Knowinnovation is typically brought in to help with collective creative projects, getting groups of scientists or academics or field workers to collaborate. But we know that when people leave our workshops, the creativity doesn’t stop. In fact, it has to kick into a higher gear to finish the work that was started, motivated by the individual rather than the group dynamic.

We’ve described what kind of workshop environment helps a group work more creatively and productively in a workshop scenario, but after that, when you return from an event, what do you go back to? Is it the kind of space that optimizes your thinking and your creative output? Keep reading »

In those first moments of a workshop, when you have to turn to someone beside you and start up a conversation, it can be uncomfortable. Whether you’re given a topic to discuss as part of an introductory exercise, or just making polite conversation to introduce yourself before the meeting even starts, it can feel awkward. Especially if it’s quiet. Who wants to be the first person to start up a conversation in a silent room? It feels like everyone can hear you; it’s hard not to be self-conscious.

It’s actually much easier to do if there’s a light soundtrack in the background. Not too loud, not too invasive or too upbeat, but a sort of cocktail party medley. Music fills the empty spaces and warms up the room. Music give you a little cover, yours isn’t that conversation sticking out like a sore thumb. It lessens the degree of self-consciousness and actually aids the level of conversation – if, of course, the music is playing at the right decibel level. Keep reading »

It was amazing to see how creativity came to the fore as a major theme at the Olympic Games in London last summer. Many of us were glued to the television every evening, watching the sporting events and cheering on the athletes who competed, but you can’t reflect on this year’s Olympic festivities without appreciating the special celebratory events. Critics hailed the opening and closing ceremonies as a demonstration of creativity at its best.

A lot of this is about enabling risk: who would have thought Danny Boyle would take the risk to ask the Queen to take part in a James Bond spoof? Who would have thought the Queen would accept? The ceremonies that bookended the Olympics were filled with ambitious ideas. The number of moving components and people involved was staggering. It was no small undertaking, and a lot of risks paid off. Keep reading »

They filed into the room cautiously, surveying the plastic on the floors and the tables stocked with rainbow-colored rows of acrylic paint tubes, palettes, brushes, and huge blank canvasses. Several people looked back toward the door, longingly, wondering if there was a way that they could escape before the activity started. But a little group dynamic was working in our favor, making it just as embarrassing to leave as it might be to stay.

The participants, a collection of scientists from diverse disciplines and universities, had come together for a Sandpit (a.k.a Ideas Lab) and expected to hear from a few experts, talk with their informed peers, and look for literature on-line to support or condemn ideas that might emerge. They didn’t expect to be holding paint brushes or palette knives and to be thinking about how to mix colors and which brush to use. Some were curious, excited about the prospect. Others were groaning, if not audibly, at least with their facial expressions. Keep reading »

You walk into the conference room to find a long string of tables, laid out in a U-shaped formation. Or maybe there are rows of narrow tables, at each chair, a place-setting of paper and a hotel pen, a small doily rests under each designated water glass. The fluorescent overhead lights buzz, the dark, dirt-hiding carpet ties the room together in a blandly professional way.

It’s going to be one of those meetings, you think, already dreading the next few hours or days that you’ll be sequestered in this room, suffering death by talking head or Powerpoint – or both. Keep reading »

Science is a subject available to both genders and yet women, if not directly discouraged, haven’t been encouraged to pursue it as a field of study. Girls are steered toward languages and the liberal arts, implying that maths and sciences are better left to the boys. It’s a stereotype that’s been torn down, and yet the gender imbalance is still apparent in the field of scientific research and academics.

We see it in the make-up of the participant rosters for the Sandpits we run. These events host between 18 and 35 people, depending on the type of question and the funding available. Usually the number of female participants – women who’ve applied to and have been accepted – hovers around 25% of the group. When the question has easily evident social-science impact like the future of the digital economy, the number is higher. But in a typical Sandpit, the ratio of men to women is 3:1. It’s even been as low as 4:1.

Keep reading »

What would the world be like with “frictionless” creativity? What if we could easily engage with practically anyone, anywhere, at almost no transactional cost? How would that impact our capacity to connect with and catalyze our creative colleagues all over the world?

Without geographical constraints you could access talent from anyplace around the globe, while staying put in exactly the place where you choose to be. The economic costs of an office could be eliminated, or at least the expenses of meetings and business travel could be minimized. The environment would thank you for reducing your carbon footprint. Yes, you’d have to account for the cost of people’s time, but that could be classified as an investment with a potentially high return, especially if innovation can thrive, despite – or as a result of – the diverse perspectives of a virtual team. Keep reading »

Though an early skeptic about Twitter, I gradually joined the revolution. First I connected with a few social-tech-savvy friends, then added some colleagues and acquaintances. Eventually, a random tweet would grab my attention and I’d decide to follow its author. Soon I was reading the microblogs of dozens of strangers.

Twitter has a way of polarizing. It’s either a distracting waste of time or a modern method of exchanging information. It all depends on how you use it. One friend of mine never tweets and follows only news sources, journalists and recognized thought leaders. Twitter is how he aggregates his daily news into one constant feed. Keep reading »

A recent Newsweek article sparked an age-old debate between two camps in the innovation field: those for and against brainstorming. The term dates back to 1930s, when Alex Osborn first employed organized ideation in the advertising agency he headed. In his book, Applied Imagination, published in 1953, Osborn defined brainstorming as “a creative conference for producing a list of ideas – ideas which can be subsequently evaluated and further processed.”

Five years later, in 1958, Yale University conducted a study to test brainstorming and concluded that brainstorming individually was more effective than brainstorming in a group, but it was widely misinterpreted as “brainstorming didn’t work.” The Yale study created a debate that has percolated for fifty years. Does brainstorming work or not? Does a group generate more and better ideas than the same people would if they were working individually? Keep reading »

The big round tables are stocked with pads of paper and pens, Post-it notes and Sharpies. The agenda is printed, after the last finishing touches to the intended choreography of the event. Flip-chart stands are positioned around the room. The projector has been tested, our slide pack is ready to go. But it isn’t time to start a Knowinnovation meeting until the toys are out on the table.

The playful gizmos and gadgets we bring along help make the conference room look less sterile and corporate, but the toys are not just for show. If you’re a tactile person, being able to pick up a squeezy rubber ball, or twist the beads of a wooden wand, fumble with a Rubik’s cube or stack tiny colored magnets into small mountains can actually aide the fluidity of your thinking. While your hands are fidgeting, new things can pop into your mind. Keep reading »