Does the Australian Market Reflect the US When It Comes to Creativity and Innovation?

I receive weekly Google News Alerts on creativity and innovation and I am continually surprised by the simultaneous commonality of the global debate, discussion and research that is occuring around these themes. The story below summaries research data from a survey completed recently in the US. I am very keen to see how "Is the Australian workforce creative and innovative?" survey results stacks up against this data U.S. Worker Creativity Not Being Used by Many Employers According to this report, it is well recognized that creativity and innovation are what is needed to bring the States to the next level in business competitiveness; unfortunately, a new survey shows that many companies are not using the natural creative talents of their workforce. According to the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, most Americans believe they are naturally creative, but their employers do not give them the chance to use their talents. The poll was conducted during the last week of July and first week of August, 2007. FCEDA commissioned an independent organization,

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The Big Question - Is the Australian workforce creative and innovative?

The Creative Leadership Forum to-day launched a major on-line survey nationally with the purpose of answering the question "Is the Australian work force creative and innovative? Recent surveys conducted globally by major consulting organisations all point to the importance of creativity and innovation as major economic drivers over the next 10 years. As global investment markets move quickly seeking well-educated, skilled and flexible work forces, those countries investing in creativity and innovation skills training will become highly attractive economies in which to invest. To determine whether Australia is on track to become one of those countries, the Creative Leadership Forum is asking respondents views on creative leadership, creativity and innovation and the vocational, educational and training experiences that have influenced their views on these topics.

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The Creative Future of Volunteering in Australia That Needs a Little On-Line Help

Is volunteering a doomed activity? Where will the volunteers of the future come from? What will motivate them? What might volunteering look like in the future? What forms might volunteering take (eg corporate volunteering, time-limited or project-based etc)? These are all questions which need to be considered in understanding the drivers of volunteering. The Future of Volunteering is an innovative project which will, for the first time in the world, use narrative research processes, tools and proprietary software Sensemaker developed by Cognitive Edge to explore an issue of critical public policy. The key objectives of the project are to develop an understanding of policy issues and implications given the changes in demographics and patterns of volunteering , as well as guidance for those organisations funding and managing volunteers.

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Shifts Happen - How Knowledge is Created in the Information Era

Every now and again, you come across a creative use of PowerPoint and this happens to be one of those! Further the presentation, loaded onto You Tube for public consummation by its unknown designers, was used very effectively at the opening of a conference presentation on the future of knowledge management by Chris Fletcher, Director, Knowledge Management, Deloitte Asia and the Middle East that I attended recently in Sydney. Whether you agree with the content expressed in the presentation or not, whether you have observed the grammatical errors contained on the slides or not, the content is thought provoking and the way Chris used it as a context setter, demonstrates the enormous potentiality of Web 2.0.

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Dr Harold Nelson on Business, Arts and Academia.

I had the opportunity to spend some time recently with Dr Harold G Nelson, President and Co-Founder, the Advanced Design Institute, Antioch University Seattle. Washington USA and Past President, The International Society of Systems Sciences (ISSS) during the recent Thought Leader Forum on Leader as Designers at the Banff Centre, Canada. Harold co-authored The Design Way with Dr Erik Stolterman, Director, Human-Computer Interaction Design, and Professor of Informatics at University of Indiana. The book, variously described as must have, fascinating and provocative by their peers, looks at the idea of design as the ongoing genesis of the real world - the seminal process of world creation. The authors make the case for design as both the oldest form of human intention the one that defines us as being human and design

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