Take a recess to generate more ideas

Russ Schoen — Fri, 13 May 2011 15:48:12 +0000

My first guest blog, “Why an excursion will help your team generate 50% more ideas? (and have more fun doing it!)” is now up at my friend and colleague Rich DiGirolamo’s blog.Please check it out at http://recessatworkday.com/blog/

How Foursight can help make meetings 60% more productive

Russ Schoen — Thu, 12 May 2011 12:15:34 +0000

How Foursight can help make meetings 60% more productive

Imagine the following scenario: there are four people in a car – 2 in front of the car and 2 in back. Now imagine that each person in the car has their own steering wheel directly in front of them that controls the direction of the car. While the car is moving, one person starts turning the wheel one way, another turns it another way, while the other two people turn it in a slightly different way. What would happen to the car?

If they are lucky, someone would step on the brake and stop the car altogether or else the car might swerve widely out of control.

Now like a car that has 4 drivers, most meetings spin out of control or go nowhere because many of the participants are trying to steer the meeting in different directions at the same time. Why? Because often, they have different Foursight preferences.

What is Foursight and how do Foursight preferences impact meeting productivity?

Foursight is an assessment tool that gives people insight into where they get energized and where they lose energy when solving problems.

There are four main Foursight preferences and if people are unaware of their own preferences then it can negatively impact meeting productivity.

The four main Foursight preferences are:

Clarifiers – who enjoy gathering data and information and pinpointing the right challenge to solve.
Ideators – who enjoy coming up with lots and lots of possible solutions to solve a challenge
Developers – who enjoy refining a few ideas into a practical solution
Implementers – who enjoy jumping into action and want to arrive at a decision quickly and get it done.

What often happens at meetings is some of the clarifiers keep asking for more information, while the ideators are throwing out lots of ideas, the developers are trying to hone an idea, and the implementers just want to move on. In short, people are all going in different directions usually at the same time. In fact, by some estimates, more than 60% of all meetings are considered a total waste of time by meeting attendees. By understanding Foursight, groups can make their meetings more productive.

To read the rest of the article, click here.

power of your unconscious mind on creativity

Russ Schoen — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 22:25:06 +0000

If you haven’t seen this 10 min talk by John Cleese of Monty Python fame on the creative process, it is well worth a view! Enjoy.

Drive – The Surprising Truth of what motivates us? by Dan Pink

Russ Schoen — Tue, 25 May 2010 01:57:32 +0000

Check out the power of how visually representing information can really make information sink in. Not only is the technique cool, but the content of the talk by Dan Pink is fascinating. Watch the almost 11 minute video here.

DO, LEARN, ADJUST – great lessons on collaboration

Russ Schoen — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 14:53:06 +0000

Watch this 6 minute video for a quick glimpse at the value of prototyping.

Watch this once a year if you want to promote creativity!

Russ Schoen — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 22:57:28 +0000

I just returned from teaching a weekend course at the International Center for Studies in Creativity where I got to work with a fabulous group of graduate students. A number of them are current teachers working in a system that is very challenging to say the least. When they asked me for some additional resources, one of them I pointed them to was TED.com and specifically it reminded me to re-watch from of my favorite Ted videos by Sir Ken Robinson. i believe anyone who is in any way, shape, or form involved in education should watch this one at least once a year.

How we sabotage our own ideas? Seth Godin’s take!

Russ Schoen — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:08:54 +0000

In our training programs, we often refer to the lizard brain, the part of the brain that is responsible for our survival… which paradoxically stops us from pursuing really novel and useful ideas. In a great 18 min piece, Seth Godin illustrates this concept very well! Kudos seth.

Jan 28th, 29th, upcoming public program

Russ Schoen — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 19:17:29 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving! I am thrilled to announce that I will be teaching a 2 day introduction course to Creative Problem Solving at Northwestern University through their continuing studies department on January 28th & 29th, 2010. Know anyone who might be interested? Click here and/or Pass on the link! http://bit.ly/1PUhjQ

The Real Truth About Creating a Culture of Innovation

Russ Schoen — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:40:30 +0000

I am excited to announce that I will be moderating a free webinar on September 9th, 2009 with New and Improved, LLC called The Real Truth About Creating a Climate for Innovation. Won’t you join me as we learn:

What are the top mistakes people commonly make when they try to create more innovative organizations?

What specifically do successful leaders of innovation do?

How can you spark more innovation in your people immediately?

Successful organizations must find ways to sustain innovation over the long haul. Wise leaders see innovation not just as a new product or service, but as a way of working to find opportunities in every job in their organization

New & Improved is offering a rare opportunity to dig into the abilities necessary to bring more innovation to your enterprise by sharing insights that have emerged from over 15 years of creating sustainable innovation cultures for our clients.

This webinar will be recorded and the audio will be made available after the call to all registrants to listen at their leisure. So if for some reason you can not make the call live, you can still learn! Look forward to seeing you at the webinar.

Rethinking Urban Poverty – A true example of innovative thinking

Russ Schoen — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 19:00:29 +0000

If you haven’t seen this video called the Philadelphia Field Project, worth a 7 minute watch. Notice how the professor challenged his students to think about poverty in a totally new way by asking new questions. Great stuff. Click here … Continue reading →