085: Harvey Seifter: The Art of Science Learning: Fostering Breakthroughs in Team Creativity, Collaboration and Innovation at Scale

How does arts-based learning rapidly transform culture and performance in teams and organizations? What is the relationship between creative thinking, collaboration and innovation? What research evidence exists to support incorporating arts-based learning in teams? How can these processes be scaled up in organizations?

Tune in to this week’s episode of The Team Coaching Zone podcast where host Dr. Krister Lowe interviews special guest Harvey Seifter to explore these and other compelling topics.  Harvey Seifter is Founder and Director of Art of Science Learning (www.artofsciencelearning.org) and Principal Investigator of its two National Science Foundation grants and is one of the world’s leading authorities on organizational creativity and arts‐based learning.

Themes explored in the podcast include:

• Harvey’s journey from classically trained musician to author to Founder of the Art of Science Learning
• Harvey’s experience at the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and his 2001 book Leadership Ensemble: Lessons in Collaborative Management from the World’s Only Conductorless Orchestra
• Convening the field of arts-based learning in business
• Metaforming (symbolic modelling)
• 2012 $2.8 million grant from National Science Foundation exploring arts-based learning, innovation and business
• -The development of an arts-based innovation process and curriculum
• The creation of 3 innovation incubators: San Diego, Chicago, Worcester
• Teaching innovation through doing it: research on 29 cross-disciplinary teams; 22 teams after 1 year went to market (products, processes, services)
• The core skills of innovation as well as phases
• Approaches to infusing arts-based approaches: music, improv, movement, conducting, drawing, sketching
• Wicked problems as failures of imagination
• Experimental research: randomized and controlled study of arts-based learning and innovation in teams:
• 2 phases of innovation: 1) what is the problem and 2) how do we solve it: each with a converge and diverge component
• The linkage between divergent thinking, convergent thinking, business results and culture change
• Using research and data to bring arts from the fringes into the center of business processes
• A story of applying arts-based learning to foster creativity with 22 startups within a Fortune 500 organization
• The future of innovation, arts-based learning and wicked problems

This is an episode that truly all teams, team leaders, and team coaches cannot afford to miss!  For show notes and more great information and resources on team coaching go to: http://www.teamcoachingzone.com/