The most successful executives are inspiring leaders, smart strategists—and creative thinkers. Across every business function, creativity is central to solving complex problems, developing new strategies, facilitating innovation, and driving change within the organization.
This two-day program focuses on how to build a competitive advantage by fostering a creative culture that sparks inspiration, collaboration, and innovation. As you examine the creative process at work, you will learn how to approach complex business problems with greater creativity and innovation.The program also features a team exercise that puts your new skills and creative mindset to the test.
Program Benefits
- Solve business problems and make better decisions through creative thinking
- Gain practical tools for incorporating creative thinking into day-to-day processes
- Harness your team’s collective abilities to produce innovative solutions and strategies
- Approach organizational challenges with greater confidence, and achieve better results
- Learn how to implement and manage the creative process across all domains
- Earn a Certificate of Participation from the Harvard University Division of Continuing Education
Topics Covered
- Fostering a culture that values, nurtures, and rewards creative solutions
- Implementing a methodology that overcomes barriers to innovative thinking
- Reframing problems, making new connections, and challenging assumptions
- Using questions to brainstorm and solve business problems more effectively
- Generating and enhancing new ideas, strategies, and techniques
Who Should Enroll
This program is ideal for general managers, functional leaders, or consultants who want to:
- Design innovative solutions to tough business challenges
- Develop a creative mindset and tools that improve a team’s ability to develop new solutions to complex challenges
- Lead change management initiatives with greater confidence
- Strengthen their team’s creative problem-solving skills
- Spark brainstorming and collaboration across all functions
Program Information
Program Dates
Instructor Anne Manning, Susan Robertson
Class Times
Programs run from 9 am to 5 pm.
Program Fee
Location
One Brattle Square
Harvard University
Cambridge, Mass.
Instructor
Anne Manning is a founding partner of Drumcircle and an Innovation Fellow with Encore.org. She brings over 25 years of experience working with senior executives at Fortune 500 firms, providing counsel in strategy, marketing insights, communications, innovation, and creativity. Manning is also an experienced and successful facilitator, who integrates the tools and techniques of creative problem solving and design-thinking tools and techniques into her engagements. She holds an MS degree from the Center for Creativity and Change Leadership at Buffalo State College.
Susan Robertson is an innovation strategist, facilitator, trainer, and keynoter. Some of the world’s largest corporations call on Susan to consult with them on innovation initiatives, strategy, and culture. Her work includes designing innovation discovery processes, facilitating ideation sessions, customer insight and co-creation, and leading strategic meetings.
Susan was a keynote speaker at the NASA Innovation Expo and is a senior faculty member at the Creative Problem Solving Institute. She has spoken in places as diverse as South Africa, Italy, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom, China, France, Brazil, Mexico, and Greece. Prior to her consulting career, she created new products for Gatorade, the Batman and Star Wars toy lines, Sunbeam Appliances, Fruit of the Loom, Quaker Rice Cakes, and Calgon.