I got an email just the other day from Emma Taylor.  I have no idea who she is, but she found my blog and sent me a nice note requesting that I mention an article —

25 Talks to Ignite & Unleash Your Creativity.

I have no idea who wrote/composed the list, but it’s a darn good list of creativity talks.

The article launches from the Accredited Online Colleges website (Kaplan, DeVry, et al).  The list is a bit heavy handedly arts-centric if I can be a bit critical. The idea that creativity springs solely from the arts is a myth, and a pervasive one. Yes, it does spring from the arts, AND, lots of other things.  The list includes some nice talks I hadn’t seen in the design arena.  Also nice links to talks that bridge the gap between the arts,  technology, and business.

Not much in the problem solving category, or innovation process, but, still, overall, a darn good list.

Most of the TED classics related to creativity are on the list, including Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED talk, Amy Tan’s TED talk, and Tim Brown’s TED talk.  These are seminal talks (although I think Gilbert’s talk perpetuates some misconceptions about creativity.)  Tan’s talk is interesting because it’s her — and you know she’s written all these wonderful books.  Love Tim Brown’s talk, he talks about the relationship of Play to creativity. If I had to point to one to watch, that would be it.

Interesting that Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk isn’t on this list.  Most folks think of that as The creativity talk of the last 10 years. It’s about how schools kill creativity.  I find it inspiring and “unleashing” myself.

Also interesting that mine isn’t listed, but who knows, maybe they’ll include me the next time around (Hint, Hint).  Unleashing creativity is great, and, you need to take that inspiration and find ways to integrate creative behaviors into your life — if you wish to make creativity meaningful and effective.  That’s what my talk is all about  (if you want to hear my talk on Creative Effectiveness, see my TEDx NASA video).