To be innovative you need to be creative first

Nearly every day in our workplaces we need to be creative or can choose to be creative. Yet most of us simply do much of what we have always done that worked before. The problem with that strategy is that what worked yesterday may no longer work today or tomorrow. With the aid of strategies and tools we can learn how to increase our level of creative thinking.

Day One

"DON'T JUST SIT THERE! BE CREATIVE!!!©"
Nearly every day in our workplaces we need to be creative or can choose to be creative. Yet most of us simply do much of what we have always done that worked before. The problem with that strategy is that what worked yesterday may no longer work today or tomorrow. With the aid of strategies and tools we can learn how to increase our level of creative thinking. This session will cover tricks, tools and techniques for sparking creative thinking and generating 1,000's of ideas for any challenge.
• Benchmark on Alan's Tools and Techniques to spark creative thinking in individuals, teams and groups
• Learn how to increase your level of creativity at any day
• Discover your creative thinking style
• Effectively integrate creativity on demand at any time

TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES FOR GENERATING CREATIVE THINKING ON DEMAND FOR INDIVIDUALS AND TEAMS
Participants will experience a mixture of tools and techniques applied through practical exercises as a warm up and then on real problems from the participants or chosen by the participants of the program. There are many tools and techniques for generating creative thinking from rational to intuitive to systematic to high energy group types.
• Experience a mixture of 12 tools and techniques to generate creative thinking from rational to intuitive to systematic to high-energy group types
• Understanding of how and when to use the above tools when some people are more introverted than extroverted
• Group activity: Use of a mix of convergent thinking tools for narrowing down many ideas into a workable solution.

INTEGRATING, ORGANISING AND PLANNING THE USE OF CREATIVE THINKING TOOLS AND EXERCISES TO INCREASE IDEATION
The purpose of this session is to teach the participants how to increase the number of highly creative ideas they produce:
Individually or in teams through developing a plan and design of tool and techniques of Creative ideas from quantity to quality.
• Discover what it takes to produce a productive idea generating meeting
• Experience the difference between the "usual" meeting and a "well designed, planned, and prepared for" meeting
• Group activity: Experiment and experience a collection of warm-up and stretching exercises to build up your mental, physical, emotional and social attributes in your organisation.

EXPLORE INDIVIDUAL CREATIVE TRAITS AND SKILLS
We are all born with capacities for creative thinking. Some perhaps with high levels others with varying levels. Unfortunately all societies, cultures and governments tend to quiet down to squelch the natural creativity in favor of the "black and white"t hinking and "right or wrong answers" thinking. Each of these can limit our creative thinking skills. This session will cover a list of 52 human traits that are all learnable and can be further developed and redeveloped throughout our lives in varied ways.
• Build and practice the 52 human traits to increase your skills of creative thinking
• Discover what kills your creativity in the workplace and stop companies and individuals from becoming truly successful
• Understand your individual creative thinking traits and skills

Day Two

DEVELOP CREATIVE THINKING SKILLS AND TRAITS IN TEAMS TO IMPROVE YOUR TEAM PERFORMANCE
All employees are born with the capacity to be creative yet most workplaces have a tendency not to reward their employees for being creative so that stop. We as supervisors, managers and leaders can help to develop and enhance the creative thinking skills and abilities of ALL of our employees by SPREADng© creative thinking throughout our entire teams, departments and organisations.
• Benchmark on the S-P-R-E-A-D technique to develop creative thinking skills in your team:
Supporting
Promoting
Recognising and Rewarding
Educating and Encouraging
Applying
Developing

• Application and experimentation with ways to enhance and expand creative thinking in your team
• Capitalize on a variety of ways to help your team members grow stronger mentally, physically and emotionally when dealing with a difficult task
• Learn to show appreciation to your team members' efforts in producing ideas.

HIGHLY CREATIVE TEAMS FIGHT! - LEARN HOW TO USE CONFLICT AS A CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING TOOL
How are Groups and Teams different? Yes Teams are a form or type of Group but Groups seldom function like Teams truly can. There is a theory or model called the Form-Norm-Storm-Perform Model of Group Development but in reality this is a myth. When different teams in your organization are equally creative, conflicts are bound to happen to reach the top. This session will teach the participants how to use conflicts to the best of their ability for creative problem solving.
• Gain insights on the five primary sources and types of conflict that team's experience
• Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of five approaches to conflict resolution
• Discover how conflict truly is a tool that helps teams reach a higher quality of creative thinking and creative solutions
• Study why the Form-Norm-Storm-Perform Model of Group Development is a myth and unsuccessful in building team Performances
• Differentiate Teams and Groups when it comes to creative problem solving.

HIGHLY CREATIVE TEAMS DON'T JUST HAPPEN - HOW TO FACILITATE HIGHLY CREATIVE THINKING TEAMS
Taking a group of employees and turning them into a highly creative thinking team takes a lot of planning, practice, training and guidance. This session will guide the participants in facilitating their team members to generate ideas and solutions.
• Choosing members for a highly creative thinking team
• Experience a variety of ways to lead and/or manage teams to become highly creative and successful
• Learn how to lead and follow in order to be highly creative together as a team
• Master tips and suggestions to help turn conflict from a curse to a tool

PLAN & LEAD IDEATION MEETINGS TO GENERATE CREATIVE SOLUTIONS IN ANY MEETING
Just assembling some people in a room and asking them to generate creative ideas seldom works, seldom is effective. Yet highly facilitated idea generating meetings can be very productive. As supervisors, team leaders, managers and general leaders there are methods we can learn and use before, during and after Idea Generating meetings that will increase the numbers, flexibility, and originality or creativity of ideas.
• Preparation of Idea Generation Meetings
• Effective ways to start the Idea Generation Meeting
• Steps to guide the entire room of people to generate ideas
• Develop plans for implementing creative solutions
• Lead pairs, triads and teams of people to generate ideas
• Decide how to narrow generated ideas.

For more information, please contact us on cell: 082 686 8966, or email us on:
az.oc.stsylatacaedi-aha@ofni
www.aha-ideacatalysts.co.za

Date: 26 September 2013 to 27 September 2013
Time: 08:00 - 16:00
Venue: Aha! Idea Catalyst Conference Centre, Pretoria
Cost: R2350

More info:

Aha is situted on the premises of Casa-lee Country Lodge in Pretoria East.