THE Creative Leadership Academy

Last week we brought you our favorite picks produced by our CLA Provocateurs during 2011. This week, let’s open it up a little and look to the wider web. 2011 was a great year for creative inspiration and innovation, so read on for our favorites.

Any round up of articles that inspired the CLA would be incomplete without a reference to the “IBM 2010 Global CEO Study” wherein “Creativity”  was selected as the most crucial factor for success

It’s from 2010, but this study of 1,500 Chief Executive Officers from 60 countries and 33 industries worldwide, where chief executives identified creativity as a more important trait than rigor, management discipline, integrity or even vision for successfully navigating an increasing complex world has kept us inspired for all of 2011.

Moving on through the year we saw enormous amounts of writing on creativity. Here are our 10 favorites from the beginning of 2011 to the present day:

1. Design Thinking Is A Failed Experiment. So What’s Next? April 2011

2. Can Creativity Be Taught? May 2011

3. Find Your Creative Groove July 2011

4. Ken Robinson On The Principles Of Creative Leadership July 2011

5. How to Thrive in a World of Elusive Creativity, August 2011

6. How to Think Creatively November 2011

7. 8 Secrets To Creative Thinking (Hint: Steal From Others) November 2011

8. Don’t Let What You Know Limit What You Imagine November 2011

9. Leaders need to tap into creative thinkers November 2011

10. Early Prototypes Can Hurt a Team’s Creativity December 2011

What were your favorite inspirations from 2011? Anything you would add to this list?

As 2011 wraps up, we’re quickly closing in on The Creative Leadership Academy. As a year-end exercise, we’ve collected our top provocative thoughts to stimulate your brain well into the new year. The January 2012 Creative Leadership Academy will feature some provocative, prolific thinkers and, in no particular order, these are our favorite pieces that came from them in 2011.

1. “Inspiration is the most effective way to unleash innovation in yourself and your organization. ” — Andy Stefanovich. In this podcast with Andy Stefanovich he discusses some great tips for finding inspiration and bringing more innovative thinking to your life.

2. In this piece, “Daniel H Pink: employees are faster and more creative when solving other people’s problems,” Pink discusses an interesting phenomenon: the fact that sometimes those outside of a problem are able to find a better, more innovative solution than those closest to it.

3. In this quick video, “The Purpose of Constraint,” with Chris Waugh of IDEO, Waugh discusses the ways that constraints can give you a good starting point for problem solving.

4. In another podcast, Andy Stefanovich discusses Innovation, Growth and Change and how to bring inspiration to life in an organization so it doesn’t get buried under more menial tasks or bureaucracy

5. In this speech on “Exploring the Science of Creativity,” Jonah Lehrer discusses the science of creativity and the forces that can help us find that “aha” moment, skip to 8:40 for Jonah’s section.

6. In this video from The Economist’s The Idea Exchance series, David Kuehler of P&G’s Clay Street Project gives a great three minute talk on innovation and creativity where he discusses the ways a team can keep “going vertical: flowing from moment to moment to moment” in problem solving.

7. This Mashable feature, “HOW TO: Develop Ideas That Will Disrupt Your Industry” published back on February 17, 2011 by CLA Provocateur Luke Williams focuses on disruptive thinking and the ways that something as simple as mismatched socks can change an industry.

8. In perhaps our most recent post on this list, Laura Seargeant Richardson discusses “The Kaleidoscope Mind: Some Easy Ways to Teach Creativity” in The Atlantic 

9. In “Every Child Is A Scientist,” a piece in Wired by Jonah Lehrer, he discusses a study that explores the power of uncertainty and looks for strategies to “keeps us playing with the world, eager to figure out how it works.”

10. This piece from back in April 2011 by Dan Pink “Why we all need a ‘To Don’t’ List, just like Moses” still holds true. Will you use a to-don’t list to cut through the clutter and focus in on what you need to accomplish in 2012?

Today on the LinkedIn Blog, the popular professional networking site has indexed the top used words on their 135 million profiles for 2011. Unsurprisingly, “Creative” tops the list.

The blog post positions this as a failure of its members to choose more unique terms, but it is interesting that creative didn’t even appear on last year’s list. Clearly employees worldwide are recognizing creativity as a desirable professional skill, one that employers are searching for this year. (One more reason to join us at The CLA in January 2012?)

“In a moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing to do. The worst thing you can do is nothing.” - Theodore Roosevelt

The Creative Leadership Academy proudly unveils its Incentive Program. The 3-day holistic experience begins the second you enroll.

Here’s what you get:

Enroll by 12/9: Bundled package of executive summaries from the industry’s best events: Front End of Innovation US & Europe, FUSE: Brand Identity & Package Design, Future Trends and The Market Research Event Benefit: Share this year’s design, innovation, and market research findings with your internal colleagues.

Enroll by 12/16: A hard copy of Andy Stefanovich’s book: Look At More. Plus enter our CLA lottery to win a personal meeting with Andy Stefanovich, Chief Provocateur, Prophet Benefit: Develop your company’s brand and marketing strategy with a private meeting with Andy. Access your ability to balance short-term business needs against longer-term growth goals.

Enroll by 12/23: Inspiration Kit with inspiration doses and new lessons to follow. Plus e-books from CLA’s Authored Provocateurs Benefit: Test your right-brain skills and prepare your mind to challenge what’s already there. Enroll by 1/6: Video content from the best Keynote talks at Front End of Innovation US & Europe, FUSE: Brand Identity & Package Design, Future Trends and The Market Research Event Benefit: Access our extensive database of Keynote presentations.

Enroll by 1/11: Post-Academy web seminar Benefit: Continue your personal and professional creative development and get a glimpse of the next Academy line-up.

Here’s how it works:

• Enroll by December 9th and receive offers 1+2+3+4+5

• Enroll by December 16th and receive offers from 2+3+4+5 •

Enroll by December 23rd and receive offers 3+4+5

• Enroll by January 6th and receive offers 4+5

• Enroll by January 11th and receive offer 5

Enroll early and get the most value out of your 2012 investment: http://bit.ly/rRk0De

Regards, Your CLA Team

* Tuition must be paid in full to participate in the incentive program.

Download the syllabus to learn more: http://bit.ly/t4XcLA

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http://linkd.in/vLzUKr

Few things in life are as elegant. Few things nurture the soul AND the bottom line. Few things can change people, industries, and the world. One of these is Creativity. I have devoted the last twenty five years to the topic and am thrilled to be curating The Creative Leadership Academy. In this role, I’ll be editing the excellence from around the world, and packaging it up in a few provocatively designed days. Bring your passion for the topic, as well as the panic that lives in all of us who want to create - both more, and better. Create yourself. Create your business. Create some real change.  

Andy Stefanovich, Prophet    

As Chief Curator and Provocateur at Prophet, Andy Stefanovich has earned a reputation as one of the most disruptive and effective advisors in business, Andy’s true passion lies in guiding clients through the powerful evolution from inspiration to creativity to innovation. He teaches practical skills, leadership behaviors, and specific processes for developing and implementing ideas at work.

The Creative Leadership Academy would like to offer anyone who registers a complimentary copy of Look at More, by Andy Stefanovich, Chief Curator and Provocateur of Prophet and Curator of our January event. This is no ordinary book about innovation. Rather, it’s a guided tour of the best ways to harness inspiration by thinking differently ─ and encouraging others to do the same. Andy shares insights into his given LAMSTAIH approach (Look At More Stuff, Think About It Harder) as well as his 5 Ms (Mood, Mindset, Mechanisms, Measurement, Momentum) providing detailed instructions, plus dozens of stories that illustrate what innovation looks like in action and how new ideas and offers are born.

Enrollment limited to 150. Sign up today to begin your journey.

• 1500 CEOs surveyed ranked creativity the #1 competency of future leadership.
• The average lifespan of Fortune 500 companies is dropping.
• CEO’s expect continued disruption.
• 60% of CEO’s say complexity is expected to rise and half doubt their ability to manage it.  

If you are a leader that needs to become creative as well a leader that wants to become MORE creative. 

In fact, if you need to refresh your creative spirit, flex your creative muscles or understand now how to BEGIN to unleash your creative, learn how to employ whole brain thinking… 

If you are charged with delivering breakthrough, expected to think differently…. If your performance is tied to innovating your band, product, service, company, marketing campaign, communication strategy, department, company, enterprise, industry… If your role involves motivating a team… 

If you are both personally and professionally curious and want to see the invisible… if you find yourself needing to challenge what’s already there, if you recognize that incremental is not and CANNOT be enough. 

If you ASPIRE to be more creative, but crave the inspiration, information, support and facilitation to make it happen. 

Then know this - Creativity can be taught. 

Enter the the Creative Leadership Academy.

CLA is unique in that it’s a curated holistic experience that delivers on an unmet professional need - to develop and advance the business leaders talents as a core competency. 

What CLA does do that sets it apart from the rest: 

•             CLA prepares your mind to allow your whole self to create

•             CLA is curated around a simple philosophy: to learn by hearing, believe by seeing and achieve by doing

•             CLA is limited to 150 participants and the tuition is a long term investment in your future

•             CLA is meant for leaders who want to be creative as well as those who want to be more creative

•             CLA encourages leaders of all vertical industries and disciplines such as brand strategy, marketing, innovation, R&D, design, strategy, product development, lines of business management and C-suite

The Creativity Leadership Academy fulfills a certain white space in the area of professional development.

CLA illustrates the value of creatively, inspires disruptive thinking and transforms the business leader into an architect of tangible creative. This is achieved through the unique combination of formats, exploration and hands on instruction which is unlike anything else in existence. 

Enrollment limited to 150 . Click here to enroll.

View Full Syllabus.

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Quickly, what one word can create a compound word with each of these three words:

dress

dial

flower

(Last week’s answer: Party)

View all our Compound Remote Association Problems here and stretch your creative muscles this week.