Presenters: Jeff Heiser
Session Description:
This interactive workshop explores a practical framework for generating fresh ideas and addressing challenges with a creative mindset. In the ever-changing world of higher education, we constantly encounter the need to adapt, improve, and discover new ways of working. Whether you're seeking career growth, innovative approaches to your services, streamlined administrative processes, new methods for supporting students, or simply looking for effective ways to collaborate with colleagues, this session will equip you with the tools to generate innovative ideas.
A common misconception is that creativity is a rare talent reserved for artists and "creative types." This workshop challenges that notion. Creativity is a skill that can be learned and applied by anyone.
We'll delve into a creative problem-solving framework that can be used both individually and collaboratively, empowering you to "Discover, Explore, and Innovate"—a theme that aligns perfectly with the conference’s goals. This workshop goes beyond mere brainstorming; we will introduce specific techniques for defining problems, generating a wide range of ideas, evaluating those ideas, and transforming them into actionable plans.
Learn how to intentionally cultivate creativity and unlock new possibilities in your professional life within the UC system. This workshop is designed to be highly practical, providing you with tangible skills and strategies that you can implement immediately. Join us to move beyond conventional thinking, embrace the power of deliberate creativity, and contribute to a more innovative and vibrant UC community. The creative process we explore can be applied to your individual work, as well as to your teams and departments.
By attending this session, attendees will:
- apply a structured creative process to develop an action plan for a workplace challenge (Achieving Results/Continuous Improvement/Problem Solving).
- generate and evaluate creative solutions for a workplace challenge, demonstrating change agility (Creating the Future/Change Agility/Problem Solving).
- demonstrate effective collaboration during team brainstorming (Building Relationships/Collaboration).
Materials:
- Presentation deck (coming soon)