--- title: Creativity & Innovation description: Creativity and innovation cover the processes of generating novel ideas and transforming them into practical solutions. You will understand different brainstorming methodologies, techniques for overcoming mental blocks, and how to foster an environment that supports experimentation and continuous improvement. category: personal-development subcategory: personal-development difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced url: /subject/creativity-and-innovation --- # Creativity & Innovation Creativity and innovation cover the processes of generating novel ideas and transforming them into practical solutions. You will understand different brainstorming methodologies, techniques for overcoming mental blocks, and how to foster an environment that supports experimentation and continuous improvement. ## Available Resources 3 Videos • 3 Books • 2 Courses • 3 Websites ## Courses ### 1. Creative Thinking: Techniques and Tools for Success In today’s ever-growing and changing world, being able to think creatively and innovatively are essential skills. It can sometimes be challenging to step back and reflect in an environment which is fast paced or when you are required to assimilate large amounts of information. Making sense of or communicating new ideas in an innovative and engaging way, approaching problems from fresh angles, and producing novel solutions are all traits which are highly sought after by employers. This course will equip you with a ‘tool-box’, introducing you to a selection of behaviours and techniques that will augment your innate creativity. Some of the tools are suited to use on your own and others work well for a group, enabling you to leverage the power of several minds. You can pick and choose which of these tools or techniques suit your needs and interests, focusing on some or all of the selected approaches and in the order that fits best for you. The practical approach of this course enables you to acquire an essential skill-set for generating ideas, with plenty of: - Fun e-tivities and exercises; - Practical lectures and tips; - Video representations of the techniques in action. By the end of this course you should be able to: - Pick a type of brainstorming you think will be useful to apply to a challenge - Use alphabet brainstorming in tackling a challenge - Use grid brainstorming in tackling a challenge - Use a morphological chart to synthesise a solution to a challenge - Use the TRIZ contradiction matrix to identify recommended inventive principles - Apply SCAMPER to a range of challenges The greatest innovators aren’t necessarily the people who have the most original idea. Often, they are people- or teams- that have harnessed their creativity to develop a new perspective or more effective way of communicating an idea. You can train your imagination to seize opportunities, break away from routine and habit, and tap into your natural creativity. Join this course and a community of practitioners in CREATIVITY! **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.coursera.org/learn/creative-thinking-techniques-and-tools-for-success **Tags:** brainstorming, idea-generation, triz, scamper, problem-solving ### 2. Innovation Systems for Science, Technology, Energy, Manufacturing, and Health (MIT STS.081) **Author:** William Bonvillian How the US science and technology innovation system works and the federal government's role in it, through case studies on energy, computing, advanced manufacturing and health. 24 lecture videos and slide notes help learners analyze and critique innovation policy. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sts-081-innovation-systems-for-science-technology-energy-manufacturing-and-health-spring-2017/ **Tags:** innovation-policy, science-policy, technology-policy, energy-policy, advanced-manufacturing ## Websites ### 1. Austin Kleon Austin Kleon's personal site, where the author of Steal Like an Artist posts short essays, reading notes, and interviews about keeping a creative practice going. Archive and weekly newsletter are free; his books are sold separately. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://austinkleon.com/ **Tags:** creative-practice, writing, creative-habits, essays, newsletter ### 2. hbr.org Harvard Business Review (hbr.org) offers research-based articles, case studies, and practical guidance on leadership, strategy, and organizational performance for managers and executives. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://hbr.org **Tags:** websites, business-entrepreneurship, business-fundamentals ### 3. ted.com TED.com is the hub for TED Talks—short, powerful videos by experts across technology, science, design, and culture. It offers videos, transcripts, subtitles, and curated playlists with insights on presentation, storytelling, and effective communication. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://ted.com **Tags:** websites, personal-development, communication ## Videos ### 1. Where Good Ideas Come From Riverhead Books' animated short summarizing Steven Johnson's argument that breakthroughs emerge from slow hunches colliding in connected environments rather than sudden flashes. Gives you the vocabulary of the adjacent possible and liquid networks. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NugRZGDbPFU **Tags:** innovation, idea-generation, adjacent-possible, creative-environments, steven-johnson ### 2. Your Elusive Creative Genius Elizabeth Gilbert on creativity (TED Talk, highly recommended in r/productivity) **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86x-u-tz0MA **Tags:** creativity, creative-block, ted-talk, writing, psychology-of-creativity ### 3. The power of believing that you can improve | Carol Dweck | TED TED talk in which psychologist Carol Dweck contrasts fixed and growth mindsets, drawing on classroom experiments with praise and the idea of 'not yet'. Explains how framing ability as changeable affects effort and response to failure. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X0mgOOSpLU **Tags:** growth-mindset, psychology, learning, resilience, ted-talk ## Books ### 1. The Creative Habit **Author:** Twyla Tharp Choreographer Twyla Tharp describes the rituals and preparation behind decades of dance work, with exercises for building a daily practice. You come away with concrete habits for starting projects, keeping ideas, and recovering when work stalls. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0743235266?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, personal-development, personal-development ### 2. Big Magic **Author:** Elizabeth Gilbert Elizabeth Gilbert's argument for making things without waiting for permission or guaranteed results, drawn from her own writing life. Covers fear, curiosity, discipline, and why creative work rarely needs to double as a career. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1408866757?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, personal-development, personal-development ### 3. Creativity, Inc. **Author:** Ed Catmull, Amy Wallace Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull recounts how the studio built candid feedback loops, protected fragile early work, and handled failure across films from Toy Story onward. Useful for anyone responsible for managing other people's creative output. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0307361179?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, personal-development, personal-development --- *This content is part of Dantes.io - Your Treasure Map to Knowledge* *Curated by humans at Dantes.io. Personal study use welcome; republishing this curation requires permission (team@dantes.io).* View this page online: https://dantes.io/subject/creativity-and-innovation