Creativity should be weapon of choice in war for talent

[24 February 2006 - Personnel Today] HR professionals need to identify more creative approaches to talent management to stay ahead of the competition, a new report suggests. The survey, by HR consultancy Hewitt Associates, asked senior HR professionals at just under 140 organisations how they believe economic, demographic and technological developments will affect the workplace. While it is clear that some HR professionals are already rising to the challenge, only a few are coming up with the far-reaching solutions needed, the survey says. One of the key findings is that the battle for talent is intensifying, with 60% of companies currently experiencing significant problems in recruiting key talent from traditional sources. More

Robert Greene: Teacher remembered for humor, commitment

[25 February 2006 - Press & Sun-Bulletin - Greater Binghamton, NY] Robert Greene put a rug in his home for his wife, but when he was done there was a small lump in the middle. Thinking it was a pack of cigarettes, he beat on the lump until the rug was smooth. Soon, he discovered his pet bird was missing. That was one of the jokes Mr. Greene used to tell, a staple of the humor he used to teach people about thinking creatively and gathering all the facts. Mr. Greene - whose friends joked that his hometown, Greene, was named after him - died Wednesday at Wilson Memorial Hospital in Johnson City at the age of 79. ... A close friend and professor at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, Frank Maraviglia said Mr. Greene's sense of humor made him a superior professor. "A great sense of humor unlocks a certain creativity in the human brain," Maraviglia said. Maraviglia first met Mr. Greene through the Creative Education Foundation's Creative Problem Solving Institute. Maraviglia said Mr. Greene had a subtle approach to teaching creative thinking and always tried to set a good example. More

Forging a Creative Community for the New Creative Economy - Government Technology

[17 February 2006 - Government Technology] Creating a twenty-first-century city is not so much a question of technology as it is of jobs, dollars and quality of life. A community's plan to reinvent itself for the new, knowledge-based economy and society therefore requires educating all its citizens about this new global revolution in the nature of work. To succeed, cities must prepare their citizens to take ownership of their communities and educate the next generation of leaders and workers to meet the new global challenges of what is now being termed the "Creative Economy." ... But at the heart of such efforts must be a recognition of the vital roles that art and technology play in enhancing economic development and, ultimately, defining a "creative community" -- a community that exploits the vital linkages among art, technology and commerce. A community with a sense of place. A community that nurtures, attracts and holds the most creative and innovation workers. More