Gregg Fraley

I found a compelling book while running to catch the train. Picked up 59 Seconds, think a little Change a lot on the run and have devoured it in just a couple days. The author is a British professor, Richard Wiseman. In the spirt of the book, this will be a 59 second analysis. What this book is all about is untangling the myths around self-help. As a self-helper in my own right I found his research to be thorough, and his insights to be significant. Actually there a goodly number of eye opening insights in 59 Seconds, and delivered in highly digestible, non-academic, bite-size bits. Further, Wiseman provides actions steps that can be done in less than a minute,

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I read with interest a recent article in the New  York Times about the resurgence of interest in hallucinogens. As a child of the 60’s and 70’s it was one of the most common creative myths of all back then — that to be truly creative you had to do drugs. In my social circle of the time, mostly budding artists or film makers, nearly everyone experimented. The myth started even before the 60’s though.  Musicians like Louie Armstrong were doing songs about marijuana as early as the 1920’s.  “Muggles” was recorded by Louie back in 1928 (It’s on iTunes and well worth a listen). Fats Waller recorded “The Reefer Song.” The myth of the link between drugs and creativity

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The illustrious Post-it note is turning 30 this month. You’ve got to hand it to 3M, what an amazing and long-lived innovative product. I celebrate their success! Post-it notes have a special place in the hearts of innovation facilitators. Offloading the on-going charting of ideas that are coming out fast and furious in brainstorm sessions frees facilitators do do other stimulating things.  I remember standing at a flip chart and trying to keep up with a dynamic group and it is very challenging.  Post-it notes allow for a freer flow of ideation, not bottle-necked through a slow-writing facilitator.  Post-it note Brainstorming was, and is, a huge improvement over facilitator-writing-on-flip-chart Brainstorming. It’s time to turn a new page however, creative facilitators

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I posted recently on creativity conferences, (Creativity Conferences, Valuable or Boondoggle?) and somewhat controversially. I appreciate the feedback I’ve gotten, and thank everyone for their thoughts both online and offline. My basic critique is that most creativity conferences, including CPSI, are more about personal development than professional results. CPSI is the annual Creative Problem Solving Institute, it’s the longest running creativity conference in the world. This post is part of a blog tour/party leading up to the CPSI conference (June 21-25 in Buffalo, NY). At the bottom of this post visit the other very interesting and cool bloggers who will share insight on how to make CPSI effective.  And read Jon Vehar’s blog as well, for the smart ass point

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I’m missing the CREA conference this week, literally and figuratively. What I miss is the “creativity community”  — that wacky group of people interested in the subject.  Some of the most interesting people on the planet are in Italy, right now. Raise a glass and have a dance for me, and more importantly — learn something you can really use. I made a decision not to offer a session this year. I’ve gone back and forth on this and thought it might be of value to share my thinking about the “why” or “why not” of creativity conferences. I’ve written about CREA, and positively, in this blog before (see my old post here). I stand by my words of the

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The creativity and innovation field is a rather smallish group of people. It feels like a community, I know most of my competitors, and, I wish them all the success in the world. There are a few folks that have achieved nearly cult status within our community because of their unique achievements.  George Prince was surely one of them.  George was the co-inventor/enhancer of Synectics.  Synectics is one of the few comprehensive models for problem solving used in corporate innovation. Kimberly-Clarke was one of early, successful, users of the method. If you don’t know it, I highly suggest that you read Prince’s “Synectics-The Practice of Creativity” (or his partners/co-developer’s book, “Synectics,” by William JJ Gordon, which Prince contributed to).  It’s

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Briefly noted, a comment on the un-creativity on display related to the London Tube Strike. How uncreative can you get? I blame both the government AND the union. There was ample time to work this out. To quote Marlon Brando in the Godfather “how did it ever get this far?” Just like in the Mafia, sometimes people want a war. I can only assume that both sides did actually get what they wanted, a strike.  I’m sure both sides would disagree. Who pays? The British people in hardship and lost opportunity. In creative problem solving one thing must be in place before you begin: actually wanting to solve the problem. This is not the case here, both sides have something

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I am a huge fan of TED. I’ve never been in person but have watched countless inspirational video’s.  TED is amazing, and, TED is a puppy, a youngster, compared to CPSI.  CPSI is the Creative Problem Solving Institute and it’s the longest running creativity conference in the world, 55 years. If you think you know creativity, think again, and get your…self…to CPSI. It’s coming up in June (21st – 24th in Boston) so still time to register and attend. They have featured keynote speakers like Dean Kamen (inventor) and Sarah Miller Caldicott (author and grand daughter of Thomas Edison),  but the real power of CPSI is in the cross-pollination that occurs between participants and leaders. It’s hard to say if

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I don’t watch The Apprentice often, although I will be from now on. (UK version) I watched last night and was astounded by the bad business practices that are rewarded — and the good ones that are not.  It’s a study in bad innovation practice watching these young candidates struggle. So much so that another show could be produced simply to show how it ought to be done! I’ve got an idea for you Sir Alan! The basic premise of the show seems to be about survival.  It makes for good entertainment, but I think Corporate Darwinism does not make for good innovation in the real world. I could write 5000 words on this, and maybe I will later, but

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Creative inspiration is everywhere you look. When I see something interesting I make an effort to connect it — use it — to help me with some challenge I’m processing. These five dresses were hung up at an open market in High Wycombe. I found them intriguing because of the color, and the diversity of looks (polka dots!), and it was a bit of a nice surprise to turn the corner and see them. The technique is called Forced Association and it forms the basis for many creative thinking tools. It’s not always easy — because you are creating a brand new connection in your mind — nothing may come to you immediately.  If you can’t seem to make a

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