People who are only good with a hammer see every problem as a nail.

–– Abraham Maslow

Facilitated by: Larry Prochazka

12 Jackson Street Denver, Colorado 80206 phyllis@lundyleadership.com 303-978-0877

Creativity, Possibility Thinking and Decision Making:

Pathway to better decisions.

Introducing Your Workshop Leader

Larry Prochazka, Ed.D., A dynamic, moving and engaging presenter, Larry brings over 25 years of experience as a consultant, facilitator and inspirational speaker. He has been described as a facilitator with a capital “F” for his ability to stay out of the way while help a group achieve meaningful results. Larry has facilitated programs for Fortune 100 companies (Discovery, IBM, Microsoft, US West, HP), government (FBI, EPA, NOAA, HRSA, CBP), military (Dept. of Navy, US Air Force), educational and non-profit. He has been an adjunct faculty member with Johns Hopkins University and the FBI Executive Leadership Program.

He focuses on the “people skills” aspect of business and his flexible and authentic style engages people deeply. Recently, a participants commented, “I started the day thinking I had a lot of problems with my employees and now I realize most of them are mine”! That type of internal reflection and awareness is a result of Larry’s facilitation style. Larry’s ability to create a safe place to explore issues, discover solutions, and identify ways to grow personally and professional ensures that his audiences walk away with new insights. He utilizes a variety of interactive and experiential processes to engage participants and shares stories from personal experience helping make the information relevant to participants. He’s been described as authentic, “human” and as someone who “really believes in what he is talking about”. On the personal front, Larry is an adventure traveler, mountain biker, cook/baker, barista and barista trainer, camper, hammock lover, latte artist and, according to those who know him well, an inspiration.

Founded in 1991, Lundy Professional Development Resources, Inc., has provided services to numerous clients, including The Library of Congress; The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; The Social Security Administration; Qwest; Coldwell Banker; AlliedSignal, Inc.; AORN, Peak Concepts, Knowledge Learning Corporation; Serck Services, Inc.; The Women’s Transportation Seminars; The Montana Department of Transportation; The Wyoming Departments of Transportation, Employment, Family Services and Workforce Services; The Federal Highway Administration; Wyoming Retirement System; El Paso County D.O.T.; The American Public Works Association; the cities of Arvada, Commerce City, Ft. Collins, Greenwood Village, Lafayette, Lakewood, Westminster and Wheat Ridge; Southeast Metro Stormwater Authority; The Health Districts of Northern Larimer County; Highlands Ranch Metro District; Arapahoe County; Garfield County; and numerous other public, non-profit and private organizations.

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Objectives

In this workshop, you will have an opportunity to: • Explore: what is creativity and who has it? • Learn the value of creativity in making effective decision making. • Investigate the role of “perspective” and “habit” in seeing creative options. • Explore the difference between intuitive and logical thinking; open and closed

systems; right-left thinking and reproductive thinking. • Think differently: step out of your normal thinking mode and engage in

alternative means of seeing and “playing” to generate new connections. • Experience the impact assumptions have on the creative process and how to get

around them. • Gain experience in using a variety of creativity tools to help you see differently

and work with tools you can take back to work with you. • Utilizing the fish diagram as a way of integrating creativity and decision

making into a workable plan. • Have fun while learning!

“All of life’s answers are available,

if we just knew which questions to ask.” ––Albert Einstein

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Types of Thinking

“Your organization has to find new ways to succeed in a world that is changing faster than ever before. For all of us, long-term success will depend

more and more on continuous creativity and consistent innovation.” –Sir Ken Robinson, World Renowned Expert on Innovation and Creativity

Creative Thinking is the ability to imagine or create something new or original, to combine previous ideas into new forms.

Purpose: generate ideas, explore, “produce”, stimulate CURIOSITY, to think differently, to play, combine and expand. To look at what everyone else is looking at but see something different.

To be divergent thinking, different, thinking of how to do things differently. To deviate from common or ordinary, combine, change, reapply, modify, imagine, explore possibilities.

Critical Thinking is the ability to evaluate and apply logic and reasoning.

Purpose: compare, analyze, classify, forecast, “reproduce”, look for evidence and logic. Primarily historical, looking back to what worked in past, quick to look for and find patterns.

To converge, focus, eliminate, critique and evaluate.

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”

–Albert Einstein

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Left Brain Whole Brain Right Brain Analytical Thinking Intuitive Thinking

Open or Closed System

John Cleese spoke about the conditions that support creativity. Citing research on the most creative people: the most creative are not higher in IQ. IQ may be a limitation!

So what was the difference between artist, architects, engineers, scientist and writers who were the most creative?

They had a method of getting into a “way of operating”, a particular mood, that allowed their natural creativity to flow. What is that way of operating? An ability to play! The most creative could become the most “childlike”.

Play! Humor! Essential!

Working on a book about “Families and How to Survive Them”, John Cleese came across another interesting relationship between the way the most successful families function and the way successful organizations function. One of two modes is used: open or closed.

1. First, creativity is impossible in closed mode!

What is closed mode? The mode people operate in most of the time at work, a sense that there is a lot to get done and we had better get to it! That mode is likely to be a little impatient, have some tension, be purposeful and a little stressed, with little or no space for play or humor.

2. The open mode is likely to be more relaxed, less purposeful, more expansive, more playful and less serious. There is more humor which is conducive to seeing things in a wider perspective.

• Alexander Fleming and no culture in one of his dishes. • Discovery of teflon. • Hypodermic needles. • Velcro….dogs.

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Converge or Diverge?

Convergent Thinking: logical closing in, to contract and come to single point • narrowing and converging • breaking problem into smaller and

smaller units • cast out options in favor or

preferred choices • zero in on key factors, exclude others • analyze, evaluate and eliminate

Divergent Thinking: intuitive broad overview before focusing in on actual decision or solution. • expansive • looks at various facts, issues and

options • seeks to expand, reach out, spread

out and consider • question and re-question basic facts,

opinions and values • big picture

AND, related to DeBono’s idea…..

Vertical Thinking A tower of blocks, one set carefully upon another Develop new ideas Concerned with stability - logic High probability thinking Sequential Logic controls the mind Concentrates on relevance Digging the hole deeper Yes/no system Continuity Seeks proof, makes judgments Precise Vertical thinking chooses

Lateral Thinking Blocks scattered all around Generates new ideas Concerned with movement -speculative Low probability thinking Random leaps/eureka” moments Logic is at the service of the mind Love chance intrusions Digging a different hole Is it different? Discontinuity Seeks alternatives Open-ended Lateral thinking changes

From Edward DeBono. Lateral Thinking.

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Ideas about creativity....

What is it? Creativity is a perspective and a mindset that allows flexibility in a person’s thinking. It is not a gift some people were born with and others were born without. It’s there and only requires cultivation and use to grow. The skills and tools in this training are for use in sharpening and expanding your natural creative ability.

“Discovery consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different.” Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, Nobel Prize Winning Physician

“COMBINATION ––is the essence of imagination.” Dr.

Myron S Allen

“Creativity is the production of meaning by synthesis.” Alex Osborn

“Definition of the creative act –– the combination of previously unrelated structures in such a way that you get more out of the emergent whole than you have put

in.” Arthur Koestler

AHA!...duh! (where was the solution before you saw it?)

What is NOT creativity?

Children/adults and “functional fixedness”: predictable and limited approach. Reproductive rather than productive. Traits:

The illiterate of the future won’t be those who can’t read

and write but those who can’t learn, unlearn and re-learn. ––Alvin Toffler

You can notice a lot just by observing! Yogi Berra

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Influences That Affect Creativity

Become aware of influences, good and bad, that affect the quality and quantity of your ideas:

✓ Bias is jumping to conclusion or forcing a solution on a situation. It does not represent good judgment. Explore your Bias.

✓ Filters result from observations, experiences, information from the past, assumptions made and not examined. They prevent seeing a situation holistically and prejudice a person to behave in a certain way or believe in certain possibilities.

✓ Perception is the awareness or interpretation of sensory information or the ability to “read” a situation. It also relates to an individuals ability to be flexible and engage in seeing “attributes” or qualities related to a situation.

Develop Good Habits!

“First, you form your habits. Then, your habits form you.”

✓ Record ideas ✓ Be curious ✓ Be inquisitive

✓ Be persistent ✓ Enjoy challenges ✓Make time to reflect

✓ Change perspectives

✓ Generate lots of ideas ✓ Challenge assumptions

✓ Suspend judgment ✓ Think in questions ✓Wonder!

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Reproductive Thinking

“Your brain processes only a tiny portion of your environment at a time. It risks being overwhelmed by the volume of information that bombards you

every waking moment. Your brain compensates by filtering out the 99.9 percent of your environment that doesn’t matter to you.” Adam Scott,

God’s Debris: A Thought Experiment (Kansas City, MO: Andrews-McMeel, 2001), 117.

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” –Pablo Picasso

Once in schools, children are encouraged not to think but to reproduce what past thinkers have thought. Analytic thinking based on promising approaches in history were encouraged to problem solve. Possibility thinking was eliminated in favor of carefully defined directions.

Cathedral or Storage Facility?

Right-Left Thinking

Or Left-Right Thinking?

Examples…..

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PERSPECTIVE…..

Five blind men describing an elephant “seeing” only their perspective.

Creativity is about mental flexibility, about seeing, looking for the big picture, identifying characteristics and qualities, and playing with combinations. Like a muscle built through repeated trips to the gym, creativity must be exercised daily in order for it to be available when needed. The remainder of our training will be engaging in and playing with thinking processes to loosen up and expand your thinking. Before we finish, I’ll ask you to pick a minimum of three you want to take back and continue using regularly.

Plugging creative thinking into the following blue print will dramatically improve your results!

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Focus Statement and Potential Blue Print 1.Identify the issue: Start with a clear statement of what you want to work on. State it as a problem, as a solution, and as a outcome. Explore all three as they will give you different perspectives.

2.Prepare: Gather information, data, talk to people, do research, think about what it will be like with this solved, identify who is involved or affected, break it down into pieces and gather whatever research makes sense to

you. Talk to people in areas completely unrelated to what you are working on for their insights. Prepare, prepare, prepare and, once you have prepared as much as possible, go to the next step…

3. Let GO! That’s right, turn it over to your subconscious to tumble it around and look for connections, perspectives and insights. It’s like giving a search over to your computer: go look for this file! Do the same with your mind: go find a solution or useful perspective on this. Take time off, come back to it in a couple days, go for a hike, mow the lawn, walk the dog, cook dinner, work on something else and provide space for incubation.

4. POOF!...Eureka….suddenly an insight or perspective pops in. It might be five minutes or a week. You might have to do some brainstorming and playful imagining to pull it together. The tools here will help with that.

5.Cultivate your mind/thinking: practice these techniques to exercise your mental muscles especially when you don’t have a pressing issue to address. It will cultivate new thinking skills and make you more flexible, creative and adaptive over time.

“Find the right questions. You don’t invent the answers, you reveal the answers.” Jonas Salk

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Decision Making & Problem Solving Tips

1. Focus on the problem, not the solution! What’s the difference?

2. Look for ways to restate the problem to find the best match for your issue and where you would like to end up!

Paraphrase 180° statement Broaden the focus Redirect the focus Restate Ask “why” Open ended questions Five “why’s” Re-state problem Identify desired outcomes

3. Be patient! A clearly and carefully worded problem statement is well worth the effort! Often, a problem continues to reoccur because people hurry and don’t identify the true or underlying issue!

4. Avoid: the ten mental locks identified by Roger von Oech: 1. The right answer 2. That’s not logical 3. Follow the rules. 4. Be practical! 5. Play is frivolous. 6. That’s not my area! 7. Avoid Ambiguity. 8. Don’t be foolish! 9. To err is wrong! 10. I’m not creative!

5. Use brainstorming effectively! NO CRITICISM!

6. Evaluate possible solutions for best fit.

7. Implement: until you put something into action, you have no feedback for how it is or will work for you. This is a good place to utilize SMART goals.

8. Evaluate and adjust! Surprises come up. Things change. Some actions produce side effects you didn’t anticipate. Keep an open mind. Continue considering possibilities!

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Ideas for Shifting Focus

• Ask Questions: The ability to ask questions is the most important of all creative skills! (You getting that?)

If you are not asking questions, you are making a lot of assumptions.

• Identify and explore assumptions.

• How many different ways can I state the problem/solution/outcome? Take your problem statement, and restate it in 10 different ways. Select one that would most helpful.

• Break the issue into components. What are different attributes or aspects?

• Phrase it in the format: In what way/ways might I improve……

• Six Universal Questions: o What is it?When does it happen? o How does it happen? o Why does it happen?

oTo whom does it happen? oWho causes it to happen?

•Five why’s: oWhy has the machine stopped?

▪It’s overloaded. oWhy is it overloaded? ▪Because there wasn’t enough lubrication for

the bearings. oWhy wasn’t there enough lubrication? ▪The pump wasn’t pumping enough.

oWhy wasn’t the pump pumping enough? ▪Etc……..

• Dumb Questions: (reveals assumptions) o Why have we always done it that way? o Does anyone actually look at that form? o Why do I have to sign this form?

Map it out: Make a mind map of components.

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Combinations, Attributes and Characteristics

Albert Einstein thought in terms of concepts to blend essences, functions, and patterns. He did not think in terms of words, logic or mathematics. He reproduced thoughts into signs, symbols and images he could combine and explore in different ways in his imagination. He called this “combinatory play”.

Often the most fertile combinations are from fields far apart. A dating service and a church, Ford factory and Chicago slaughter houses, burrs in a dog’s fur and adhesive to hold things together.

Some options that will help:

Random word lists: In the back of “Creative Thinkering” by Michael Michalko. Or use a dictionary and open it to random pages selecting a word.

Random objects: keep 20 objects around or look at objects in your work space. What qualities or attributes to you associate with them?

Random occupations: pick three letters from the alphabet. D, N and R. So that gives us dentist, newscaster and restaurant owner. List everything that comes to mind including any associated thoughts for each profession. Try combining different characteristics of each profession into a new product.

Magazine photos and imagination: select five to ten well-illustrated magazines. Randomly select a five page numbers. Find a picture or advertisement on that page. Think about how the image or advertisement relates to your challenge?

Thought walk: take a walk and select or identify ten objects. Study the objects and list their characteristics. How do they relate to your issue?

“The significant problems we face today cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” –– Albert Einstein

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Associations

Warm up the brain, loosen up, play and associate before any “serious” work.

Take two minutes to associate with these items and think of: possible uses for a paper clip; things with numbers on them; uses for a #2 pencil, words with g, k or p in them; words starting with the prefix dis-, con- or anti-

Pick one of these words and develop an association list using color, shape, weight, use, origin, where they are found and let your mind wander to the limits. beach......cup.....flower....exercise....traffic....mail.... pets....uses for old bicycle tires....floats..... ring....bull....phone...bank.... animals ... zoo...team

Make up fictitious names to go with abbreviations for states... you can modify the abbreviations to make them fit. (FROM: Laughter and Learning: Humor in the Classroom.) For example:

Oil, Kans. Aluminum, Kans. Peptoboz, Mo. Areewe,Ok Do Ray, Mi. Sparkling, Wash. Goodness, Me. Quarterto, Tenn. Income, Tex.

Collect cartoons, clip off the caption and create your own! You can also do this with

photographs from the newspaper or with personal photo's.

"Laughing Matters", a magazine published by The Humor Project under the direction of Joel Goodman, related the following story. A birth announcement was posted on the bulletin board congratulating John Roe on the birth of his new daughter. A "name the baby" contest began immediately. Suggested names included: Figger Roe, Bone Mare Roe, Velk Roe, Putyurduks Ina Roe. What names can you come up with?

Good news, bad news. This is a popular technique with humorists. Generate a list of topics from the newspaper, friends or any suitable source. Begin with either the good or bad news and then reverse your perspective to complete the phase. The bad news is "you'll never be able to play the violin again". The good news is "he never could play before either". The good news is "you don't have PMS". The bad news is, you are a crab!". The bad news is "school has begun and summer is over". The good news is......?

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SCAMPER

• Based on the assumption that everything new is a combination of something that already exists. Take something , reshape it, compare it, turn it into something else, eliminate it, magnify its components.

• What if all creativity was simply taking something that already exists but putting it together in a new or novel manner?

“The solution to any problem pre-exists. We need to ask the right question to reveal the answer.” Jonas Salk

• This is a tool engaging your thinking in the questioning, curiosity, and the search for possible connections rather than jumping directly into “solving”.

S = Substitute C = Combine A = Adapt M = Modify or magnify

P = Put to other uses E = Eliminate or minimize R = Rearrange or reverse

Identify a challenge or issue you want to work with. Take it through the SCAMPER process by

asking questions through each step to see what new ideas or perspectives emerge.

Suppose you wanted to improve customer service. You might ask questions like:

• What can….how else….what if…..what else…..for each component of the SCAMPER

phrase.

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SCAMPER

For example: use a paperclip as a focus. If you wanted to look at ways to improve a paper clip,

you might ask these questions:

• What can I substitute for a paper clip? • What can I combine with a paper clip to make something else? In what way? • How could I adapt a paper clip? • How could I modify a paper clip? • How could I magnify a paper clip? • What other uses could I put a paper clip to? • How could I eliminate a paper clip? • How could I minimize a paper clip? • What would be the reverse of a paper clip? • What would be ways to rearrange a paper clip?

Now, you take it: what’s an issue you want to work with? Ask questions and work your way

through the process.

S = Substitute C = Combine A = Adapt M = Modify or magnify

P = Put to other uses E = Eliminate or minimize R = Rearrange or reverse

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Forced Relationships

Life is a process of dynamic relationship between opposites. night and day light and dark fast and slow close and distant male and female plus and minus joy and sorrow

Einstein question: Can a thing be in motion and at rest at the same time?

To understand the positive, we need to understand the negative. We need to make judgments on all the data, not half of it.

•From Innovation, Inc: Challenged with theft from shoplifting, a supermarket identified two key points: 1.) shoplifting generally involves items of little monetary value and 2.) shoplifting is treated as a misdemeanor. Even if caught, there was little penalty for the thief. Exploring crazy, wild ideas someone suggested shoplifters that were caught should have their hands cut off. OUCH! That idea lead to a discussion on how to increase the penalty. A new idea floated in: enter the shoplifter’s name in the computer system. When they came in again, they would be informed they were no longer welcome in the store and to please not come back. That represented a formal warning being issued. Now, when they came in, the store charged them with criminal trespassing, a felony.

Draw a line down the center of a full sheet of paper making two columns. Over the right column, the “insight column”, write whatever it is you are comparing to or what you want insights for. “Hiring Process” for example. Over the left hand column, write key column and enter whatever you are using to unlock insights: “Elephants.” Fill in the “Key” column with descriptions, qualities, and characteristics.

• Find descriptions that are phrases (not single words)

o Runs in pack, has big trunk

• Find phrases more descriptive of elephant, not general.

o Performs in circus, tusks of ivory

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Forced Relationships, practice…

Elephant Hiring Process

Big Certify new hires have broad exp. Gray Look for someone who understands

subtleties of business Dies in elephant grave yard Long career/committed Has long trunk Long reach, diverse skills Real king of beasts Self-confident Close family unit Can work effectively on a team Performs in circus Someone who presents self well

Your turn…select an issue to work with. Write it over the right column. Select an “insight trigger” and write it over the left hand column.

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Mind Mapping

This technique is intended to balance how the brain operates. It utilizes capabilities of both the right and left hemispheres of the brain. Here’s how it works.

Left-brain likes sequence and detail. It likes to know how pieces are going to fit together and in what order and what priority. Normal mode of note taking: outline.

The right brain likes to have the big picture so it can see relationships. It is more feeling and is visually oriented. Use pictures, images and color where appropriate. Normal mode of note taking: doodling.

Combine doodling with outlining.....

• begin by putting the central idea in the center of the page • draw a line/arrow to the right at “3 o’clock” with your first related idea • under that key word, write ideas related to it in key-word format. Avoid using too many words or too much description. • Draw another line/arrow out from the center below the first key word and, once again, list key ideas.

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Mind Mapping

Start Here: First key idea... what you know about it what you hope to learn

Mind mapping integrates right and left brain uses detail includes big picture is sequential

Includes right brain holistic integrate colors space for images

Left brain likes it too sequential follows an order uses just enough detail lets the brain know what is coming next

Sample Mind Map: Health

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From: www.learningfundamentals.com.au

What If?

Einstein was famous for his mental experiments. He once asked himself a question like this: can an object be in motion and still at the same time? Ponder that for a while.

This is a great way to play with your thinking and feed your imagination. The purpose isn’t to find an answer but practice pondering possibilities. Here are some sample “what if” questions from Roger von Oech in “A Whack On The Side Of Your Head” (p. 76 & 77):

What if trees suddenly started producing petroleum?

What if people only needed one hour of sleep a night? What if people could sleep upright? What if we elected leaders by lottery? What if people emitted a terrible odor whenever they behaved unethically? What if electricity was carried by laser beam? What if people suddenly communicated by telepathy? What if people were required to spend every third year outside the country where they were born?

Roger’s suggestion:

• Ask “what if?” and then finish the question with some contrary-to-fact condition, idea or situation.

• Now, answer the question.

What if gravity stopped for one hour every day? What would things be like? How would land surfaces look? How would oceans and rivers be affected? Would living things have special “zero gravity” adaptations? What kind? How would you design cars? Buildings? Furniture? How would it affect food?

Let’s have a go at it:

What if we had seven fingers on each hand? Would we have two opposing thumbs? What implications can you imagine? How would it affect sports? Typing?

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Expeditioning

Get out of normal routine. Do something different. The solution to your problem already exists. Look at things differently.

Different world: Go spend time looking around some completely un-related industry. Notice how they do things and look for parallel applications.

Read: Read something you normally would not have anything to do with. Read a book on parenting, on holistic health, baking, a book on the mental aspect of golf, the training of horses or dogs, etc.

Think like a kid: Put yourself into the mindset of a kid. Think about your problem from the perspective of a child for 15 minutes.

Famous people perspective: Invite famous people (dead or alive), superheroes, fictitious people to look at your problem with you. How would your situation look through the eyes of Clark Kent? Sherlock Holmes? Thomas Edison? Take on an issue looking through their eyes.

Thought storming: Choose a question and then look for twenty answers to that question. Pick any issue that has relevance for you. For Example: "How can I improve the way I do my job?" Answers:

Look to nature: Go out for a walk. Work in your garden. Notice how things work in nature and see what relevance there might be for you in your work? Do you know of inventions that have come from observing nature?

Object connection: Take a break. Go outside. Find a rock, a stick, a gum wrapper, a wrench, an oil stain. How does the object you found relate to the solution to your challenge?

Solution focus: Go into the future in your mind and pretend the challenge is solved. Things are working much better. What caused things to improve. Work backward. Who was involved? Who has benefited? How do things feel around work now?

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Trigger words

All ideas are context related. Shift the context within which you are thinking and you will come up with different ideas. There are several ways to do that.

• Use “A Kick In The Seat Of Your Pants” by Roger von Oech, pages 42 and 43. He has a list of trigger words to stimulate ideas. Pick a number between 1 and 400, find the word, associate things you normally associate with that word, and relate those ideas to a current challenge.

• Play with a dictionary. If you don’t have von Oech’s book, randomly pick a

word out of the dictionary, associate what it means and things that go with it, then relate it to a current issue you are working on.

• Intentionally do a big picture association map of the challenge you are looking for helping resolving. Start with an issue and blow it up, then blow it up, then blow it up some more.

• REVERSAL: A great technique for getting unstuck! And, for generating a lot of ideas in a short time. Generally, when we form and state a problem, it immediately engages the problem solving abilities of the left-brain. Next: we focus too quickly, take the problem toooooo seriously, and eliminate possibilities.

Short circuit the left brain in problem-solving situations by stating the problem or challenge in the reverse.

Instead of how to improve meetings, look at how to make meetings worse!

Instead of improving morale, how would we make morale worse?

You want a high-performing team....look at what would create a low-performing team.

How about providing terrible customer service, making everyone a great micromanager, dis-empowering the work force, etc. Let’s try it......

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Move in this direction

Practice Session: Putting these ideas to work

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Start Here: Warm-up with some association or gusher

Big picture map

Success View: When it’s working?

Reversal

Animal, object, word or some forced association

What if it went away or was fixed. What would be different?

Has it or something similar been solved somewhere else

Explore similar distant world: nature, hobbies, horses, gardening, fishing, planning a vacation

Issue

Phrase and rephrase. Five “why’s”?

Fishbone Diagram

An option for putting it all together

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Focus/issue Key issue you want to work with….

Major causesMajor causes

Major causesMajor causes

Minor Causes

Solutions?

Village of Creatures

Once, there was a village of creatures along the bottom of a great crystal river.

The current of the river swept silently over them all - young and old, rich and poor, good and evil, the current going its own way, knowing only its own crystal self.

Each creature in its own manner clung tightly to the twigs and rocks of the river bottom, for clinging was their way of life, and resisting the current was what each had learned from birth.

But one creature said at last, “I am tired of clinging. Though I cannot see it with my eyes, I trust that the current knows where it is going. I shall let go, and let it take me where it will. Clinging, I shall die of boredom.” The other creatures laughed and said, “Fool! Let go, and that current you worship will throw you tumbled and smashed across the rocks, and you will die quicker than boredom!”

But the one heeded them not, and taking a breath did let go, and at once was tumbled and smashed by the current across the rocks. Yet in time, as the creature refused to cling again, the current lifted him free from the bottom and he was bruised and hurt no more.

And the creatures downstream, to whom he was a stranger, cried, “See a miracle! A creature like ourselves, yet he flies! See the Messiah, come to save us all!”

And the one carried in the current said, “I am no more Messiah than you. The river delights to lift us free, if only we dare let go. Our true work is this voyage, this adventure.”

But they cried the more, “Saviour!” all the while clinging to the rocks, and when they looked again, he was gone, and they were left alone making legends of a Saviour.

From: Richard Bach in the introduction to “Illusions”.

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Books on Creativity and Humor

Carlin, George. “Brain Droppings”

Christensen, Clayton. “The Innovator’s Dilemma”

De Bono, Edward. “Six Thinking Hats”

Goleman, Daniel & Others. "The Creative Spirit"

Grossman, Stephen, Bruce Rodgers & Beverly Moore. “Innovation, Inc.: Unlocking Creativity

In The Workplace”

Hanks, Kurt & Jay Parry. “Wake Up Your Creative Genius”

Hargadon, Andrew. “How Breakthroughs Happen”

Helitzer, Melvin. "Comedy Writing Secrets"

Hemsath, Dave and Leslie Yerkes. “301 Ways To Have Fun At Work”

Krug, Doug and Ed Oakley “Enlightened Leadership”

MacKenzie, Gordon. “Orbiting The Giant Hairball”

Michalko, Michael. “Cracking Creativity: The Secrets of Creative Genius”

“Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Business Creativity”

Perret, Gene. “Comedy Writing Workbook"

Ray, Michael & Rochelle Myers. "Creativity In Business"

Thompson, Charles. "What A Great Idea"

Tushman, Michael & Charles O”’Reilly. “Winning Through Innovation”

Van Gundy, Arthur. "Training Your Creative Mind"

von Oech, Roger. "A Whack On The Side Of Your Head"

“A Kick In The Seat Of The Pants”

Wujec, Tom. “Five Star Mind: Games & Puzzles To Stimulate Your Creativity & Imagination”

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