Creativity & Innovation

updated 24 December 2004

Creativity Innovation Dyslexia & ADD Eccentricity
Characteristics of Creative People and Cultures Some Characteristics of Non Creative People and Cultures Simplicity Miscellaneous

Creativity

Promoting Human Creativity

10 Steps for Boosting Creativity

Comments on Suggestion Schemes - based on comments from TR-DEV and CREA-CPS, September 2000

Why do so few scientists (and others) make significant contributions

The Affect of Emotional Intelligence on a Modern Organisational Leader's Ability to Make Effective Decisions Paper from Samuel E. Bliss

People, Not Technology: The Key to Successful Change Management by Melissa Fender

Library of articles at thunderboltthinking.com

Writing as Creative Design By Mike Sharples, University of Sussex, U.K. RECOMMENDED

Creativity in Science and Engineering

Flat and Boundaryless Organisational Structures From Dr. Les Pang, an excellent article, quick to read, with examples from industry

Creativity is an Individual Act Interview with John Hunt, Plowden Professor of Organisational Behaviour at London Business School

Working Paper: Models for the Creative Process by Paul E. Plsek Reviews Creative Thinking Models defined since 1908, discusses the common themes of these models and outlines 'The DirectedCreativity Cycle: A Synthesis Model of the Creative Process'

Harvard Project Zero Project Zero's mission is to understand and enhance learning, thinking, and creativity in the arts, as well as humanistic and scientific disciplines, at the individual and institutional levels.

Presenting the Case for Music This fascinating article follows the Channel 4 series (May 1996) 'Music and the Mind' presented by Professor Paul Robertson, Visiting Professor of Music at Kingston University and leader of The Medici String Quartet . The article comments on the link between music and right brain activity and also links to recent research findings from Switzerland, summarised in plus MUSIC minus MATHS equals... ?

Introduction to Creativity These ten steps to creativity are from Acro Logic .

Creativity: Method or Magic? by Stevan Harnad , Cognitive Sciences Centre Department of Psychology University of Southampton

Unleash those Creative Forces by David Molden

Creativity Fringes: CREATIVITY, TRANSFORMING IDEAS INTO OPPORTUNITIES

Managing Creativity and New Ideas: Bottom-Line Improvements and Innovations by Dr. Alan Robinson

Quotations on Creativity (new page started January 2002)

Breakthrough Thinking and The Eureka Effect: An Interview with Professor David Perkins Harvard Graduate School of Education

Enhancing Creative Competency From Charles Cave and the excellent Creativity Web

Creativity will be the next economic activity From Tayfun Demiroz

The Role of Creativity From The University of Iceland

Lateral thinking and The Problem Formulator

Creativity Tests

Innovation

Diffusion of Innovation A concise, 11 slide presentation

Industrial Innovation in Austalia - Its Anatomy, Life Cycle and Benefits

The Innovation Diffusion Game

The Art of Srategic Innovation Interview with Costas Markides, Professor of Strategic and International Management, London Business School

Winning 1995 UK Government Publication promoting the message CHANGE, EMPOWER, LEARN, INNOVATE, WIN

The Influence Of Leadership, Individual Attributes, And Climate On Innovative Behavior: A Model Of Individual Innovation In The Workplace Susanne G. Scott, Ph.D.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 'Written and hosted by John Lienhard and KUHF-FM, Houston, The Engines of Our Ingenuity tells the story of how our culture is formed by human creativity'. The program uses the record of history to reveal the way art, technology, and ideas have shaped us. Episode topics range from cable cars to Civil War submarines, from the connection between Romantic poets and Victorian science to the invention of the bar code. 1583 examples of innovation as of 10 December, 2000

The key elements of technological innovation From CENTRIM (Centre for Research in Innovation Management), Faculty of Business at the University of Brighton, UK

A Primer in Diffusion of Innovations Theory by Roger Clarke Principal, Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd, Canberra

The Innovation Diffusion Game by Alan AtKisson A tool for encouraging participation in positive cultural change - or for doing something different at your next party

Innovation: Core Competency for the 21st Century by Robert B. Tucker. Extract: "an Arthur D. Little survey of 669 global company executives found fewer than 25 percent of the companies believe innovation performance is where it needs to be if they are to be successful in the competitive marketplace."

Simplicity

Simpler Work An excellent book and an excellent web site

Characteristics of Creative People and Cultures

Ten Characteristics of Creative People aka: The Manic Advantage

Breakaway Minds The personal characteristics of creative people. Howard Gruber Interviewed by Howard Gardner

32 Traits of Creative People From Robert Alan Black, Ph.D.

Definitions of Creativity From Robert E. Franken, Robert W. Weisberg, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Quotations on Creativity from Howard Gruber Founder of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences

The Gift of Saturn: Creativity and Pyschopathy From Antonio Preti MD. Includes Introduction: The Difficult Definition of Creativity Very good paper to aid understanding of the creative personality.

The Creative Person, Product, Process and Press

Creativity in Science and Engineering From Ronald B. Standler, Ph.D. An excellent article! Also includes a summary of Sternberg's Theory of Creativity

Social Dynamics and the Paradox of Leading an Innovative Team From Helga D. Hohn, Associate professor with Henley, Mangement College, Nederland

Dr. Yoshiro Nakamatsu holder of more than 3,000 patents.

Talent Development Resources exploring talent and giftedness -information & inspiration to enhance creative expression An excellent site

The Creative Age Link to a review of this book which explores the link between active elderly people and creativity.

Dyslexia & ADD

These two articles were published in The Guardian on June 2, 2005: Stuck with a world in bits and pieces and Drawing on autistic licence  These first article was an extract from Animals in Translation: Using the mysteries of autism to decode animal behaviour by Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson while the second was an interview with Temple Grandin

Dyslexia A very good resource from Bo Jørgensen

dyslexia@bay Another good site for dyslexia. Also contains a list of famous dyslexics and signs of dyslexia

Famous People with the Gift of Dyslexia

www.dyslexichelp.org And another good support site for dsylexics. As an 11+ failure I went to school in the 1960s with people who were deemed stupid because they were dyslexic. It's good to see that there's more awareness of the subject now and more online help.

Eccentricity

Wikipedia's entry on Eccentricity

Eccentrics are healthier Summary of acticle from Examiner (USA)

Eccentrics: they live longer, happier and are odd! - interview with author David Weeks

Brilliant minds linked to autism "Historical figures including Socrates, Charles Darwin, and Andy Warhol probably had a form of autism, says a leading specialist. Professor Michael Fitzgerald, of Dublin's Trinity College believes they showed signs of Asperger's syndrome.Scientific geniuses Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein have also been previously linked to the condition"

Some Characteristics of Non Creative People and Cultures

23 Blocks to Creativity

Groupthink: When too much cohesion is a dangerous thing Also see the Cult Checklist

Clearing Innovation Road-Blocks From Delphi Creativity

Crushing Creativity out of State Education in the UK How Government interference and stupidity is destroying the profession in the UK.

Where have all our inventors gone? By James Dyson. Click here to go to his company site and to learn more about James Dyson and his approach to innovation.

Clueless: How American Companies Aren't Optimizing Their Brainpower A study by a leading consulting organization finds that too many organizations aren't taking advantage of the capabilities of their people to use their minds. And they believe that by using a methodology, great gains can be achieved

Flowers are Red by Harry Chapin A brilliant poem by Harry Chapin, also performed as a song by him. For me, it's about how creative people, or people with a different perspective, are pressured to conform.

"Don't try to shut me up!" by Tony Page of Page Consulting A great poem - creativity can't develop in a company like the one described.

Establishing Big Brother using covert channels and other covert techniques From Dr. Yvo Desmedt, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Evolving from a City of fear Article from The Observer on bullying in the workplace. I've seen examples of this and associate it with weak and incompetent management. Everyone has the right to work with out fear and be happy in their work!

Closed minds & Conditioned Thinking

Cult Checklist Cults are not just religious groups - check the behaviour in your organisation against this cult checklist

Mind Control - The BITE Model "Destructive mind control can be understood in terms of four basic components, which form the acronym BITE: Behavior Control - Information Control -Thought Control - Emotional Control" This simple model is from Steven Hassan

Defintion of a Cult From the American Heritage Dictionary

For comprehensive and respected information on cults, the Apologetics Index is an excellent. resource. This is provided by the American Family Foundation

The Great God Hoax Some cult hoaxes

Research Resources on the Jehovah's Witnesses Cult Take a look at this if you think that those people who ring your doorbell and try to sell you the Watchtower are just harmless eccentrics. Click here for Dilbert's comment on Doomsday cults

Jehovah Witnesses Pedophile Cover-Up Transcript of a news report from NBC on May 28, 2002.

Freeminds Watchers of the Watch Tower World. An excellent resource with some amazing sound clips from the sad history of the Jehovah's Witnesses cult. 

Jehovah's Witnesses and The End of The World.  These the people who told you world was going to end in 1975 and now deny it.  See references to their prophecies with sources:  1, 2 .

The '1975'-prophecy and its impact among  Dutch Jehovah's Witnesses   A fascinating account.  People gave up jobs, dropped out of schooling and borrowed money as if the world was going to end - and they were led to believe that it would.

A comprehensive set of information on the Jehovah's Witnesses cult from the Rick A. Ross Institute web site.  "The Rick A. Ross Institute has assembled one of the largest databases of information about controversial groups, some called "cults," and related information on the Internet. The database contains thousands of press articles, court documents, and essays. "

Suffer The Litttle Children  The BBC Panorama report on child abuse in the Jehovah's Witness cult

Operation Clambake Resource against the Scientology Cult. And for a counter view, see the Scientology website. (note that the Scientology website has been added by request from a user of this site. As creative thinking requires looking at all sides of the issues, I've added it for balance)

The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God.  The abusers of Victoria Climbie were members of this cult.  This is how the cult responded to her abuse in the days before she died. " Pastor Lima spoke to Kouao about the difficulties she said she was having with Victoria, particularly her incontinence. He expressed the view that Victoria's problems were due to her possession by an evil spirit and said he would spend the week fasting on Victoria's behalf."   A couple of days later she was dead.  The post mortem reported "cause of death to be hypothermia, which had arisen in the context of malnourishment, a damp environment and restricted movement. He also found 128 separate injuries on Victoria's body, showing she had been beaten with a range of sharp and blunt instruments. No part of her body had been spared. Marks on her wrists and ankles indicated that her arms and legs had been tied together. It was the worst case of deliberate harm to a child he had ever seen. "   These extracts were from the The Victoria Climbie Inquiry.

The Stanford prison experiment and the Milgram experiments demonstrate the real dangers of people obeying authority without question.

Miscellaneous

The Digital General: Reflections on Leadership in the Post-Information Age Contains some interesting observations on the value of intuition for military commanders e.g. "intuition allows a commander to focus rapidly on feasible solutions when time for systematic analysis is unavailable "

Making the World Safe for Intuitives By Berenice D. Bleedorn, Ph.D. and published on the website Creative Development Initiatives

Results of my December 2001 Survey, 'Creativity & Innovation'

You want to do an action research thesis? 'How to conduct and report action research (including a beginner's guide to the literature)' Very good guide, especially if you are already familiar with the Soft Systems Methodology.

How storytelling ignites action in knowledge-era organizations Background and summary of a book by Stephen Denning The Springboard shows how storytelling can help transform an organization and enable the organization reinvent itself as a new organization

Enriching Your Practice with Complex Systems Thinking by Mary Ann Allison

Transforming the mind

PowerPoint Resource Center From Acadia University. Masses of useful resources to help in getting your ideas across - but don't forget that over long, over complex presentations are a turn off! More than six slides is probably too many.

Digital Studio From Sonia Coleman More useful resources on PowerPoint and digital graphics.

Adaptors & Innovators: Why New Initiatives Get Blocked A good article illustrating the differences between thinking styles of Adaptors and Innovators. From the KAI Center the official website of KAI, the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory.

Is it true that creativity resides in the right hemisphere of the brain? From Scientific America, the article ends with the following summary 'In summary, the role of the right hemisphere is essential to the creative process. But it supplies only a quarter of the thinking needed to realize the full creative process. We also need the left hemisphere and both halves of the limbic system to optimize creative output. And gender-balanced teams are clearly the most creatively productive'

Lost Links

The following documents were linked to this page but the link no longer exists. If you have a copy of the orginal document or a new link then please email me at

Title
Polaroid Creativity Lab: 20 Lessons Learned
Extract of FC 22-7 Leader Development Program CREATIVE THINKING
15 Ways to be More Creative
Current Creativity in the Marketplace
Promoting free thought and creativity as one of four core company values: Address by President Higashi at the 1997 Employee Induction Ceremony (Tokyo Electron)
Creativity Fringes: CREATIVITY, TRANSFORMING IDEAS INTO OPPORTUNITIES
Industrial Innovation in Austalia - Its Anatomy, Life Cycle and Benefits
Leadership and Innovation: Report on the Thunderbolt Thinking Leadership and Innovation Study
Developing Ideas for Innovative Products Master Thesis at Department of Control and Engineering Design Technical University of Denmark. Lots of useful information and links
Need Innovation? Start by Locking Up the Tech Toys How overuse of Powerpoint, email and other e-tools reduces the signal:noise ratio - or how more means less. From Fortune Magazine Vol. 142, No. 14 December 18, 2000
Characteristics of Creative People
Thinking Like a Genius: Eight strategies used by the super creative, from Aristotle and Leonardo to Einstein and Edison by Michael Michalko
Touch of madness breeds creativity This paper was published on November 13, 1997 by The Cavalier Daily, Inc., at the University of Virginia
Blocks to Creativity (in the classroom)
Warning Signs of Cultic Behaviour Published by Free Minds Inc.
Papers written by John Seely Brown Includes organisational learning and knowledge management
An Introduction to Concept Mapping for Planning and Evaluation From William M.K. Trochim, Cornell University.
INSIDE TRACK: The unhappy truth: JOHN W HUNT Dissatisfied employees can channel their frustration to become more creative
How do You Prevent a Creative Block? Survey Results Indicate Taking a Break May be the Best Medicine From The Creative Group