Friday, January 14, 2022

Avoid Worry. Wonder. Wander

 


John Lennon said he wrote the song, "Because" by playing Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" backwards.

Kevin Popovic, founder of ZIP Idea Lab, part of the Zahn Innovation Platform at San Diego State University says, “From the individual standpoint, there’s a sense of empowerment that comes from creativity. It’s a self-fulfilling positive feedback loop because the more practice we get being creative, the more confidence we have.” San Diego State University requires students to develop a “problem statement” - How might we?

Team exercises at the Foster school of Business involve role-playing where leaders ask the team to find 10 new uses for a product.  “No idea is a bad idea” is the mantra.

Questions to ignite team creativity ask students to discover ways to attach/combine other objects to an item to give it a new use. How does the shape of the item resemble other common shapes? The exercise encourages team members to free their minds so they might run into an amazement.

The University of Nevada Innevation Center, intentionally spells innevation to take the “no” out of innovation.



The interdisciplinary approach at the University of Oregon melds different backgrounds. At the College of Design, students learn about materials, the manufacturing process, design influences, and entrepreneurship. They discover how creativity is enhanced by acquiring interdisciplinary knowledge, making connections that are not obvious, and by applying these strategies to navigate around constraints. 

Professor Kiersten Muenchinger in product design says, “If the round hole is bigger, the square peg might fit. We want to develop people who are inspired by constraints.”



Consider a creative strategy for today.

What could you do in reverse to develop a novelty or new product?

Invert an approach to study new ways of doing things.

Is there an idea to turn upside-down or inside-out to awaken a new perspective?

Ask how nature might solve it?

Approach the day in myriad ways.

Playfulness and humor become the starting points to launch creativity.

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