The slides from my recent presentation to the St. Louis Organizational Development Network conference on February 23, 2011.

1. The
Creativity
Conundrum
the seven myths of “creativity” in training
Matthew Homann, COCAbiz

2. I have
shiny shiny
syndrome.

3. Please
don’t
throw
things.

4. COC A biz

5. Dance freaks
people out!

6. improvisation

7. yes, and...

8. yes, and...

9. Creativity is
important to my
business because...

10. Most
people
don’t
learn
best
sitting
on
their...

11. What can the arts teach
business about creativity?

12. and how can
COCA profit
from it?

13. Remaining
true to our
core values.

14. ...and not just
make turkeys
out of our hands.

15. We
thought
selling
creativity
would be

16. After all,
Creativity
is priority #

17. The link between
creativity and business is
easy to make.
Right?

18. People told us,
“Creativity is
important,
but...

19. “I can’t
afford to
buy it.”
© Matthew Homann 2010 All Rights Reserved

20. “I don’t
know
how to
value it.”

21. After
listening
to them,

22. We learned that
it’s not about
creativity at all...

23. It’s (still) about business.

24. How do you
sell creativity
to unwilling
buyers?

25. Myth #1
People want
to learn to be
creative.

26. .
ti ve
a
c re
e
ar
u
Yo

27. Myth #2
Time is the
primary
barrier to
creativity.

28. Myth #3
Creative individuals make
creative companies.

29. For many,
creativity is
a solitary
experience.

30. Myth # 4
Listening to someone talk
about creativity makes us
more creative.

31. Myth #5
Creativity can be learned
in one dose.

32. A warm-up
exercise doesn’t
make people
creative.

33. Myth #6
We can be creative
upon demand.

34. Myth #7
We’re more
tolerant of
novelty than
our boss.

35. Often “they”
are less
chicken than
we are.

36. What can we do?

37. Ignore
precedents -- at
least for a while.

38. Ask what
sacred cows
can I slay?

39. Recognize that
creativity is an
ingredient.

40. like bacon

41. Respect your audience’s
willingness to gamble.

42. Don’t be afraid to be
sneak up on people.

43. Don’t rely upon new
measurements.

44. Instead, focus on
familiar metrics.

45. Deliver creative
tools people can
use everyday.

46. be more be more
creative creative
be more
creative
be more
creative
be more be more
creative creative
be more
creative
be more
creative
be more
creative
Don’t ignore
be more
creative the simple
be more
creative ones...

47. ... and the
difficult
ones, too.

48. Regulate
their use.

49. Incentivize
their
adoption.

50. yes, and...

51. Make it a game.

52. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

53. Deliver bite
sized chunks...

54. ... because your
audience has less
attention to pay
than ever before.

55. Be
prepared
to miss
every
once in
awhile.

56. Don’t listen
to everybody.

57. “If I’d asked
people what they
wanted, they
would have said
faster horses.”
-- Henry Ford

58. Questions?

59. COC A biz
COCAbiz merges arts-based instruction with business-focused facilitation
to help people and organizations collaborate more, innovate better
and creatively solve their biggest business challenges.
As part of St. Louis’ renowned Center of Creative Arts (COCA), we draw
upon the talents of artists, designers, dancers and actors to deliver high-
impact classes, seminars, conferences and retreats that build business
skills and deliver true creative breakthroughs.
www.cocabiz.com

60. Matthew Homann is the
director of COCAbiz.
Matt @ COCAbiz.com
@MattHomann &
@COCAbiz.