Are Entrepreneurs Down in the Dumps?

[27 April 2007 - BusinessWeek] Three recent surveys showed that small-business owners are more pessimistic about the economy and the future than they have been in years. ... A first-of-its-kind generational study conducted by American Express (AEXP) showed that a majority of Generation Y and Baby Boomer entrepreneurs are optimistic about the state of the U.S. economy. And large majorities—76% and 90%, respectively—of Gen Yers and Boomers described opening their own companies as "a good idea." More

Oops, I Did It Again: New brain research may help explain why some people don't seem to learn from their mistakes.

[24 April 2007 - Newsweek] Benjamin Franklin was no brain scientist. He was a keen observer of human behavior, and of the natural world, but he was a couple centuries too early to explore the intricate neuronal interplay of physics and biochemistry that makes us the people we are: healthy, wise, quirky, self-destructive. So, when he famously defined insanity as "doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results," this 18th-century polymath was really being more intuitive than rigorously scientific. Yet it looks like he got it right. New neuropsychological research is now suggesting that the inability to learn from one's mistakes may indeed be at the root of a broad range of human problems, ranging from childhood bullying and truancy to aggressive acts like road rage to all manner of substance abuse. And this cognitive aberration, deep-wired into the neurons and genes, may even underlie the vagaries of normal human behavior and personality. (It's important in the wake of the tragic events at Virginia Tech to emphasize that this column is not about such deeply disturbed psychology.) More

Leadership Forum: What is to be done?

[April 2007 - CIO Asia - By Teng Fang Yih & Christopher Koch] Now’s the time for CIOs to seize opportunities to reinvent the innovation process at their organisations. ... At the IBM-sponsored CIO Leadership Summit immediately preceding the annual CIO Awards & Conference 2007 at Raffles Hotel on 23 March 2007, more than 50 of the nation’s and region’s senior information executives packed a room to hear some bad news, and some good news. They were welcomed by newly anointed managing director of IBM Singapore, Teresa Lim. The editor of this magazine then set the tone for the rest of the session, aligning it with the theme and purpose of the entire CIO Awards & Conference 2007 programme: technology deployment and its role, as well as that of its leaders, in driving innovation in today’s global economy.  More specifically, it was about why the CIO and his IS division is often not involved in innovation, and how that must be changed, considering their special place within every large organisation today: at its core as the enablers and collectively the lifeblood of every single process. The top executives on the day were reminded of the fact that their mission was driving innovation.  Innovation. Not merely supporting and enabling the business, but about enhancing, then generating, creating and transforming their businesses, industries and economies. This is an important imperative for delegates at the forum to move after. As companies all over the world seek more and better ideas, their top executives in IT should seize the opportunity now to reinvent the innovation process by enabling their business people to collaborate, and by making IT an engine for business growth. More

Bringing Einstein back down to earth: Walter Isaacson delves into the private life of a genius

[13 April 13 2007- Houston Chronicle - Book Review by Steve Weinberg of "EINSTEIN: His Life and Universe," by Walter Isaacson] Words like "relativity" and "quantum theory" are part of the everyday lexicon, but for nonscientists they can be baffling as well as familiar. That means a biography of Albert Einstein may seem daunting to many readers. Walter Isaacson gives you one that isn't. Isaacson is a journalist, not a scientist. He undertook the challenge of explaining Einstein's physics for a nonspecialist readership because it is challenging. Tautology intended. ... As Isaacson recounts the growth and maturity of a genius, he fills the biography with psychological insights that grow organically from his intense study of the man. He tells us, for example, that "as a young student [Einstein] never did well with rote learning. And later, as a theorist, his success came not from the brute strength of his mental processing power but from his imagination and creativity. He could construct complex equations, but, more important, he knew that math was the language nature uses to describe her wonders." More

Engaging Creativity in the Classroom ... and the Community

[29 March 2007 - The Chronicle, Willimantic, Connecticut - Opinion by Steven Dahlberg, International Centre for Creativity and Imagination] Last Wednesday, I was awed to be sitting among the Windham High School Young Poets Group at The Bushnell in Hartford. Erin Gruwell – the real-life teacher upon whom the "Freedom Writers" movie is based – recognized these young artists in her very first comments on stage.

Windham teacher Lynn Frazier wrote to Gruwell, telling her about the impassioned work of her young poets. She told Gruwell about what a difference writing makes for these students, about the impact Gruwell's story had on them, and about how these students had fundraisers and a
pancake breakfast to go hear Gruwell tell her story.

Before going on stage, Gruwell read that letter and was moved to tears. She then entered a nearly packed auditorium and singled out the 30 Windham High School students – telling them to stand up, thanking them for their work and for being there, and acknowledging them several more times during her speech.

As a Willimantic resident, I am proud to know that these students are in my neighborhood everyday, learning through writing and creative expression how to discover their potential and uniqueness.

I am also aware that the opportunities for such learning do not happen frequently enough, especially for high school students. Some argue that it's too late to provide "extra" activities, such as arts and creative thinking, that it won't make a difference in these teenagers' lives.

Yet, as the "Freedom Writers" movie and the Windham Young Poets demonstrate, sometimes expressing oneself with pen and paper is the ONLY thing keeping some students engaged in school.

Our challenge as a community is how to provide more learning opportunities like this, which focus on students' strengths and talents, on what's working and connecting, and on the hope and possibilities of these individuals.

Our community grows and thrives when people's creative capital is expressed in positive ways. These young people provide one example of how each of us might contribute in unique ways to developing our community. What next …?

Creativity is ...

[12 March 2007 – Steve Dahlberg, International Centre for Creativity and Imagination] Participants at the "Creative Wisdom Workshop: Composing a Creative Life" at the Hartford Public Library (Hartford, Connecticut) generated the following definitions of creativity last month.

CREATIVITY IS …

* Looking at the ordinary and seeing what others don't see
* Passion – being own voice
* Responding to conflict
* Coming out from under
* Inspiration
* Energy
* Perseverance
* Universal
* Sharing
* Spontaneous
* Intuitive
* Your own way of interpreting of things around you
* Coming with your own ideas
* Drawing, dancing, walking, singing
* Unique, genuine, given easily, capable, reliable
* Freedom to think of new ideas and ways of doing things
* Sense of bringing to well-being
* New interest, focus, happiness, fulfillment
* Thinking out of the box
* Ideas practically formulated into reality
* Imagination acting on life
* Spiritual – from God
* Co-creator with the divine
* Being able to visualize
* Bring unrelated resources together to make something new
* Making something from nothing
* Tapping into the great unconscious

Anna Freud on Creative Minds ...

“Creative minds have always been known to survive any kind of bad training.”

Develop creative neighbourhoods using 'inner artist': New approach sought in building future urban developments

[21 February 2006 - Daily Commercial News] Developers need to embrace their inner artist to help build communities where creativity can flourish. That was the message to delegates at the recent Canadian Urban Institute conference, The Path to Culture-led Regeneration: Who’s Leading the Way? While new condominium and commercial developments often trade on the creativity of the neighbourhoods in which they’re built, they can also destroy the creative character of those communities. More

Diversity Goals Help Kids in School -- and Later in Life

[16 February 2007 - The Press-Enterprise - Hugh B. Price, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution] ... Looking to the future, the U.S. economy will rely increasingly on minority workers, entrepreneurs and taxpayers who represent a growing segment of the population. Yet black and Latino pupils in particular are concentrated in the nation's lowest-performing schools, with the least able teachers and the most inadequate facilities. Surely, student assignment policies that enable them to attend good schools where they can maximize their talent and potential easily meet the test for a compelling state interest. ... More

Hartford Explores the Role of Creativity and Arts in Education, Business and Community

[22 March 2007 - A report by Steven Dahlberg, International Centre for Creativity and Imagination - From the Greater Hartford Art Council's "Community Conversations: The State of Arts Education in Greater Hartford"] The Greater Hartford Arts Council (GHAC) brought together educators, artists, business people and government officials to explore the state of arts education in the Hartford area. This dialogue was the first of two parts in the 2007 MetLife Foundation National Arts Forum Series on "Arts and Workforce Development" (watch for part two in May).

Moderator and GHAC's Executive Director Ken Kahn started off by asking The Stanley Works' Vice President Tim LeBeau about the importance of creativity in the workplace. LeBeau said that creativity is at the heart of what they do: "We are paid for brand and innovation." He said that because innovation comes from people, they need to be critical thinkers. Creativity also comes into play in designing products for function AND fashion.

Jonathan Gillman, chair of theater department at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts, explored ideas about developing creativity in arts students. He said that many first-year students at his school are out of touch with their own creativity. However, being at an arts-based school, each department teaches creativity through a variety of art forms. In response to LeBeau's call for critical thinking, Gillman agreed and was quick to add that creative thinking goes side by side with critical thinking.

Ultimately, Gillman said the aim of the Academy of the Arts is to educate creative, engaged citizens who contribute to the world. This doesn't end at the school's front door. Rather, he said that arts education is a lifelong process, as it has to do with ways of thinking in general and of perceiving the world. More

INNOVATION: How to Implement New Ideas

[1 March 2007 - CIO] This Forum is a follow-up to our Jan. 1 column, which focused on how CIOs can create innovative cultures. Here, we explore how to create processes for innovation. On the surface, putting “innovation” and “process” together seems oxymoronic. Process conjures boundaries; innovation, some say, is best fostered in unfettered environments. But smart CIOs understand the need for both in pursuit of the new. More

Celebrate Windham Kids and Creativity

PUBLIC ART EXHIBIT TO OPEN SATURDAY, MARCH 17, IN WILLIMANTIC; 1300 WINDHAM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS DESIGN AND PAINT BANNERS TO BE HUNG ON MAIN STREET

[8 March 2007 - By Steve Dahlberg - Willimantic, Connecticut] The Windham Arts Center (WAC) will host the opening exhibition of "Creativity: The Heart of Community" Windham Banner Project on Saturday, March 17, from 1 to 4 p.m., with a special presentation at 3 p.m. The event is free and open to the public and will take place in The Annex at WAC, 866 Main Street, Willimantic, Conn.

The Windham community will celebrate public art designed and created by 1300 students from Windham's four elementary schools, including Natchaug, North Windham, Sweeney, and Windham Center. Sixty-four unique banner designs will be hung on Main Street lampposts in Willimantic as public art -- created BY the community FOR the community.

Artist JoAnn Moran of rePublicArt worked with students and teachers for three weeks as part of the Windham Schools Artist-in-Residence Program, which is supported by a $50,000 gift from the Ossen Fund for Arts Education. Through the use of recycled vinyl billboards as the banner material, Moran helped students learn about the importance of sustainability, public art and creative communities.

The Windham Banner Project is part of an ongoing creative community project, working to promote the value of creativity, arts and culture in community and economic development. The 3 p.m. program will represent members of this broader community, including performance artists from the Windham High School Young Poets group, advocate and organizer LaResse Harvey, artist JoAnn Moran, Willimantic resident Steven Dahlberg, and others. Plus, meet the young artists, view an exhibition of their design process, see the banners on Main Street, and share your ideas for future creative community projects.

The City of Toronto Poet Laureate Pier Giorgio Di Cicco says of community creativity: "Creativity is that celebration where people re-invent the world ... where they can be themselves and think imaginatively. ... People want to be accepted and acknowledged in their creative skills as citizens. What they are is already creative. The project is to have them recognize it."

In this spirit, the Willimantic creative community projects include several goals and benefits:

• Using creativity and arts to engage the public in their community.
• Providing visual beautification elements through public art to the downtown district.
• Showcasing the creation of sustainable art and green communities.
• Celebrating the diversity of the community -- including male and female, multi-generational, multi-ethnic, and multi-organizational.
• Building on and complementing current arts and cultural initiatives, such as Third Thursday Willimantic Street Fest, the Cinema Project, the Willimantic Victorian Home Tour, the Windham Theatre Guild, the Romantic Willimantic Chocolate Festival,
  among many others.
• Offering educational programs that help Windham students and adults develop and apply their creative thinking skills.

Two of the young banner artists expressed some benefits of creativity and public art: "Public art will help everyone in town imagine wonderful things," and "Our lamppost banners will make our
city feel creative. Our public art will also make our creativity shine to our town."

Additional supporters of the Windham Banner Project include Willimantic Waste/The DeVivo Family, Town of Windham, Windham Arts Center, The Home Depot, rePublicArt, and the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination.

More

How can U.S. stay on top of the world?

[7 March 2007 - USA Today - Opinion] We’re no longer the economic center of the universe, as the global landscape has shifted to former Third World countries. What to do? Remain competitive through innovation, not protectionism. ... Many more corporations should develop a clear emerging-markets strategy, embed their young managers with local families (as Procter & Gamble already does), build crucial local relationships, establish international focus groups to tailor products to local tastes, and form business alliances with this new breed of companies. And our universities should focus more on creative problem solving and integrate study and work experience abroad if we want students to be comfortable with foreign languages and cultures. More

Intelligent Design

[4 March 2007 - Star Tribune - Minneapolis] On the heels of the information age, which seems to have just arrived, come suggestions that we've entered a new era, one in which creativity, design, aesthetics and the ability to forge emotional links will drive the American economy. Editorial writer Steve Berg recently discussed the trend with Thomas Fisher, dean of the University of Minnesota's newly formed College of Design, which incorporates architecture, landscape, cities, interiors, fashions and graphics into a singular effort. ... The information economy is still with us. But the paradoxical effect of the Internet is that it has made information so widely available that it holds no real economic value. Everybody can get incredible amounts of information, so there's no competitive advantage of having it. The idea of the design economy is that, for developed countries like ours, which cannot compete in a global marketplace on price or even quite often on the quality of a product, we have to compete on the basis of innovation, creativity and imagination, which takes you to design. By design, I don't mean just aesthetics but function and cultural adaptability. More

Needing more innovation

[2 March 2007 - Times of Malta - Lawrence Zammit] One of the areas that seems to require a great deal of attention in Malta is the issue of innovation. In fact this is an area where we are being told that we are lagging behind other members of the European Union, in particular within the framework of the Lisbon Agenda (the EU strategy that is meant to increase the competitiveness of firms operating within the EU with a view to achieving sustained economic growth and employment). Within the context of the Lisbon Agenda, reference is made to research and development that takes place within the EU member states. All this may sound very strange, as I have always felt that it is more than legitimate to ask whether it is true that so little R&D takes place in this country, as is being reported. Is there really such little creativity in firms operating here? And the consequence of little R&D and little creativity leads to little innovation. Yet we pride ourselves that the father of creative thinking is Maltese. More

Toward an A+ in creativity

[20 February 2007 - Boston Globe] Judging a school by its test scores isn't a bad idea, it's just a limited one. A bill in the state Legislature would create a new measuring stick -- one that charts the chances students have to engage in creative activities. That might mean acting in the school play or being in the science fair. And as this century dawns, it should also mean engaging in multidisciplinary activities that may combine math and art or science and economics. Filed by Representative Daniel Bosley, a North Adams Democrat, the bill would set up a commission of cultural and business people as well as educators and legislative representatives to devise an index of creative and innovative education. More

innovation: from corporate buzzword to business imperative in 2007

[20 February 2007 - Weber Shandwick] According to a recently released survey by Weber Shandwick and KRC Research, the bedrock of the new "Creativity Economy" in 2007 will continue to be innovation, with 76 percent of senior executives agreeing that innovation will become more important over the next five years. The survey, titled "The Changing Face of Marketing and Communications in Today's Creativity Economy," also reveals that 78 percent of senior executives agree that innovation is important to their CEO, with most CEOs similarly responding that innovation is important to the company. More

Universities Urged to Link Up with Business

[16 February 2007 - TrainingZone - UK] British universities can do for the UK's creative economy what America's leading colleges have done for the US technology sector, according to the chief executive of Creative & Cultural Skills. Speaking at the Guardian Higher Education Summit, Tom Bewick urged universities to strengthen their links with creative businesses and assist in the development of enterprise clusters with high levels of specialised entrepreneurial skills. More

Diversity Powers Innovation

[26 January 2007 - Center for American Progress - By Scott Page] Most people believe that innovation requires smarter people, better ideas. That premise, though intuitive, omits what may be the most powerful but least understood force for innovation: Diversity. Diversity usually calls to mind differences in race, gender, ethnicity, physical capabilities, and sexual orientation—social or political differences that at first glance have little to do with innovation. Yet the key to innovation, in economic terms, resides inside the heads of people, the more diverse the better. That link may not be immediately apparent, yet any understanding of innovation's role in economic growth must focus on diversity as well as ability. More

Martin Luther Al-King?

[25 January 2007 - New York Times - Opinion by Thomas Friedman] The brutally honest Syrian-born poet Ali Ahmad Said, known as Adonis, gave an interview from Paris on March 11, 2006, with Dubai TV, and warned of what's at stake (translation by Memri): ''The Arab individual is no less smart, no less a genius, than anyone else in the world. He can excel -- but only outside his society. If I look at the Arabs, with all their resources and great capacities, and I compare what they have achieved over the past century with what others have achieved in that period, I would have to say that we Arabs are in a phase of extinction, in the sense that we have no creative presence in the world. We have the quantity. We have the masses of people, but a people becomes extinct when it no longer has a creative capacity, and the capacity to change its world.''

WHY KM INITIATIVES FAIL!

[21 January 2007 - Gurteen Knowledge-Letter - UK] I recently spent an hour or so with several senior managers of a large organization talking about their new KM initiative. After the session I e-mailed the knowledge manager some advise. Its quite generic but sums up my thoughts on why so many KM initiatives fail and so I thought I'd share them on my blog. Since then I have also seen someone asking in a forum "how do you get people to collaborate?" and "how do you change the mindset of people?". As I explain in my blog posting such questions are poor questions in that they are not specific enough! Jason Bates in my Forum commenting on the question "how should worker productivity be better managed?" answers in a similar vein by effectively saying "well it all depends" and goes on to say: "It's a personal bug bear of mine that some KM'ers persist in abstracting problems to conceptual levels that make business people groan and roll their eyes." More

A Kindred Spirit - Science, Education and Creativity

[21 January 2007 - Science- and Fooducation blog - Norway] My first experience with the annual ASE (The Association for Science Education) conference was at The University of Birmingham 3.-6. January. A paradox was that I had to go all the way to England to find that one of the most interesting experiences was to be a Swedish lecturer. A packed programme with hoards of parallel sessions, spanning most thinkable and unthinkable science education issues; from the highly inspiring/enthusing to the one that give you the feeling "I never thought it was possible to completely ruin something so inherently fascinating". However, one experience left all of the other sessions in the shadows: Hans Persson at the Swedish National Centre for Education in Physics (and Stockholm University, Institute of Education) had two sessions: "Creativity in the Science Classroom" and "Curious About Science?". His approach to science teaching was so fresh, vital and inspiring that the session ended in the audience giving standing ovations (the first time I've experienced such after a conference lecture). More

Meaningful learning keeps students engaged by teachers

[17 January 2007 - Huntsville Times] Speaker: Don't let kids get bored, or they'll be difficult ... Dealing with difficult students means not having them and the best way to do this is to encourage collaborative, meaningful learning, Dr. Charles Beaman told Madison teachers at the school system's in-service activities on Jan. 9. "Students must have therapeutic teachers in their lives," said Beaman, a national private consultant with his company, Therapeutic Discipline and Other Solutions based in Nashville, Tenn. "Classroom management must be therapeutic with teachers being friendly and inviting students to participate and come along." Beaman said a teacher's No. 1 goal should be to be proactive by motivating students to learn so they don't get bored and become difficult. More

Sowing the seeds of knowledge

[14 January 2007 - Times-Tribune] In the case of Howard Gardner, school "was never problematic." Of course, that’s not true for everyone, and the Scranton native has spent the better part of his life doing his best to ease the burden. It would not be off-base to use the term visionary to describe the Harvard University professor, considered by many to be a heavyweight in the field of educational psychology. Dr. Gardner’s claim to fame is his theory of multiple intelligences, which challenges the long-held notion that there is a single human intelligence that can be assessed via standard methods such as IQ tests. In Dr. Gardner's world, it’s not a question of how smart a person is, but, in what way are they smart? More

Workers Crave 'Meaning'

[10 January 2007 - TrainingZone - UK] Interviews with over 10,000 workers in the last five years show that companies who fail to create meaning for employees risk business failure, according to corporate psychologists YSC. The consultancy says that its results show that people do not want to just work in a business that is successful, but want to feel engaged in something worthwhile and that they can make a difference. “People spend up to one third of their waking lives in the workplace, so asking the fundamental question of what they get out of that time is important,” said Gurnek Bains, CEO of YSC. More

This raises the issue of how to engage employees in meaningful activity -- which both gives the individual employee the opportunity to do purposeful work, as well contributes to the organization's bottom-line results. The topic of "meaningful work" is also relevant for older workers who are nearing retirement, as well as for those who have left their full-time work but want to stay engaged in some kind of meaningful activity. -- Steve Dahlberg

Like other aspects of modern life, schools must change

[10 January 2007 - Half Moon Bay Review - Opinion] ... One of CASA's guiding principles, which specifically addresses individual needs, is Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences. In our society, we often think of people who are "good at" math or language as "smart," yet we don't offer that same mark of respect to gifted artists or musicians. Why is that? When I was young, my mom would say things like "So-and-so is smart at cutting hair" or "smart at fixing cars," and it wasn't until recently that I realized how true her words were: It's all brain power. It's all intelligence. The holistic approach adopted by CASA acknowledges and nurtures this belief, allowing the students to access the curriculum through their strengths, develop in many different areas, and recognize intelligence in others as well as in themselves. More

Research: Laughter is contagious

[13 December 2006 - Wellcome Trust] Laughter is truly contagious, and now, scientists studying how our brain responds to emotive sounds believe they understand why. Researchers at University College London (UCL) and Imperial College London have shown that positive sounds such as laughter or a triumphant "woo hoo!" trigger a response in the listener's brain. This response occurs in the area of the brain that is activated when we smile, as though preparing our facial muscles to laugh. The research, funded by the Wellcome Trust, Action Medical Research and the Barnwood House Trust, is published today in the Journal of Neuroscience. Led by Dr Sophie Scott, a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL, the research team played a series of sounds to volunteers while measuring their brain's response using an fMRI scanner. Some of the sounds were positive, such as laughter or triumph, while others were unpleasant, such as screaming or retching. All of the sounds triggered a response in the volunteer's brain in the premotor cortical region, which prepares the muscles in the face to respond accordingly, though the response was greater for positive sounds, suggesting that these were more contagious than negative sounds. The researchers believe this explains why we respond to laughter or cheering with an involuntary smile. More

Happiness, Happiness, Happiness

[8 January 2007 - Steve Dahlberg] It looks like 2007 is going to be the year of happiness, well-being and positive psychology -- or at least the popular exploration of these topics. Scientists and academics are studying the impact of positive emotions and happiness on our personal lives and our surroundings. Economists are looking at how to measure the happiness and well-being of a community, in addition to traditional measures of financial outcomes and impacts. All of these areas promise a balance to our typical focus on "fixing" what's wrong or broken with our lives, our organizations and our communities. The time is here for also focusing on what's good, what works and what we are best at.

Teaching Happiness
[8 January 2007 - WBUR - On Point] If doing for others is the road to happiness, New York's Wesley Autry, who jumped on to subway tracks to save a man's life last week, ought to be the happiest guy on the planet these days. But what about the rest of us? A new science of happiness is attempting to pin down what really lifts the spirit -- to measure it, and to teach it. Happier people live longer. They get fewer colds. They have better relationships and do more for others. Since the time of the ancients, we've had advice on the good life. Now, after a century of measuring well-being by the march of economic indicators, psychologists are saying let's measure and teach well-being itself. More

Happiness 101
[7 Janurary 2007 - New York Times Magazine] More than 200 colleges and graduate schools in the United States offer classes like the one at George Mason. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Barbara Fredrickson passes out notebooks with clouds on a powdery blue cover for each student. At the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, students pass out chocolates and handwritten notes to school custodians and secretaries. The introductory positive-psychology class at Harvard attracted 855 students last spring, making it the most popular class at the school. “I teach my class on two levels,” says Tal Ben-Shahar, the instructor. “It’s like a regular academic course. The second level is where they ask the question, How can I apply this to my life?” True, the course is known as a gut, but it is also significant that 23 percent of the students who commented on it in the undergraduate evaluation guide said that it had improved their lives. ... Positive psychology brings the same attention to positive emotions (happiness, pleasure, well-being) that clinical psychology has always paid to the negative ones (depression, anger, resentment). Psychoanalysis once promised to turn acute human misery into ordinary suffering; positive psychology promises to take mild human pleasure and turn it into a profound state of well-being. “Under certain circumstances, people — they’re not desperate or in misery — they start to wonder what’s the best thing life can offer,” says Martin Seligman, one of the field’s founders, who heads the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Thus positive psychology is not only about maximizing personal happiness but also about embracing civic engagement and spiritual connectedness, hope and charity. “Aristotle taught us virtue isn’t virtue unless you choose it,” Seligman says. More

The Science of Happiness
[January-February 2007 - Harvard Magazine] For much of its history, psychology has seemed obsessed with human failings and pathology. The very idea of psychotherapy, first formalized by Freud, rests on a view of human beings as troubled creatures in need of repair. Freud himself was profoundly pessimistic about human nature, which he felt was governed by deep, dark drives that we could only tenuously control. The behaviorists who followed developed a model of human life that seemed to many mechanistic if not robotic: humans were passive beings mercilessly shaped by the stimuli and the contingent rewards and punishments that surrounded them. After World War II, psychologists tried to explain how so many ordinary citizens could have acquiesced in fascism, and did work epitomized in the 1950 classic The Authoritarian Personality by T.W. Adorno, et al. Social psychologists followed on, demonstrating in laboratories how malleable people are. Some of the most famous experiments proved that normal folk could become coldly insensitive to suffering when obeying “legitimate” orders or cruelly sadistic when playing the role of prison guard. Research funders invested in subjects like conformity, neurosis, and depression. A watershed moment arrived in 1998, when University of Pennsylvania psychologist Martin Seligman, in his presidential address to the American Psychological Association, urged psychology to “turn toward understanding and building the human strengths to complement our emphasis on healing damage.” That speech launched today’s positive psychology movement. “When I met Marty Seligman [in 1977], he was the world’s leading scholar on ‘learned helplessness’ and depression,” says Vaillant. “He became the world’s leading scholar on optimism.” Though not denying humanity’s flaws, the new tack of positive psychologists recommends focusing on people’s strengths and virtues as a point of departure. Rather than analyze the psychopathology underlying alcoholism, for example, positive psychologists might study the resilience of those who have managed a successful recovery—for example, through Alcoholics Anonymous. Instead of viewing religion as a delusion and a crutch, as did Freud, they might identify the mechanisms through which a spiritual practice like meditation enhances mental and physical health. Their lab experiments might seek to define not the conditions that induce depraved behavior, but those that foster generosity, courage, creativity, and laughter. More

Happiness (and how to measure it)
[December 23, 2006-January 5, 2007 - The Economist]

• Affluence: Capitalism can make a soceity rich and keep it free. Don't ask it to make you happy as well. More
• Happiness and Economics: Economics discovers its feelings. Not quite as dismal as it was. More
  

Winning Cities

[8 January 2007 - WBUR - On Point] In the sweep of history, great cities come and go from their golden heights. Vienna, Florence, Athens -- all once crown jewels, now storied and fine but second tier, maybe third. In the 21st century, a new pack of contenders are jostling for the "hot city" crown. New York and London are still very much in the race but Paris is dropping back and Shanghai and the boom cities of India are pushing up. In a global economy, board meetings and banks and the most fabulous boardwalks can be anywhere the action is. Exploding cities are competing to be both sizzling and sustainable. This hour On Point: we'll go to Shanghai, London and urban America to look at winning cities in a new century. More

Thinking Great Thoughts

[January 2007 - IEEE Spectrum] ... Great ideas do happen, as has occurred with many of the innovations and achievements we celebrate as engineers -- it’s just that they don’t tend to get scheduled or to come about because of a job requirement. Most often these ideas come at unexpected moments when the originator is thinking about something else or nothing at all. Perhaps while we are taking a shower in the morning, a background process is grinding away in our brains, and a connection is made while we ostensibly are thinking of nothing but pouring shampoo. There is a theory of creativity that holds that creativity is most often the product of the unexpected intersection of two previously unconnected thoughts. If you are thinking very hard about one such thought, perhaps you are suppressing the other thoughts that could connect with it. On the other hand, if your mind is a perfect blank…but perhaps I go too far. If you will excuse me now, I have reserved this time for the thinking of great thoughts. More

In Houston, Art Is Where the Home Is

[17 December 2006 - New York Times] On a strangely balmy late autumn afternoon, while the art world busied itself in Miami with beachfront reservations and limo drivers, Rick Lowe was, as he generally is, on Holman Street in southeast Houston’s predominantly black Third Ward, greeting another out-of-towner. In the gloaming, decrepit houses and weedy lots dotted some surrounding blocks, on the edges of which were new double-garage brick homes -- signs of encroaching gentrification, an unwanted side effect of Mr. Lowe’s work. Although it’s hard to tell at a glance, this stretch of Holman may be the most impressive and visionary public art project in the country -- a project that is miles away, geographically and philosophically, from Chelsea and Art Basel and the whole money-besotted paper-thin art scene. Mr. Lowe, a lanky, amiable, remarkably youthful-looking 45-year-old artist from Alabama, moved to Houston 21 years ago and lives here in the Third Ward, where he founded Project Row Houses. In 1990, “a group of high school students came over to my studio,” he recalled. “I was doing big, billboard-size paintings and cutout sculptures dealing with social issues, and one of the students told me that, sure, the work reflected what was going on in his community, but it wasn’t what the community needed. If I was an artist, he said, why didn't I come up with some kind of creative solution to issues instead of just telling people like him what they already knew. That was the defining moment that pushed me out of the studio.” He tried to think afresh what it meant to be a truly political artist, beyond devising the familiar agitprop, gallery decoration and plop-art-style public sculpture. He considered what the German artist Joseph Beuys once described as “the enlarged conception of Art,” which includes, as Beuys put it, “every human action.” Life itself might be a work of art, Mr. Lowe realized: art can be the way people live. More

Museums Are Key to Britain's Success

[13 December 2006 - ArtDaily.org - London] A report published today, Museums and Galleries in Britain: Economic, Social and Creative Impacts, by Tony Travers of the London School of Economics, finds that “the UK’s museums and galleries could, with greater capacity to expand and improve, allow this country to be a world leader in creativity and scholarship.” The report, jointly commissioned by the National Museum Directors’ Conference (NMDC) and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), analyses a number of Britain’s leading museums and galleries in terms of visitor numbers, economic impacts, civic functions, and contributions to the country?s creativity and educational performance. Mark Wood, Chair of the MLA Board, said: “The MLA welcomes this research as a robust and academic assessment of the economic and social value of museums and galleries in Britain. Although it is clear that there is much to be proud of, particularly the impact of the Renaissance programme and other initiatives designed to develop wider audiences, the report does include some pertinent insights into the continuing need for long term investment in museums and galleries to ensure that the high quality services offered to all persist.” More

Positive Moods Increase Creativity and Observation, Study Says

[18 December 2006 - Bloomberg] People in positive moods absorb more information and are more creative, says a study to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. When people are in good moods, compared with neutral or negative ones, they change the way they perceive their surroundings, according to the study's author Adam Anderson, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Toronto in Toronto. "You can actually put people into a more creative mindset by putting them in a positive mood,'' he said. Past studies had linked positive emotions and creativity, Anderson said. His study in this week's edition of PNAS focuses on showing for the first time that "positive mood changes our capacity to see and increases our capacity to take in information in our world,'' he said. More

The long-awaited follow-up to Gallup's "First, Break All the Rules"

[19 December 2006 - The Gallup Organization] How do great managers inspire top performance in employees? How do they generate enthusiasm, unite disparate personalities to focus on a common mission, and drive teams to achieve ever-higher goals? More than a decade ago, The Gallup Organization combed through its database of more than 1 million employee and manager interviews to identify the elements most important in sustaining workplace excellence. These elements were revealed in the 1999 bestseller First, Break All the Rules. 12: The Elements of Great Managing is that book’s long-awaited sequel. It follows great managers as they harness employee engagement to turn around a failing call center, save a struggling hotel, improve patient care in a hospital, maintain production through power outages, and successfully face a host of other challenges in settings around the world. Gallup’s study now includes 10 million employee and manager interviews spanning 114 countries and conducted in 41 languages. In 12, authors Rodd Wagner and James K. Harter weave the latest Gallup insights with recent discoveries in the fields of neuroscience, game theory, psychology, sociology, and economics. Written for managers and employees of companies large and small, 12 explains what every company needs to know about creating and sustaining employee engagement. More

A Study of Hope

[15 December 2006 - Motivation Matters blog] If you believe that intrinsic motivation is a prerequisite for success in school, then you should check out a research effort spearheaded by Mark Van Ryzin, a teaching assistant at the University of Minnesota's College of Education and Human Development. The effort is called the Hope Study and it aims to determine whether motivation to learn increases when schools give students more autonomy, a greater sense of belonging, and more opportunities to pursue individual goals. The study is relatively small, with about 40 schools participating this school year. But that number was just three schools in 2004 when the study was started. The vast majority of the participants are secondary charter schools, not regular district schools. More

'Thinking Skills' in Islamic Education

[12 December 2006 - The American Muslim - By Jeremy Henzell-Thomas] Increasing emphasis is being placed on ‘Thinking Skills’ in Western education systems, either as a specific program or as a strand ideally woven into all subject areas. In the UK, for example, one of the factors behind this development is the justifiable concern that the national curriculum has progressively abandoned the philosophy and practice of holistic education and is now dominated by a narrow concept of ‘schooling’ (and its associated testing regime) geared disproportionately to uninspiring utilitarian objectives. Tony Blair has made it clear on more than one occasion that it is the provision of a 'workforce’ to drive forward national economic performance which is the top priority in his vision of 'education’. The negative effect of this target-driven schooling regime on the morale of schoolchildren has been well documented. Disaffection and truancy are rife, and self-harm, depression and even suicide are increasing alarmingly amongst young people. In his challenging book, Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling, New York State Teacher of the Year John Taylor Gatto makes a powerful indictment of the assumptions and structures which underlie modern state schooling in the USA and exposes the same deadening utilitarian agenda which informs British educational policy - an agenda geared to turning children into cogs in an economic machine, children who are dependent, conforming, materialistic, and lacking in curiosity, creativity, imagination, self-knowledge, and powers of intellectual inquiry and reflection. The thrust for Thinking Skills education has largely focused on the development within schools of a teaching and learning culture which promotes 'Critical and Creative Thinking’. This is a welcome development in many ways, and it has to be said that there is a particularly pressing need to revive such a teaching and learning culture in the Muslim world. More

A Peace Prize for Iraq: The Economist's Solution to the War

Sometimes, thinking differently is required. This sparks a very different way of considering alternative outcomes. It also prompts one to ask new kinds of "what ifs" and potential consequences questions ...

[13 December 2006 - CommonDreams.org - by Dean Baker] The events of the last week should have dashed any hopes that the Iraq Study Group's (ISG) plan would lead to a quick US withdrawal from Iraq and an end to the violence. President Bush has made it clear that he will not accept the ISG plan for a phased withdrawal of troops. Even if he did accept the ISG plan, it is not clear how much longer US troops would remain in Iraq, nor that the plan would lead to an end to the civil war. Some new thinking is clearly in order. John Schmitt, my colleague at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, has risen to the occasion. He has developed an economist's solution for the war in Iraq - a $200 billion peace prize. The basic logic of the plan is very simple. At the moment, the various religious/ethnic groups in Iraq are fighting for control over Iraq and/or their particular territory in the belief that they have to protect their share of oil revenue and the other assets of the country. In other words, they have to fight to protect what they have, or to control what they think they should have. ... A prize of this magnitude would potentially mean serious money for the people of Iraq. It would be sufficient to provide almost $1,500 for every man, women, and child in the country, or $6,000 for a family of four. This is a huge sum for people in Iraq, where per capita GDP is less than $1,800 a year. The equivalent sum for the United States would be $150,000 a year for a family of four. This would be enough money to get most people's attention. If families in Iraq knew that they stood to get such large windfalls by keeping the peace, they might place considerable pressure on the militias, insurgents and jihadists to stop the killing. If the prizes were actually paid out, it would provide a huge boost to the Iraqi economy and could provide a basis for sustained economic development. More

America's Young Adults Face Serious Economic Challenges

[13 December 2006 - Demos - US] 18-34 Year Olds Confronted with New Financial Obstacles Not Experienced by Previous Generation ... Today's young adults are feeling the full, deep impact of a massive shift in the US economy, and are no longer able to start and sustain a family, build a career and grow assets in the same manner as the previous generation, according to a new report series published today by Demos, a national, nonpartisan public policy center. The new five-part "Young Adult Economics Series" shows that America's young people are feeling the full effect of a 30-year shift from an industrial to technology- and service-based U.S. economy. The series shows that the combination of stagnant wage growth, growing debt, and high costs of education, homeownership and healthcare are new realities. These are now common factors that challenge the ability of America's 20-and 30-somethings to start, and sustain, an economically stable adult life. "Young people today are being hit by a one-two economic punch," said Tamara Draut, director of the Economic Opportunity Program at Demos and author of the series as well as a book entitled "Strapped: Why America's 20-and 30-Somethings Can't Get Ahead". "For the young generation of workers, the economy no longer generates widespread opportunity and security, and our public policies haven't evolved to pick up any of the slack. In fact, many of the problems we see today are a direct result of a disinvestment in the policy investments meant to ensure that the opportunity ladder is firmly in place." "This research shows that, unless we address these problems--and we can--this will likely be the first generation to not surpass the living standards of their parents." The series provides a comprehensive portrait of the economic status of today's young adults--and offers policy solutions that Congress and state legislatures can act on. More

Is Creativity a Foreign Concept?

[Fall 2006 - MIT Sloan Management Review - A brief synopsis of Cultural Barriers and Mental Borders: Multicultural Learning Experiences Facilitate Creativity (working paper, 2006) by William W. Maddux and Adam D. Galinsky] William W. Maddux, assistant professor of organizational behavior at INSEAD and Adam D. Galinsky, associate professor of management and organization at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management, conducted four studies of students placed in situations requiring creative insights. The first two studies revealed that graduate students were more likely to find innovative solutions to tricky problems and negotiations if they had lived abroad for some time. "It's not enough to go backpacking around Europe for a week or two," explains Galinsky. "You really need to immerse yourself in the culture to get this serendipitous boost in creativity.” In fact, it took about six to 12 months of overseas living to get any benefit. Thereafter, a bigger boost came from students who had lived abroad at least two or three years. The studies also confirmed that overseas living experience made a difference, even when controlling for important personality traits, such as “openness to new experiences.” These findings imply that companies can get the most out of their teams by rotating employees to new regions or by emphasizing foreign-living experiences in the hiring process. It is also likely that immersion in different cultures, not necessarily different nations, is the important factor; the more diverse the culture, the better. "If you think of culture as a continuum,” Maddux speculates, "the farther you get from your own particular culture, the more creative you're more likely to get." More

Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge

[December 2006 - National Science Foundation] Some of science’s most powerful statements are not made in words. From the diagrams of DaVinci to Hooke’s microscopic bestiary, the beaks of Darwin’s finches, Rosalind Franklin’s x-rays or the latest photographic marvels retrieved from the remotest galactic outback, visualization of research has a long and literally illustrious history. To illustrate is, etymologically and actually, to enlighten. You can do science without graphics. But it’s very difficult to communicate it in the absence of pictures. Indeed, some insights can only be made widely comprehensible as images. How many people would have heard of fractal geometry or the double helix or solar flares or synaptic morphology or the cosmic microwave background if they had been described solely in words? To the general public, whose support sustains the global research enterprise, these and scores of other indispensable concepts exist chiefly as images. They become part of the essential iconic lexicon. And they serve as a source of excitement and motivation for the next generation of researchers. The National Science Foundation (NSF) and Science created the Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge to celebrate that grand tradition -- and to encourage its continued growth. In a world where science literacy is dismayingly rare, illustrations provide the most immediate and influential connection between scientists and other citizens, and the best hope for nurturing popular interest. Indeed, they are now a necessity for public understanding of research developments: In an increasingly graphics-oriented culture, where people acquire the majority of their news from TV and the World Wide Web, a story without a vivid and intriguing image is often no story at all. We urge you and your colleagues to contribute to the next competition and to join us in congratulating the winners. Judges appointed by the National Science Foundation and the journal Science will select winners in each of five categories: photographs, illustrations, informational graphics, interactive media and non-interactive media. The winners will be published in a special section of the September 28, 2007 issue of the journal Science and Science Online and on the NSF website. One of the winners' entry will be on the front cover of Science. In addition, each finalist will receive a free one-years' print and on-line subscription to the journal Science and a certificate of appreciation. Entries for 2007 are being solicited now. We urge all researchers and science communicators to participate in this unique and inspiring competition. More

Visualizing Science / Creativity / Pollock, Painting, and Fractals

[15 December 2006 - Science Friday - NPR] Sometimes, science can be hard to grasp -- and a good way to visualize a scientific topic can make all the difference. In this hour, we'll talk about a contest in which scientists are asked to present their best ways of visualizing their work -- whether it be a photograph, a painting, a movie, a computer simulation, or some other visual tool. You can see a slideshow of last year's winners, and learn more about entering this year's contest at the website for the Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge. Entries are being accepted until May 31, 2007. Then, we'll turn to the question of just what creativity really is. From a soulful poem to an ingenious experiment, what sparks the creative process? Join Ira in this hour for a conversation with neuroscientist Nancy Andreasen about the creative and creating brain. How can we teach kids to be more creative? Finally, a look at how some physicists are trying to analyze the authenticity of Jackson Pollock paintings using fractals. Fractals are patterns which recur even when viewed at finer and finer magnifications, building up complex structures. Fractals can be found in the branching of a tree or the ripples of a coastline -- but can they be found in seemingly random paint drips and streaks? In 1999, Richard Taylor and colleagues argued that the paintings of Jackson Pollock showed what they termed 'fractal expressionism.' Other researchers have challenged the findings, arguing in the journal Nature that "the paintings exhibit fractal characteristics over too small a range to be usefully considered as fractal." We'll talk about the idea, and what it might mean. Can you 'fingerprint' a Pollock using fractals? Call in with your questions and comments at 1-800-989-8255 (3-4 Eastern). Teachers, find more information about using Science Friday as a classroom resource in the Kids' Connection. More

Nobel Idea: Ellen Casey teaches her students to give peace a chance.

[1 December 2006 - Teacher Magazine] The 1st grade teacher’s inspiration came in 1997, when she heard the Dalai Lama speak at a gathering of teenagers in Denver. As the Tibetan religious leader -- whom the Chinese forced into exile in 1959 -- emphasized the importance of peaceful conflict resolution, Ellen Casey recognized a learning opportunity for her students. "Peace, tolerance, and nonviolence should be a part of life when children are very young," says Casey, who works at Steele Elementary School in Colorado Springs. She began teaching her students about the Dalai Lama -- asking them, for example, whether they think he is angry that the Chinese invaded Tibet. The lesson: It's OK to feel anger, but not to act on it. More

Keeping college students in Macon will help city's economy, Mercer students say

[15 December 2006 - Macon Telegraph] Keeping college students in Macon and attracting creative minds to the city will help it flourish economically, a group of Mercer University students said Thursday. "What a place has to do is realize ... that a university is the strongest driver in a creative economy," senior Alex Morrison told the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce's board of directors. Connecting area colleges and developing a partnership with the city will foster economic development, he said. The idea comes from the students' own research for their senior capstone course, taught by Associate Vice President Peter Brown. The course, required for graduation from Mercer's College of Liberal Arts, is intended to help students focus on social and ethical issues. More

Museums prove a bigger draw than football attraction than football

[14 December 2006 - The Independent (UK)] More people visited museums and galleries than attended all of league football including the Premiership last year, according to a report by the respected analyst Tony Travers. He estimated the annual economic benefit of the UK's major museums and galleries at £1.5bn with roughly £1 in every £1,000 in the UK economy directly related to the sector. But Mr Travers, of the London School of Economics, warned that theinstitutions would need extra money if they were going to continue to deliver and not fall behind heavily funded international competitors. ... The report, Museums and Galleries in Britain: Economic, Social and Creative Impacts, was commissioned by the National Museum Directors' Conference and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council in the run- up to the next Comprehensive Spending Review where cuts are threatened. Its message on the significance of museums and galleries to the British economy as well as to the national well-being will be stressed in negotiations. More

Creative economy stressed

[12 December 2006 - Berkshire Eagle] On Monday, December 11, Gov.-elect Deval L. Patrick's transition team convened a community forum on the creative economy and economic development in Pittsfield, Massachusetts -- "one of several that Patrick's transition team is holding across the state this month to solicit public comment on a variety of topics before the new governor takes office in January." More

'Creative economy' research gets boost

[7 December 2006 - North Adams Transcript] A Massachusetts professor of economics has received a $338,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to research the impact museums have on communities. "While the anecdotal evidence seems to prove that a cultural destination can be an economic engine, [professor Stephen C.] Sheppard's research aims to provide hard facts for other communities seeking renewal through art." More

Creativity, Education and Prison - Online Wednesday Morning

[12 December 2006 - Steve Dahlberg] I just found out that an article I wrote last month is going to be featured on Wednesday as the "Editors' Pick" article on Gather.com. Gather.com is an online community, particularly geared toward public radio listeners.

From the Gather.com Editor: On behalf of the editorial team here at Gather, I am very pleased to inform you that your article "The Right to Be Creative -- In Schools, In Prison and In Life" has been chosen as an Editors' Pick. Congratulations! Your article will be featured on the home page of Gather.com on Wednesday, December 13, 2006 from 7:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. EST.
http://www.gather.com

This article was written following the opening performance of "Time In" in Hartford, which featured the words and inspiration of female prisoners from Connecticut. They were part of a creative writing class with author Wally Lamb (who has also been featured as an Oprah author). The article was also inspired by my mentor and colleague Berenice Bleedorn's work with prisoners in Minnesota in the 1980s.

"Last month I witnessed the positive impact that creativity had for a group of incarcerated women. Through a creative writing program, their creative spirits were nurtured, supported and given a voice -- where previously they'd been trampled, stifled and shredded."Time In" explores the stories of women incarcerated at York Correctional Institution in Niantic, Connecticut. This collaborative dance, song and spoken-word performance encompasses the stories of female prisoners' lives before conviction, the ceaseless presence of time in their lives on the inside, and the new lives and language they must learn as convicts. It also explores the life of the mind and spirit-- something that isn't given over to confinement in cells and boxes, like the rest of their lives are in prison. For some, the freedom of the mind is a way to maintain sanity; for others, a way to begin to imagine life after prison."

Here's the permanent link to the article, after it is featured on the Gather.com home page Wednesday morning:
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976857411

Where do you get your ideas?

[13 December 2006 -  Scot Herrick's WriteBlog] At a recent writers conference, I overheard lots of writers asking “where do you get your ideas to write?” Just like our readers ask us the same question. Well, if you’re looking for some good ideas on what to write in your blog, look no further than Liz over on Successful Blog. Liz offers up a holiday treasure trove of ideas to write in January, giving your 2007 a great start. More

NAEA Museum Education Division Features "Creativity" Pre-Conference Workshop in March 2007

CREATIVITY
National Art Education Association - Museum Education Division
March 13, 2007
New York, New York
Pre-Conference 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. (Reception 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.)

"The world is but a canvas to the imagination." - Henry David Thoreau

The 2007 Museum Division Pre-Conference is an opportunity to reflect, renew, and restore your creativity and imagination. This year's theme was selected to encourage us to consider how we use creativity in our jobs and how museums may creatively inspire our visitors. Featured keynote speakers for the morning session at the Metropolitan Museum of Art are Eric Booth and Dr. Michael Hanchett Hanson. Eric Booth, director of the Mentoring Program at The Julliard School, is the author of The Everyday Work of Art. Dr. Hanson, Director of the Masters Concentration in Creativity and Cognition at Teachers College, Columbia University, looks at how creative meaning is constructed in different contexts and has focused his research on the roles of metaphor and irony in creative thinking. Following the morning session, participants may select ONE theme to follow during the afternoon:
1) Creativity and Leadership; 2)Artists and Educational Practice; 3) Technology; 4) Adult Programming; 5)Creative Parameters: Teaching in Collections; 6) Community Partnerships; 7) Building Audiences with Disabilities

Afternoon sessions will be held in various museums throughout New York City. The pre-conference will conclude with a reception hosted by the Education Department at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. More on Pre-Conference Workshop | More on NAEA Conference

Creativity: the currency of economic development

[12 December 2006 - The Chronicle Herald - Halifax, Nova Scotia - By David B. Smith, President, NSCAD University] Much has changed here in Halifax since I was an undergraduate student at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in the early 1990s. The vacant lots that once lined Lower Water Street are largely a thing of the past, and are now home to upscale condos and mixed-use developments. What used to be the inspiration for sentimental reflections on history, loss and change has been reclaimed and repurposed. ... After witnessing firsthand the perils of unbridled growth on quality-of-life issues elsewhere, I am pleasantly surprised at how well the Halifax Regional Municipality has managed. In spite of concerns surrounding increased congestion, suburban sprawl, and yes, even Sunday shopping, that very real sense of a kind and nurturing place remains largely intact. Indeed, it appears – at least on the surface – that the people of Halifax have generally adapted to change rather well, despite the many challenges associated with rapid growth. It is abundantly clear that there has been a tremendous amount of economic development in the region over the last 15 years. What is equally clear to me is that Nova Scotia universities have played a key role in the region’s growth: each of our distinct and widely acclaimed institutions plays a vital role in attracting corporate investment. Nova Scotia universities are the lifeblood of economic development as they provide both the "general" and "specific" human capital that is necessary in today’s knowledge-driven economy. Today’s global marketplace is fuelled by the exchange of ideas. Generated through continuous learning and the critical and creative exploration of perceptions and understandings, this constant exchange of ideas among a variety of disciplines and cultures is driving the economy today, and the key component in all of this is creativity. Simply stated, creativity is the currency of today’s economic development. More