In order to live a creative life, it is important to have a felt sense of our interdependence with the world around us. As living organisms we depend upon other living organisms to fuel our own metabolic functions and, by extension, our creativity. In this video from Chipotle restaurants, a chain that began in my […]
Co-Designing and Creativity: Developers and Users Team Up to Create Better Products
When it comes to creativity and innovation, inferior products are those that fail to meet the aesthetic and functional needs of the user. On the other hand, superior products have a deep understanding of the user’s need built right into the product. In this article Catalina Naranjo-Bock explores how research teams are interacting and inviting their […]
How Can Education Be Redesigned to Both Teach and Test Creativity and Entrepreneurship?
In the article below, Jennifer Medbery makes the argument that standardized testing isn’t all that bad, as long as those tests are evaluating a student’s ability to contribute to future challenges. And for all of you who like to cram a bunch of information into your head and regurgitate it on a test, rote memorization […]
Do You Want to Improve Your Business? Allow Daydreaming to Spark Your Creativity
Business and daydreaming don’t seem like the most congruent pair out there; business at its heart is about profitable productivity whereas daydreaming for most amounts to little more than wasting time. But in the long run, allowing the mind to wander boosts creativity and creative insight, lending itself to the long term success of a […]
Creativity versus the Automated Essay Grader
Here’s an interesting and (somewhat disturbing) article on a new technology from the Education Testing Service, those same folks who’ve invented the SAT’s and other tests and made standardized testing a nation-wide phenomena. Apparently, their new technology can grade some 16,000 essays in under a minute. But what are the consequences for true creative expression […]
An Innovative and Much Needed Pairing: Business, Creativity, and Mindfulness Come Together at the Wisdom 2.0 Conference
Next month, on May 11th and 12th, spiritual teachers, health and wellness professionals, and business leaders from around the world will be gathering in San Francisco for Wisdom 2.0 conference, engaging in a creative dialogue about how the benefits of wisdom traditions can be incorporated into new and innovative business practices. Here’s a look at […]
What roles do creativity and innovation play in medicine?
“Risk takers unite!” says the author of this article. But in the field of medicine? According to Geeta Nayyar, creativity and innovation are very much needed in the medical fields. And that was the thrust of a recent TED event entitled “TED MED 2012: Fusing Innovation and Art in Healthcare.” The need to do everything […]
Stanford Professor Tina Seelig’s Book on Creativity: InGenius: A Crash Course in Creativity
I love to see what other leaders in the blossoming field of creativity have to say on the subject. In this short video, Stanford Professor Tina Seelig, author of InGenius: A Crash Course in Creativity, gives us a really insightful map on creativity and a quick powerful lesson on the difference between convergent and divergent […]
Creativity and Evolution: Learning from the Koala Bear
The koala bear, that cute and cuddly-looking creature inhabiting the native eucalyptus trees of eastern coastal Australia, has many curious aspects to it. For one, it isn’t actually a bear, but a marsupial– like a kangaroo. Furthermore, it has an unusually slow metabolism and spends the majority of its time asleep and motionless. The bulk […]
How do “digital toys” spark creativity and imagination in children?
I must admit, when I first watched my daughter perform the signature side-swipe to unlock my wife’s iPhone, I had a strange feeling that she was somehow unlocking Pandora’s box. Undoubtedly, the current world is becoming more and more digitized and informationally-driven, making it important for children to learn the emerging technologies (and leave us […]