Innovation Week in New York City: Feb. 7-10

It's not too late to register for the upcoming Innovation Week in New York, Feb. 7-10!

We're offering a variety of innovation programs, including Six Thinking Hats on Feb. 7, Lateral Thinking on Feb. 8, and the full Course in Creativity on Feb. 7-8, which covers both Six Hats and Lateral Thinking. This programs will give you a solid grasp of in Dr. de Bono's tools, and you'll receive plenty of practice with their application. You'll leave ready to apply Six Hats and Lateral Thinking to your own organization and context.

We also offering trainer certification in Six Hats, Lateral Thinking, and the Course in Creativity. After this intensive, four-day program (Feb. 7-10), you'll be prepared to teach the de Bono methods in your own organization. 

Are you already a de Bono trainer? If so, This is also a convenient opportunity to re-certify, or save 15% when you certify in a new course.

Register online for Innovation Week in New York, or call us at 515.278.1292.

Stop Arguing With Yourself

Gabrielle Gawne-Kelnar is an Australian therapist who discovered Six Thinking Hats at a recent workshop. She has written a nice summary of the experience, with a good overview of the Six Hats and their usage. Worth a read.

Edward de Bono to Speak at Learning Technologies 2012

Dr. Edward de Bono will be a keynote speaker at Learning Technologies 2012 conference in London on 25-26 January. It promises to be a great event for professionals in the field learning and development. See the conference brochure for full details.

The Bias Against Creativity

Corporate creativity is a hot topic, and innovation determines whether a company lives or dies. So why do people reject creative ideas?

Jennifer Mueller, Shimul Melwani, and Jack Goncalo have a theory. In their new paper, The Bias Against Creativity: Why People Desire But Reject Creative Ideas, they explore the idea of covert biases, and they find that uncertainty produces a subconscious hostility towards creativity.

To quote the authors, "Because there is such a strong social norm to endorse creativity and people also feel authentic positive attitudes towards creativity, people may be reluctant to admit that they do not want creativity." The authors conclude that "we cannot assume that organizations, institutions or even scientific endeavors will desire and recognize creative ideas even when they explicitly state they want them. This is because [organizations] may [extol creativity] in ways that promote uncertainty by requiring gate-keepers to identify the single 'best' and most 'accurate' idea, thereby creating an unacknowledged aversion to creativity. In addition, our results suggest that... the field of creativity may need to shift its current focus from identifying how to generate more creative ideas to identifying how to help innovative institutions recognize and accept creativity."

Edward de Bono on BVO

Dr. de Bono was recently on BVO, the Business Voice. In this half-hour interview, he addresses the difference between innovation and creativity, why the business sector has been particularly quick to recognize the importance of thinking, what the internet age means for thinking, and more. Highly recommended.

Creativity Quote of the Day

"Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimension." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Creativity Quote of the Day

"Anyone can be creative provided they learn and develop their skills." - Edward de Bono