"The only joy in the world is to begin"
Cesare Pavese

In response to a challenge of how can we teach creativity, in 1995 (before the internet took off properly) I started collecting material related to Creativity and Innovation. I ended up with boxes and boxes of stuff.

Whilst I really enjoy collecting, I knew that I would, one day, have to sort it all out. That is not something I find easy! I laid out numerous mind maps across my dining room table trying to decide where things went.

What you see now is the culmination of that effort. I ended up with seven MAP categories or elements purely by accident. No great plan from the outset.

The "silly question" is the first intimation of some totally new development.
Schiller.

It aims to dispel misconceptions and through exercises access your level of knowledge on creativity and Innovation and lays out the rationale of using creativity within your business.

A Definition of creativity - play and reflect on what you think creativity is
The misconceptions of creativity - explore the rights and wrongs of creativity
Innovation and creativity - is there a difference?
Where can Creativity help? - why bother? What situations could need a little creativity
The Downside of Creativity - beware that creativity in business causes disruption
Humour and Creativity - whats the link. Can you be creative if you hate humour?
Characteristics of the creative person - explore different professions to find the essence of creativity
Test yourself against a simple model of creativity - how do you compare to the creativity formulae

Eighteen exercises to assess your creativity.

Using a simple Creativity fitness model based on the three 'F' principles of FUEL,   FLEXIBILITY and FREEDOM you will test yourself against each and get a full report

Then you will be able to develop those areas that are under-developed in the Creativity GYM.

Fuel - means to be able to generate large volumes of ideas (5 exercises)
New Uses - checks how many different uses you can find for a common object.
Connections - the way you associate one idea with others tests your ability diverge
Sensitivity - my attempt to check you using a familiar but modified test
Interpretation - how do you see the world?
Word Stamina - similar to new uses but with letters

Freedom - means to be mentally robust with a positive outlook, internal motivation and a belief and confidence to succeed (7 exercises)
Stretch - How tough is your Goal setting and How positive are you
Beyond the obvious - Can you box break?
Aliens - how easily do you break out of mindsets
Odd one out - the correct answer!
Rules - can you break them?
Personality - Risktaking, Independence, Nonconformity, Productivity and Persistence.

Flexibility - means to be able to metaphorically shift mental gears (6 exercises)
Left or Right brained? - a simple brain hemisphere preference
Generator or evaluator - do you prefer idea generating or evaluating?
Learning style (adapted KOLB) - how do you learn
L-mode pull - feel the dominant hemisphere 'drawing' you in
Thinking modes - your preferred modality
Negativity - How it develops from childhood

Almost sixty exercises to improve your creativity

Athletics uses physical muscles, creativity mental muscles. Both need developing and exercising. Once you've learnt how to walk and run it starts to become automatic. The body 'remembers' the physical positions needed. The same happens with  creativity - the mind starts to 'remember' the mental muscles needed.

The creativity Gym has several areas where you can 'mentally sweat' based on your Freedom, Flexibility and Fuel assessed earlier. In addition there are ten other longer exercises:

Perspective - using devices for fresh perspective
Observation- paying more attention can reap rewards
Questioning - we have stopped asking the 'silly' question - start again!
Attention - from 'Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention' - Csikszentmihalyi.
Triplets - find the conncting word
Picture Puzzles - what does the visual image mean?
Unrelated Stimuli - practise using seemingly unrelated words, images ro find new solutions
What iffing - using questions to direct your imagination towards a specific goal.
Metaphor - linking different worlds for a new perspective
Mirror - a simple reflector which allows you to dig into a situation

"If your thoughts are precisely folded and dressed right you are probably a fairly limited problem solver"
  James Adams

Physical
Brain basics - neurons, interactions, myelin
Brain Development - from birth onwards how the brain grows and matures
Two brain halves? - two hemispheres, the Triune model and the whole brain model

Thinking
Two thinking heads? - the thinking specialitities of each brain hemisphere
Prove it! - split brain experiements
..or a Continuum
Mr L & Mr R - how someone with only one functioning hemisphere would be
Organisational effects - how problem solving and communications is influenced by brain dominance
Where techniques fit
Brainwaves
Intelligences

Intuition
What is it? - an explanation of intuition, tips to improve your intuition
Are you intuitive?
A Sufi tale - integrating reason and intuition

Improvement
The Rationale - is it possible to change?
L mode pull - an exercise to show how the left hemisphere interferes in creativity
The Stroop Effect - another exercise on interference
Brain Quadrant test - a test to show your dominant brain quadrant plus exercises
Music

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Discovery consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different."
Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, (Nobel prize winner)

Creativity Theories
Carl Jung - how we take in information and process it.
Myers-Briggs - how Jung's work was extended. A simple test.
Group Think - how working in groups can affect thinking.
Kirton Adapter Innovator model KAI and creativity
Patterns and Solar Systems - self organising mind and habits, attitudes and beliefs.
The censor - how whole brain thinking gets diluted
Frogs - why humans can act like frogs when faced with small imperceptible change
Not Invented Here Syndrome - why established groups can ignore help from outside

Creativity Exercises
Luchins Jars - why use a simple process when a complex one will do
Duncker's Candle - functional fixedness
Ropes - more functional fixedness
The Gorge - using several mental strategies to solve a problem
The multiated Chessboard - analogies can help
Idea killers - comments you may get from idea killers and how to counteract them
Adams blocks - based on conceptual blockbusting by James L. Adams. There's lots here.
Mindreading - how can the computer read your mind?

Creative Reflections
Question maker by Penelope Kelly
The Calf Path - how the past can limit the future
More Frogs - metaphor for the organisation
It can't be done - what the 'experts' predicted.
QWERTY - the keyboard - sticking with imperfection
Vacuum wars - the vacuum tube manufacturers - an example of 'staying put'
Perspective -Taking a different view on a problem can lead to unexpected answers

Often creativity techniques is the only part of a Programme considered to enhance Creativity and Innovation. It is the most visible.

Using our metaphor of a race - different races require different technniques or tactics. Included in this area is a locker of tactics for all uses. The Interactive Tactics area lets you learn while you actually achieve positive outcomes to your challenges

Over twenty four tactics to apply grouped according to problem stages

On-Your-Marks Challenges Goals People World Record	Getset Tape - How tos Perimeter Facts Mirror - Whying
Go 1 Brainstorm Crazies Mexican BrainWave	Go 2 Random Word Random Picture Coach How's it like Reversal Notting
Go 3 Set Criteria, Defer & Scoring Pair Comparison	Finish Force Field Analysis Perception Mapping Risk Analysis 5 Whys and How

And, ... the Tactics Support area offers a wealth of supporting information - principles of creativity techniques, precepts, creativity models and miscellaneous tactics.

Our creativity has to be converted into a real use. We need to win the race, beat the competition, achieve something that has not been done before. That is the process called Innovation

Contents include:

• Metaphors of the process - relay races, funnels, Capturing ideas, Office of Innovation, Idea Screening
  
• Goran Ekvall studies of the impact of organisational climate on innovation
  
• KEYS - a climatic measure by Teresa Amabile
  
• Situational Outlook For Creativity and Change Survey (SOCCS) Questionnaire - Scott Isaksen

• Five key roles of Idea generator, Champion, Sponsor, Project Planner and Gatekeeper
  
• Selling ideas - tips for moving ideas forward in the organisation
  
• Innovation Diffusion - Everett Rogers ideas on how ideas propagate
  
• Social Innovation - don't rest on your laurels set up the innovation infrastructure for sustainability
  
• Scenario Planning

• New Product Development History - how we came to stagegate
  
• Stagegate - developed by Robert Cooper
  
• Success or Failure - NEWPROD studies of where NPD works
  
• Drivers - what you should concentrate on to maximise your chances of success
  
• Profiting from Innovation
  
• The Innovation Laboratory

• Innovator Qualities
  
• Stifling Innovation - ways to do it
  
• Innovation Quotient - a quick test
  
• 3M - McKnight - background to the 15% rules and the Post-It note
  
• Misfits - sticking out in the organisation