gmail.com3Linda Carson/Creative Thinking

Please jot down a

noun (for later).

Thanks.

“Creativity is not a talent. It is a way of operating.” John Cleese• Four stage

model (Wallas)1. Preparation2. Incubation3. Illumination4. Verification

• Divergent & convergent production (Guilford), open & closed problems

• Priming, pros & cons

• Intrinsic & extrinsic motivation (Amabile)

Linda Carson/Creative Thinking 4

“THERE ARE FEWER RULES THAN YOU THINK”

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

Say yes.Be kind.Edit later.

Laughter is praise.

5

Linda, don’t go to the next slide until after the noun exercises.

Linda Carson/Creative Thinking 6

Linda Carson/Creative Thinking 7

Linda’s seven-point plan for making the most of many minds

How innovators can turn idea generation into a team sport

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1. Defer judgment.

“The core skill of innovators is error recovery not failure avoidance.”

Randy Nelson

“Scientists have another name for failure: data.”

Tina Seelig

9Linda Carson/Creative Thinking

2. Seek quantity, not quality.“Ideas have to be like ninjas, plentiful and ready to die.”

Suzanne Pope

10Linda Carson/Creative Thinking

3. Question assumptions.“I have a friend I go to whenever I have a really tough problem to solve. After I explain it to him, invariably his first question is, ‘What rules can we break?’ He knows that I have assimilated so many rules into my thinking that after a while they become blind assumptions. It’s difficult to be innovative if you’re following blind assumptions.”

Roger von Eoch11Linda Carson/Creative Thinking

4. Go over the top.

“It is easier to tone down a wild idea than to think up a new one.”

Alex F. Osborne

12Linda Carson/Creative Thinking

5. Follow through:Debate;Combine & extend ideas;Use ideas as stepping

stones.“Creativity occurs at the intersection of previously unconnected planes of thought.”

Dorothy Leonard13Linda Carson/Creative Thinking

6. Take notes.

“Never go anywhere without pen and paper. Not even to bed. Especially not to bed.”

Linda Carson

14Linda Carson/Creative Thinking

Step 7 is really the 0th step

The most important rule for making idea generation a team sport…

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Start solo.“There are no good collaborations … Once the miracle of creation has taken place, the group can build and extend it, but the group never invents anything.”

John Steinbeck16Linda Carson/Creative Thinking

Linda’s seven-step planStart solo.

1. Defer judgment.2. Seek quantity, not quality.3. Question assumptions.4. Go over the top.5. Follow through.6. Take notes.

Linda Carson/Creative Thinking 17

“Creativity is a renewable resource.”

Biz StoneCo-founder of Twitter

Linda Carson/Creative Thinking 18