Building Leadership:Stimulating Creativity Through C.U.R.I.O.S.I.T.Y.

Building Leadership:Stimulating Creativity Through C.U.R.I.O.S.I.T.Y.

“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” Albert Einstein

Instructor: Suzanne Merritt An Infopeople Workshop Spring 2009

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This workshop is brought to you by the Infopeople Project.

This workshop is brought to you by the Infopeople Project.

Infopeople is a federally-funded grant project supported by the California State Library. It provides a wide variety of training to California libraries.

Infopeople workshops are offered around the state and are open registration on a first-come first-serve basis.

For a complete list of workshops, and for other information about the project go to the Infopeople website at infopeople.org. 2

Workshop Overview Workshop Overview

COLLECT Stories

CONNECT Library Challenge

CREATE Solutions

WELCOME Exercise #1Short Stories

WELCOME Exercise #1Short Stories

Introductions:Name LibraryPositionLife Stories

Hello! My name is...

OverviewLeaders are Curious About Creativity

OverviewLeaders are Curious About Creativity

Always curious about how to keep our creative edge.

Fresh ways of looking for new opportunities to innovate.

Overview

How can you use creativity to meet today’s needs and tomorrow’s challenges in order to provide the highest quality of library service to the people of California?

Your Leadership Challenge

Be Curious Today

Overview

From Curiosity to CreativityFrom Curiosity to Creativity

• Collect ideas from stories that attract your attention

• Make Connections others overlook through questions

• Create grounded growth opportunities and ideas

Overview

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Benefits of This ApproachBenefits of This Approach

Efficiency: requires less time than traditional brainstorming

Engagement: increases staff sense of meaning and participation

Excellence:improves quality of ideas implemented

Overview

1600’s Cabinets of Curiosity and Wonder: Collections of rarities from nature and man.1600’s Cabinets of Curiosity and Wonder:

Collections of rarities from nature and man.

Simple Cabinet

Entire Room

Whole House

Precursor of the Museum Shrine of Muses

Overview

Quest for KnowledgeMotivated CollectorsQuest for KnowledgeMotivated Collectors

Curiosity Cabinets

Princes, popes, merchants and scholars, hunted for curious treasures as they traveled the world.

Overview

Your C.U.R.I.O.S.I.T.Y. CabinetYour notebook as portable cabinet.

Your C.U.R.I.O.S.I.T.Y. CabinetYour notebook as portable cabinet.

Collect inspiring stories.

Microcosm of your ownlife and work experiences.

See something in the worldwith fresh eyes daily.

Overview

Keeping a VISUAL JOURNAL is a favorite tool of artist and scientists.

Get in the habit and see how fast ideas come to you too!

Overview

What’s the difference?

Visual Journal• words• images• colors• metaphor• shapes• sketches

Overview

Collect Use your C.U.R.I.O.S.I.T.Y. CABINET everyday

and great ideas will come your way.

Collect Use your C.U.R.I.O.S.I.T.Y. CABINET everyday

and great ideas will come your way.

Collect your stories and observations so you can use them as a source of inspiration.

• Sketch, doodle or clip

• Collect your questions

• Add inspiring quotes

• Capture beginning ideasOverview

Why Bother?Why Bother?

Source of inspiration for brainstorming sessions

Collecting moves you from passive to active

Connects your inner and outer experience

Overview

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Exercise #2Set up your Cabinet.

Exercise #2Set up your Cabinet.

Choose an image for the coveras a metaphor for creativity.

Write your definition of creativity in your journal.

Write down your creative work challenge and sketch it out.

Overview

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What is creativity ?

What are your creative challenges?

Exercise #3I see what you mean.

Overview

CREATE Solutions

CREATE Solutions

Grounded Growth©

For an idea to succeed it must be provoking enough to attract and sustain attention, familiar enough to relate to past experience and new enough to add value now.

FAMILIAR FRESH FIT

Overview

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What do you think?

What factors encourage creativity?

Overview

Creativity and Innovation!Creativity and Innovation!

Over 37,840 books on how to be more innovative.

• Get good at Connection Making. creative questions• Shift attention to Creative Seeing. see hidden

opportunities

Overview

What do you see?

Creative Seeing

Overview

Put the Quest in your Questions.Put the Quest in your Questions.

• Questions direct curiosity.

• Ask new questions if you want new answers.

• Creative questions invite imaginative thinking.

Connection Making

Overview

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Ask not...

Inspiring Questions...

Overview

First StepFirst Step

COLLECT Stories

COLLECT Stories

CONNECTLibrary Challenge

CREATE

Ideas

Collect CuriositiesCollect Curiositiesin the form of stories of innovation.

Inspiration & Exasperation

• World

• Industry

• Street

Collect

Why Stories?Why Stories?

• Research shows we learn 7.4% from presentations and 92.6% from narrative

• We can connect to the story, learn from it, and apply it to our own situation

• Creativity flourishes where leaders tell inspiring stories of innovation and possibility

Collect

Story Line/PlotStory Line/Plot

• In literature 7 basic plots like mystery, romance, hero….

• In innovation 9 basic plots C.U.R.I.O.S.I.T.Y.

• Today learn to recognize these in the stories you have collected, and how to use this as a source of ideas.

Collect

Distinctions that

help organize stories

in a fresh way so we can

create new connections.

C.U.R.I.O.S.I.T.Y. C.U.R.I.O.S.I.T.Y.

Collect

C.U.R.I.O.S.I.T.Y.C.U.R.I.O.S.I.T.Y.

C contradictionsU universalsR rulesI intersectionsO ordinaryS surprisesI invisibleT transformationsY your resources

Collect

ContradictionsRecognize the rub

ContradictionsRecognize the rub

Every great invention is the result of resolving a contradiction.

G.S. Altschuller

• Paradox

• Conflict

• Impossibility

• ClashCollect

UniversalsSee what stays the same.

UniversalsSee what stays the same.

Applicable to all situations

or purposes.

• Continuity• Interchangeable • Entity that remains

unchanged• Archetypes • Balance• One size fits all

Collect-Universals

RulesBreak the rules

RulesBreak the rules

Challenge all assumptions to change the game.

• Assumptions• Expectations • Beliefs • How we operate

Collect-Rules

IntersectionsWhere two things meet.

IntersectionsWhere two things meet.

Look at the relationships in time, space, function…

• Overlaps

• Combinations

• Alliances/Partnership

• In between

• Interactions

• Gaps/Hand offsCollect-Intersections

OrdinaryTake a second look.

OrdinaryTake a second look.

Extraordinary ideas can come from ordinary sources.

• Habits• Habits• Familiar• Plain view• Details• Routine

Collect-Ordinary

SurprisesExpect the unexpected.

SurprisesExpect the unexpected.

Watch for things that seem slightly off, odd,

or out of place.

• Anomalies• Disruptions• Unexpected• Sudden changes• Positive deviance

Collect-Surprise

InvisibleSee the unseen.

InvisibleSee the unseen.

Make the invisible visible so you can act on it.

• Time• Energy• Attitudes• Barriers • Future

Collect-Invisible

TransformationsNow you see it, now you don’t.

TransformationsNow you see it, now you don’t.

Look for ways to change or modify an object or action .

• Conversions• New use• Reverse• Make over• Trashformation

Collect-Transformation

YoursWhat are YOUR resources?

YoursWhat are YOUR resources?

Everything you can draw on from within the system to create opportunities or solve problems.

• Materials• Space• Functions• Information• Time

• Equipment Collect-Resources

C.U.R.I.O.S.I.T.Y.C.U.R.I.O.S.I.T.Y.

C contradictionsU universalsR rulesI intersectionsO ordinaryS surprisesI invisibleT transformationsY your resources

Collect

Exercise #4 Story Exchange Prepare to tell your story succinctly.

Exercise #4 Story Exchange Prepare to tell your story succinctly.

Four Sentences....

1. The situation

2. The action or creative solution

3. The result

4. The C.U.R.I.O.S.I.T.Y. connection.

(For me, this was a story about

Transformation…. because…)

Collect

Collect

NOW

COLLECT Stories

CONNECT Library Challenge

CREATE

Solutions

CONNECTLibrary Challenges

Virtually all discoveries & man-made creations come from our innate ability to make connections.

Cortina Kent

Connect

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Exercise # 5Ready-Set-Go

Small group activity

Collect

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Convergence SolutionResearch Findings

• Group one creative challenge

• Group two creative challenge and fortress story with instruction to make a connection

• Group three creative challenge and fortress story without instruction to make a connection

94Collect

Natural ConnectorsNatural Connectors

Collecting alone creates some new connections.

We only GET the connection 15% of the time.

Questions Increase Connections

Collect

To Train your brain! 75%

To make the connection ask the question.

Library Challenge Innovation Stories

Put the Quest in Your Questions.Put the Quest in Your Questions.

• Questions direct curiosity.

• Ask new questions if you want new answers.

• Creative questions invite imaginative thinking.

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Questions are tools to help us make new connections.

• Leaders ask inspiring questions.

• Questions expand possibility of making connections.

• The uncreative mind can spot wrong answers, but it takes a creative mind to spot wrong questions. Anthony Jay

Collect

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Exercise #6Tools and tips for putting the

Quest in your Questions.

Exercise #6Tools and tips for putting the

Quest in your Questions.

1. Flip It

2. Hair of the Dog

3. New Point of View

4. Mind Map Questwork in pairs

Collect

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1. Flip It• Reverse or flip your question to the complete

opposite way of thinking.

• Example:

How to find a publisher vs how to have a publisher find me.

• This activates an entirely new line of thinking.

Collect

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2. Hair of the Dog2. Hair of the Dog

The problem is the solution.Be fearless and go for the jugular.What is the tough question?

Collect

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3. Shift Point of View3. Shift Point of View

Your Question?

Collect

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4. Mind Map Quest4. Mind Map Quest

Collect

Last step...

COLLECT Stories

CONNECTLibrary Challenge

CREATESolutions

CREATE Solutions

CREATE Solutions

Grounded GrowthFor an idea to succeed it

must be provoking enough to attract and sustain attention, familiar enough to relate to past experience and new enough to add value now.

FAMILIAR FRESH FITCriteria

Create

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How?

Create

1. Introduce a process 2. Select some creative challenges3. Form small groups based on interest4. Brainstorm using C.U.R.I.O.S.I.T.Y. stories5. Report out to large group

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Generate then Judge

Divergent ThinkingNo judgmentBuild on ideasGo for quantity

Brainstorm with postitsOne idea perReadableCall out pass in

Convergent ThinkingConstructiveNot personalFocused

Grounded Growth Criteria will it...

Create

pause

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Creative Challenge Brief Description

Brainstorm with postits Connect to Story

Brainstorm with Postits

Apply CriteriaPick the hits

Creative SolutionPresentation

Collect beginning ideas

Create a Solution

Create

Wow! That’s a Great Idea.

Connect to CreateConnect to Create

Stories of InnovationSTORIES of introduction

STORIES in this presentation

STORIES from groups

Library Challenge

Choose a challenge and make a creative contribution today.

Create

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Exercise # 7Wow! That’s a great idea.

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Exercise #8Making it Happen

• What is the biggest barrier to implementation?

Flip it..

How to...

We could...

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Thank You!

Evaluations