15 Foundations for Facilitating Creativity at Work - Michelle James

For the past several years, I've offered an annual Creative IStock_000005391301Medium Facilitation Program based on universal principles of creativity; education, research and application of creative process; and, most significantly, lessons learned and insights gleaned from the trial and error of facilitating creative process with hundreds of individuals and organizations over the past 12 years. (An ongoing exploration, with each iteration I refine the program). It requires a different focus, skill set, way of being and "container creation" than facilitating analytical processes. Below are some of the many principles and practices I've learned or discovered. Take what resonates and leave the rest :-)

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All Memory Loss Is Due to Brain Abnormalities - Rachel Howell Stockton, FoodConsumer.org

A new study claims that mild to moderate memory loss, or mental decline, in adulthood can be attributed to abnormal brain lesions associated with Alzheimer’s. In other words, a decrease in mental acuity may not be a result of mere aging. The research was led by Robert S. Wilson, senior neuropsychologist at the Rush Alzheimer’s Center at Rush University Medical Center. The 16 year study focused on a group of 354 catholic nuns, priests and brothers; over the course of the study, the participants were regularly checked for mental acuity up to 14 times before they died. Specifically, they were checked in the following areas: verbal fluency, perceptual speed and IQ. Additional three “types” of memory were assessed:

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How 3M got its creative juices flowing again - Marc Gunther , CNN

3M is everywhere. That's the point George Buckley, the chairman and CEO of 3M, is trying to make as he talks about his favorite subject, inventing things. Last year, he says, "even in the worst economic times in memory, we released over 1,000 new products." As if on cue, Buckley's new iPhone rings, showing a photo of his daughter. "Daddy's in a meeting," he says, and hangs up. "I'm told there's some 3M inside that phone," I say. Buckley replies, "There's lots of 3M inside." He can't say exactly what 3M (MMM, Fortune 500) gadget is in the iPhone; Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) skittish about such things. But point well made: 3M is everywhere. Apple and many others couldn't do what they do without 3M

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The Contemporary Story of Creative Leadership

This story on contemporary creative leadership has been created using Storify, an aggregator and mash up platform using social media. The story has not be editorialised, rather it has been created and developed using collage as the construct and key words "creative leadership". The feeds come from Twitter, Facebook, You Tube, Flickr and Google.

Busyness Is the Enemy of Creativity - John Cleese:YouTube

John Cleese contends that the process he used to dream up Monty Python hilarity isn’t all that different from the one employees across the globe use to find innovative and improved ways of doing business. And the enemy of this process, Cleese concludes, is ordinary busy-ness. To keep the daily grind at bay you need a tortoise enclosure for your mind. What on earth is he talking about? Check out this engaging and humorous 10-minute video to find out.