Designing Creative Solutions for Your Toughest Challenges

Last updated September 15, 2020

Designing Creative Solutions for Your Toughest Challenges

Last updated September 15, 2020

Solve your campus’ most difficult problems by releasing and actualizing creative ideas from across your campus.

Overview

In the current landscape of higher education, there are complex challenges that need to be solved – whether it be curriculum revisions, overcoming the enrollment cliff, or finding new ways of fundraising. In order to respond successfully to these challenges, you will need to dream what has not yet been imagined. However, this cannot be done alone. How do you ensure you have the right people and processes in place to elicit the required creativity?

Join us online and learn how to effectively build and manage problem-solving groups that will allow you to harness creative ideas at a time when they are most needed. Our expert instructor will introduce you to a 3-step process that provides an effective structure for releasing and actualizing creativity. You will walk away with tips and strategies for how to:

  • Identify the problems and issues that should be addressed through the problem-solving groups
  • Invite the right people to participate at the right time in the process
  • Establish a culture of respect and trust that cultivates creativity
  • Navigate the tensions that emerge from differences in risk tolerance, supporting diverse strengths within the team, and selective implementation of ideas

Who should attend?

This webcast is designed for any leader who is looking for a structured process to bring out the most creative ideas within their team or across teams in order to tackle big and small challenges they might be facing. This event is ideal for all leaders, no matter if you identify yourself as creative or not.

Agenda

A 3-Step Approach to Processing Solutions

Step 1: Define the Problem – Not all problems that you’re presented with require this creative, 3-step problem-solving process – but many will. Learn how to recognize when the problem you’re presented with requires this process and how to frame the problem to maximize creative problem-solving.

Step 2: Imagine Solutions – Your role in this step of the process will be to coach instead of manage, so you can fuel the creative ideas of others. Get tips for how to define team success, structure the brainstorming meetings, and directly support the team if and when needed.

Step 3: Implementation – You now need to determine which creative ideas will be tabled for later versus which ideas will be pursued now. Walk away with tips for how to identify and mitigate possible threats of implementation.

 

Creating the Conditions for your Process to Be Successful

You will discover the various conditions that you’ll need to create within your team dynamics and throughout the 3-step process in order to elicit creativity from your teams, including:

  • Exercising humility as the leader
  • Balancing differences in risk tolerance and perspectives between team members
  • Collaboration via effective communication and time management before, during, and after the process