OVERVIEW

Most managers at American Express have known -- at one time or another -- the frustration of operating a computer, a software package or some piece of equipment for which they haven't had the manual.

Nature has provided us with a biologic computer: the brain. And one of the most important pieces of "software" that comes with it is the creative process.

The problem is, we got the software, but we didn't get the "manual." That is unfortunate, because this particular piece of "software" only works effectively if you follow a particular protocol.

By and large, our early schooling does not give us instruction in how to use the creative process. Consequently, we make wrong assumptions about how it functions. In business, especially, this leads to policies and procedures which inhibit creative thinking in ourselves and in others.

This 90-minute creativity seminar is about building an operating manual for the creative mind so that managers at American Express can use this extraordinary "software" to their advantage.

Here are topics and activities that would be covered during the 90-minute period:

  1. "What is creativity?" - definitions
  2. Incorrect assumptions that people make about the creative process
  3. The benefits of using the creative process within a business environment
  4. Linear vs. lateral thinking
  5. Building the manual -- A step-by-step outline of the creative process
  6. Creating the proper mental and emotional environment to encourage creative activity
  7. Techniques for generating ideasGROUP PROCESS: several exercises that demonstrate lateral thinking
  8. How we typically interfere with the creative process
  9. Ways to break through creative blocks. Several INDIVIDUAL PROCESSES

SMALL GROUP EXERCISE: Each group solves a short hypothetical problem relating to American Express using the steps of the creative process (I'd need to get information from AmEx to build this.)

In addition, participants will leave with two handouts.

  1. An Outline of the Creative Process -- a step-by-step description of how the process works
  2. The Creative Personality: A Personal Inventory -- a questionnaire that allows each participant to rate himself according to 27 different criteria relating to attitude, perception, organization and diligence-- all factors that bear on one's creative abilities. The questionnaire will help the participant become aware of any problem areas that may be inhibiting his creative capabilities.

The instructor's style is designed to maximize audience participation throughout.