"Turning Recession on Its Head: Is there an upside to the Downturn"

Bruce Nussbaum is now Contributing Editor for BusinessWeek USA but his prime interest still resides in Design and Innovation and in that regard his blog NussbaumOnDesign is always worth a read. A piece entitled "Turning Recession on Its Head: Is there an upside to the Downturn" caught my eye for two reasons. One, it is a conversation that is occurring in an opne forum on Facebook - social media promoting discussion again and two the Facebook page came out of IDEO's London office. If you are interested in following a meaningful conversation about design, creativity and innovation in the recession, this is a really good place to start. 

Job market seeks flexibility, creativity

America's Job Market are looking for creativity and flexibility in the workforce in many ways similar to experiences in Australia. Hannah Hoffman explains... The traditional five-year post-graduation plan may need a renovation. University career counselors agree the keys to starting a career in today's economy are flexibility and creativity, not rigid planning. Counselors from the University Career Center, Lundquist College of Business, and School of Journalism and Communication said there are career possibilities for students who have a strategy. Students can use the poor economy as a chance to stand out, they said.

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'Bookazine' aims to boost creativity in hair and beauty industry

In our competitive economy, creativity and collaboration work hand in hand. This limited edition bookazine release shows how even in the highly competitive 'Hair industry' competitors can collaborate on a project with mutual benefit. Fiona Galea Debono from the Malta Times explains A limited-edition "bookazine", Shell, is about to make its way onto coffee tables, showcasing subjective beauty and aimed at boosting creativity in the hair and beauty industry on the island. Shell's goal is to motivate and creatively challenge the industry by producing alternative visions of beauty, pushing up standards from a commercial to a more artistic, experimental level, says the man behind it, Pierre Camille. The brainchild and 18-month project of the hairstylist and photographer, Shell marks a first by bringing together competing hair and beauty agents in a "milestone" collaboration, which aims to drag them out of their commercial cocoon and into the art scene, which is, after all, the raison d'être of their careers.

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Books offer advice on harnessing creativity

Richard Pachter from the Miami Herald has recently reviewed a few book releases on harnessing creativity that could be of interst to you, it's looking at things from a USA point of view though has some relevance to Australian's as well... How do we get out of this mess we're in? The United States doesn't manufacture very much any more, nor is agriculture likely to re-emerge as the driving force of our economy. American popular culture is still dominant throughout the world, but many of the movie studios and remaining record companies are foreign-owned. Ditto with industries like brewing (Miller, Anheuser-Busch), pharmaceuticals and many more.

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Let Your Creativity Run WSild

What's the difference between you and Michelangelo? Okay, so you're not a Renaissance Italian and you have no personal relationship with marble or colored plaster. Perhaps you don't have access to any exceedingly wealthy patrons either.

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