Creativity, Leadership and
Creative Climate Programs

These programs offer participants a rich experience in learning how to think and act more creatively. Programs are targeted at skill development and designed around the
Applied Creativity and Creative Problem Solving Skills Models.

*If you have never practised Applied Creativity Courses and/or Creative Problem Solving before, we suggest that you choose Applied Creativity Program.

Applied Creativity

Facilitators:
Anna Packham, Tim Dunne and Paolo Sbuttoni

Language: Program available in English.
Ce programme est disponible aussi en Français (see French page)

Learn the fundamentals of Creative Problem Solving (CPS) to Unleash Your Creative Thinking.
Are you curious as to how to use your innate creative capabilities and how to unleash your creative thinking in solving problems? Then this program is for you!
In this program, you will have an opportunity to explore and enhance your own creativity, to gain a deeper awareness of your own preferred style of expressing creativity using the FourSight self-assessment, and to explore how to leverage this knowledge to work more effectively with others. You will learn the fundamentals of Creative Problem Solving (CPS) and the dynamic balance of divergent and convergent thinking that supports it. You will have opportunities to learn and practice fundamental tools and techniques that can be applied to find creative ideas and develop innovative solutions to real challenges.

Program objectives – You will:

  • Assess your individual thinking style preferences for working with the creative process.
    Understand the Creative Problem Solving process (CPS) and how it can be used to overcome creative challenges.
  • Experience the dynamic balance of divergent and convergent thinking and how to use it to produce creative results.
  • Identify personal characteristics, behaviors and attitudes that can promote and inhibit creativity.

And… Do you want to extend your learning and enhance your facilitation practice of Creative Thinking Tools? Take a look at our CPS Lab offered Thursday and Friday afternoon!

The Art of Facilitation

Facilitators: Maggie Dugan and Doug Reid

Requisite: Knowledge of Creative Problem Solving is required to participate in this program.

Skillful facilitation is now being recognized as a core competency for creating dynamic group settings where people are able to collaborate and make high-quality decisions. By definition, a facilitator is one who contributes structure and process to interactions so that groups are able to function effectively, explore important issues and achieve their collective goals. This generally leads to higher levels of buy-in, active participation and empowerment to take responsibility for action.
This program will focus on understanding and developing best practices for effective facilitation of the creative process, from appraising client’s objectives, to managing the physical and psychological environment, handling difficult situations and promoting functional behaviors for the accomplishment of the groups’ goals. Participants will have an opportunity to practice and receive feedback through a variety of simulations and exercise, using the Creative Problem Solving process and applying a variety of techniques that will bring their facilitation experience from good to great.

Participants will:

  • Assess their strengths and weaknesses related to group facilitation with a specific focus on group management, process management and communication skills;
  • Demonstrate, through the use of a variety of simulations and exercises, the ability to effectively navigate the CPS process in a group facilitation;
  • Identify and experience best practices that foster individual’s abilities to facilitate a group, boosting collaboration and handling curves;
  • Pinpoint specific facilitation skills that are in need of improvement and create a personal plan for the development of these identified skill areas.

Creative Thinking Tools for the 21st Century

Facilitators:
Patrizia Sorgiovanni + Patrick Duhoux + Laura Barbero Switalski + Dorte  Nielsen+ guest facilitators

Language: Program available in English. Ce programme est disponible aussi en Français (see French page)

In this program you will experience a broad range of thinking tools, including cognitive, affective, intuitive, and embodiment approaches that can produce often astonishing creative results. You will learn and apply tools drawn from the newest approaches in Creativity, Creative Problem Solving, Design Thinking, Theory U, Biomimicry, Agile, Change Management and other methodologies.

Hosted by two skilled facilitators who will lead you throughout your journey, this program features an all-star cast of CREA guest facilitators, who will give you an intimate look at the most productive tools in their creativity kits and show you how you can apply them to complex, real-world challenges on the job, in your community, and in your family.

Program objectives – You will:

  • Develop confidence in applying a variety of tools when using virtually any problem-solving model.
  • Enhance your creative thinking and facilitation skills by learning a diverse set of tools from many different approaches.
  • Apply and modify thinking tools to open up creative possibilities at work and at home.

And… Do you want to extend your learning and enhance your facilitation practice of Creative Thinking Tools? Take a look at our CPS Lab offered Thursday and Friday afternoon!

Leading with a Creative Mindset

Facilitators:
Tim Switalski and Branko Broekman

Requisite: Knowledge of Creative Problem Solving is required to participate in this program.

Language: English

For most of us, the biggest change in the past few years has been in the way we work. The way we organize and conduct meetings has become more diverse. The way we look at safety and well-being has shifted significantly. For many individuals, their focus has been more toward their personal lives than on their work and career. Leaders in many organizations have done their best to keep the doors open and the lights on but some of the biggest challenges they face are not necessarily about product lines and supply chains. They are about the interdependent relationships that make everything work.
Today’s leaders would benefit significantly by practicing the necessary skills to move their people forward, especially in uncertain times. These include: engaging in healthy conversations, clarifying the organization’s ambition, encouraging creative action, aligning resources, practicing emotional intelligence, and creating an organization that values creative thinking, collaboration and collective responsibility. During this program, participants will have an opportunity to assess their own abilities, to practice these skills and to create a developmental plan to strengthen them where needed.
Program Objectives – You will:
  • Identify the leadership behaviors that are critical for the creation of a truly creative organization
  • Assess areas of strength as well as areas for development related to your individual leadership competencies and create a development plan for deepening these skills
  • Learn and apply a variety of creativity skills related to managing people, managing process and managing the work environment to affect positive organizational change.

Creating the 21st Century Organization

Facilitators:
Ismet Mamnoon and Valérie Reynaud

Language: English

The emerging challenge for 21st century organizations is to continue to find ways to contribute to the individual and collective fulfillment of all its stakeholders while operating in our VUCA (Volatile – Uncertain – Complex – Ambiguous) world.

The most desirable and resilient 21st century organizations are those that will be able to demonstrate a real capacity to evolve organically by continually adapting to changing circumstances. We believe that an ideal organization emerges when we create a work environment that nurtures self-confidence, fosters imagination, and engages key 21st century work skills such as creativity, collaboration and intrapreneurship.

By imagining the organization as a living ecosystem, we will consider the principles of Permaculture as a framework to guide our exploration of new models for a work environment.

We will play with tools borrowed from creative methods: CPS, Design Thinking, Appreciative Inquiry, and Gaming. Our intention is to offer an interactive, creative and collaborative experience as we imagine together the elements of a model work environment that you might test and refine in your own organizations.

Program Objectives -You will:

  • Explore and define the characteristics of a sustainable and creative work environment.
  • Imagine and prototype new models for a work environment.
  • Formulate and structure a frame of powerful and necessary questions to create creative and sustainable environments whatever the context of your own organization.

Leadership et posture créative
dans un monde en transformation

Facilitators:
Guillemette Goglio et Yves Chambert-Loir

Requisite: Knowledge of Creative Problem Solving is required to participate in this program.

Language: Français

Un programme axé sur les compétences clés du leadership d’aujourd’hui et de demain. Dans un monde où les nouveaux défis se cumulent et se complexifient (travail hybride, demande d’agilité, monde volatile, incertain, complexe et ambigu, défi climatique, bien-être au travail, …), il est plus que jamais nécessaire de moduler son style de leadership pour garder la confiance et la motivation des équipes et favoriser la créativité et l’innovation en milieu de travail. Au-delà des outils, nos compétences comportementales, notre posture, notre voix, notre attitude, notre intelligence émotionnelle sont des ressources à cultiver pour nous aligner avec nous même, notre équipe et notre organisation. S’ajoutent à cela la créativité et la pensée créatrice, des compétences essentielles en leadership et indispensables pour renforcer nos facultés d’adaptation dans les changements permanents. Grace à ce programme très interactif, les participants vont découvrir les comportements les plus à même de développer les relations avec et entre leurs équipes et comment créer une organisation qui valorise la pensée créative, la collaboration et la responsabilité collective.
Objectifs du programme – Vous pourrez :
  • Identifier votre propre posture de leader et tester différentes postures possibles
  • Distinguer et explorer les attitudes et comportements de leadership qui favorisent véritablement la créativité
  • Créer un plan de développement pour consolider vos habiletés et vos compétences en matière de leadership

Coaching @CREA

Facilitators:
Guillemette Goglio et Yves Chambert-Loir

Requisite: Knowledge of Creative Problem Solving is required to participate in this program.

Language: Français

Boost your training effect with post-CREA coaching

New knowledge and new skills need to be deep-rooted during the first few months after the training.

When you return from Crea, you will feel the need to be coached for your first steps. Nothing to be ashamed of: several academic studies have shown that the effectiveness of a learning process is multiplied when it is coupled with coaching for its first applications.

Adding coaching to the CREA training is what we recommend. Our goal: to reinforce and develop your new skills in practice through personalized support that maximizes your acquisition of know-how and allows you to adapt it to your context.

At CREA, the coaching program is specific for three reasons:

  • It involves a topnotch coach who has both creative and professional skills,
  • It aims to help you anchor your new skills by applying it to concrete projects of yours
  • It is designed for individuals (employees, teachers, freelancers) as well as groups (teams of up to six people).

Based on 4 remote sessions (Zoom or telephone) scheduled in the weeks following CREA, you determine the frequency and duration of the coaching, depending on your needs and the evolution of the projects on which you apply your new creative thinking skills.