The document summarizes custom programs offered by the Innovation Institute to build creative capacity in groups, teams, and companies. The programs use an arts-based curriculum and experiential learning approach. Artists and facilitators lead hands-on sessions focused on developing creative skills and habits of mind. Programs are tailored to client needs and can include topics like leadership development, creative problem solving, and team building. Sessions range from 45 minutes to multiple days and can be delivered at the client's site or other locations. The process involves consulting with the client to understand their goals, designing a customized program, iterative development, delivery led by artists and facilitators, and evaluation of the program's effectiveness.

1. CUSTOM PROGRAMS:
GROUPS
TEAMS &
COMPANIES

2. ARTIST-LED: Artists are the experts at the Innovation Institute. They are what distinguish our program from
other leadership, innovation, or ideation programs. Each custom program draws from our pool of artist faculty
which consists of accomplished, professional artists working in a variety of creative processes and disciplines
including, sculpture, painting, mixed-media, photography, and digital art.
EXPERTLY FACILITATED: Each session is co-led by a professional facilitator who guides the flow of the program
and leads insightful conversations for participants to reflect on their experiences and explore ways to apply
what they have learned. Our master level facilitators have combined consulting experience in education, in-
novation, communication, training, coaching and organizational development.
ARTS-BASED CURRICULUM: Using artistic skills, processes, and experiences as educational tools, the Innova-
tion Institute fosters learning in non-artistic disciplines by helping participants to “Think Like an Artist.” By
teaching participants Habits of Mind mastered by professional artists, participants will be more disposed to
draw upon the habits when they face uncertain or challenging situations moving forward.
HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE: In our programs, participants make meaning from direct experience, also known as
learning by doing. Our process is facilitated in an environment that cultivates success through adventure, risk
taking, and failure. The program carves out time and space for the participant to engage in meaningful discov-
ery, which makes for impactful and sustainable learning.
Creativity has been identified as the most important
leadership quality for success in business according to the
IBM 2010 Global CEO Study. More than 1,500 corporate
heads and public sector leaders from 60 countries and 33
industries worldwide believe that “successfully navigating an
increasing complex world will require creativity.”
The Innovation Institute provides expertly designed and
delivered custom programs that build on the idea that
creativity is innate and that fresh perspectives are not only
useful, but critical for leaders in any sector.
Custom programs can range from 45-minutes to multiple
days and are tailored to suit any size or type of audience. They
can serve as a standalone event or can be integrated into
an internal event, conference, or leadership development
initiative. Sessions can be delivered in an intensive format or
over the course of several months, with delivery taking place
at our facility, at a client site, or at an offsite location.
While each program is customized based on client objectives, budgets, and timelines, the Innovation Institute planning
process consists of the following standardized steps:
• CONSULT: Discuss client goals, objectives, and constraints
• DESIGN: Craft proposal and high-level outline of program
• DEVELOP: Iteratively refine program exercises and outputs
• DELIVER: Professional artist and facilitator co-lead custom program
• EVALUATE: Assess program effectiveness and follow up with client
CUSTOM PROGRAMS AT THE INNOVATION
INSTITUTE BUILD CREATIVE CAPACITY IN
GROUPS, TEAMS, AND COMPANIES USING
AN ARTS-BASED CURRICULUM IN AN
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT.
OUR CUSTOM EXPERIENCES MEET A VARIETY
OF CLIENT NEEDS THAT RANGE FROM TEAM
BUILDING TO LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT TO
CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING.
Tough Choices or Tough Times: The Report
of the New Commission on the Skills of the
American Workforce, 2008
“Creativity, innovation, and flexibility
will not be the special province of an
elite. It will be demanded of virtually
everyone who is making a decent living,
from graphic artists to assembly line
workers, from insurance brokers to home
builders.”
PERSIST
ENVISION
EXPRESS
OBSERVE
REFLECT
EXPLORE
THINK. LIKE AN ARTIST.
CREATIVE
COLLABORATION
• Strengthen teamwork
• Go beyond compromise
• Explore uncommon paths
INTEGRATING
PERSPECTIVES
• Seek out and value diversity
• Find new combinations
• Embrace critique
FOCUSED
CREATIVITY
• Apply spontaneity
• Use insights to spur strategy
• Ignite change
CREATIVE
PROBLEM SOLVING
• Apply design thinking
• Explore divergent solutions
• Create rapid prototypes
1
2
3
4
PROGRAM FRAMEWORK & FEATURED SESSION THEMES
HOW WE CUSTOMIZE
PROGRAMS TAILORED To meet Client OBJECTIVES
Program objectives vary based on the desired outcomes of each client, but some past sessions have been designed to:
(1) Emphasize leading with a creative mindset, (2) Navigate through discomfort to reach new levels of creative risk taking,
(3) Illustrate principles and practices of creative collaboration, (4) Explore and reinforce the organization’s core values, (5)
Embrace corporate change initiatives, and (6) Experience creative problem solving.
Creative
Leaders
Challenge assumptions
Seek out different perspectives
Fail forward
View problems as opportunities
Explore multiple solutions
Build trusting teams
Think.creatively.
Work.creatively.

3. McColl Center for Art + Innovation • 721 N Tryon Street • Charlotte, North Carolina 28202 • 704-332-5535 • innovation@mccollcenter.org
McColl Center for Art + Innovation is a nationally acclaimed contemporary art center dedicated to
connecting art and artists with the community. As the world around us continues to face challenges, we
take an active role presenting contemporary art and the creative process as a road to open dialogue and
innovative thinking. With Innovation being one of ten Spheres of Impact at McColl Center, the Innovation
Institute is a program designed to extend our mission as a catalyst for change, both for individuals and
organizations. The Innovation Institute’s three major offerings are:
Open Enrollment Programs: focused on personal, individual transformation
Custom Programs: for organizations to strengthen the capabilities of their people
Creative Problem Solving Workshops: teams design solutions to their organization’s complex challenges
Creativity is not some mystical power that has been bestowed
only on the select few. Rather, it’s a muscle that everyone has
and a skill that anyone can strengthen and apply.