Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something somehow new and somehow valuable is formed. The created item may be intangible or a physical object.
IDEO is a design and consulting firm with offices in the U.S., England, Germany, Japan, and China. It was founded in Palo Alto, California, in 1991. The company uses the design thinking approach to design products, services, environments, and digital experiences.
Critical thinking is the analysis of facts to form a judgment. The subject is complex, and several different definitions exist, which generally include the rational, skeptical, unbiased analysis, or evaluation of factual evidence. Critical thinking is self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking. It presupposes assent to rigorous standards of excellence and mindful command of their use. It entails effective communication and problem-solving abilities as well as a commitment to overcome native egocentrism and sociocentrism.
Lateral thinking is a manner of solving problems using an indirect and creative approach via reasoning that is not immediately obvious. It involves ideas that may not be obtainable using only traditional step-by-step logic. Considered pseudo-science by some, the term was first used in 1967 by Edward de Bono in his book The Use of Lateral Thinking. De Bono cites the Judgment of Solomon as an example of lateral thinking, where King Solomon resolves a dispute over the parentage of a child by calling for the child to be cut in half, and making his judgment according to the reactions that this order receives. Edward de Bono also links lateral thinking with humour, arguing there's a switch-over from a familiar pattern to a new, unexpected one. It is this moment of surprise, generating laughter and new insight, which facilitates the ability to see a different thought pattern which initially was not obvious. According to de Bono, lateral thinking deliberately distances itself from the standard perception of creativity as "vertical" logic, the classic method for problem solving.
Creativity techniques are methods that encourage creative actions, whether in the arts or sciences. They focus on a variety of aspects of creativity, including techniques for idea generation and divergent thinking, methods of re-framing problems, changes in the affective environment and so on. They can be used as part of problem solving, artistic expression, or therapy.
Knowledge workers are workers whose main capital is knowledge. Examples include programmers, physicians, pharmacists, architects, engineers, scientists, design thinkers, public accountants, lawyers, and academics, whose job is to "think for a living".
The creative class is the posit of American economist and social scientist Richard Florida for an ostensible socioeconomic class. Martin, a professor and head of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, maintains the creative class is a key driving force for economic development of post-industrial cities in the United States.
Alex Faickney Osborn was an American advertising executive and the author of the creativity technique named brainstorming.
Sidney J. Parnes was an American academic who was professor at Buffalo State College and the co-founder of the International Center for Studies in Creativity. The Center is housed within Buffalo State College, one of the only places in the world that offers a Masters of Science degree in Creativity. The department also now offers a distance learning version of the degree to students around the world as well as an undergraduate minor in Creative Studies.
Design thinking refers to the cognitive, strategic and practical processes by which design concepts are developed. Many of the key concepts and aspects of design thinking have been identified through studies, across different design domains, of design cognition and design activity in both laboratory and natural contexts.
The Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI) is a system to measure and describe thinking preferences in people, developed by William "Ned" Herrmann while leading management education at General Electric's Crotonville facility. It is a type of cognitive style measurement and model, and is often compared to psychological assessments such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Learning Orientation Questionnaire, DISC assessment, and others.
Nick Bontis is a Canadian academic, management consultant, professional keynote speaker, sports management executive and author. His research focuses on intellectual capital, knowledge management and organizational learning. Bontis is Associate Professor of Strategic Management and Chair of Strategic Management at the DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He is also the Director of the Institute for Intellectual Capital Research a management consulting firm and research think-tank that specializes in conducting human capital diagnostic assessments for corporate and government clients. He is also Associate Editor of the Journal of Intellectual Capital and Chief Knowledge Officer of Knexa Solutions - the world's first knowledge exchange auction.
Roger Martin is the former Dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto from 1998 to 2013 and an author of several business books. Martin has expanded several important business concepts in use today, including integrative thinking. He has been recognized by several business publications as one of the field's most important thinkers.
The creative city is a concept developed by Australian David Yencken in 1988 and has since become a global movement reflecting a new planning paradigm for cities. It was first described in his article 'The Creative City', published in the literary journal Meanjin. In this article Yencken argues that while cities must be efficient and fair, a creative city must also be one that is committed to fostering creativity among its citizens and to providing emotionally satisfying places and experiences for them.
The Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford, commonly known as the d.school, is a design thinking institute based at Stanford University.
The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage is a 2009 book by Roger Martin, Dean of the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. In the book, Martin describes the concept of design thinking, and how companies can incorporate it into their organizational structure for long term innovation and results.
Founded in 1954, CEF is a non profit US-American membership organization based in Buffalo.
Marino (Min) Sidney Basadur is a teacher and researcher best known for his work in applied creativity and as the developer of the patented Simplexity Thinking System for improving workplace creativity. He is President of Basadur Applied Creativity and Professor Emeritus of Organizational Behavior and Innovation at McMaster University’s Michael G. DeGroote School of Business.
John Edward Arnold was an American professor of mechanical engineering and professor of business administration at Stanford University. He was a pioneer in scientifically defining and advancing inventiveness, based on the psychology of creative thinking and imagination.
Creative education is when students are able to use imagination and critical thinking to create new and meaningful forms of ideas where they can take risks, be independent and flexible. Instead of being taught to reiterate what was learned, students learn to develop their ability to find various solutions to a problem. Coming up with various out-of-the box solutions is known as divergent thinking and there is no one way of cultivating this skill - largely due to the newness of the concept and the limited scientific information on creativity.
