Dr. Amy Climer, a thought leader in innovation and team development, shares her insights on fostering creativity within organizations. She emphasizes the importance of structured systems for effective problem-solving, discussing methods like design thinking. Amy highlights the significance of clarifying real problems before brainstorming. With a focus on cultivating a deliberate creative environment, she explains how shared purpose and team dynamics are key to innovation. Her practical tips aim to unlock the creativity of teams while navigating organizational challenges.
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Outdoor Education Shaped Amy
Amy Climer shares her experience leading long outdoor education trips like 9-10 days and up to 21 days.
These immersive experiences deeply inform her focus on experiential learning and creativity.
insights INSIGHT
Three-Team Creativity Elements
Creativity in teams depends on a system of three elements: team purpose, team dynamics, and team creative process.
Amy's research explains why some teams excel creatively while others suppress creativity.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Clarify Team Purpose
Ensure the team has a shared, clear purpose everyone understands and supports.
This clarity aligns direction without needing complicated mission statements.
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Alex Osborn's seminal work provides actionable strategies to harness creativity, emphasizing imagination, emotional drive, and problem-solving frameworks. The book explores techniques like association, adaptation, and modification of ideas, while cautioning against premature judgment. It systematically addresses creative preparation, collaboration dynamics, and methods to generate alternatives for personal and professional challenges.
Creating Deliberate Teams
Creating Deliberate Teams
Dr. Amy Climer
Awe
The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life
Dacher Keltner
In 'Awe', Dacher Keltner presents a sweeping investigation and deeply personal inquiry into the elusive feeling of awe. The book reveals new research alongside an examination of awe across history, culture, and within Keltner's own life. It shows how awe transforms thoughts of self, one’s relationship to the world, and physical reactions to it. Keltner also explores how awe has propelled human evolution, is beneficial to mental and physical health, and can heal grief, build communal bonds, and humble us by making us feel part of something larger than ourselves.
Dr. Amy Climer is a thought leader in innovation, team development, and experiential learning. She teaches research-based practices, tools, and techniques to forward-thinking organizations such as the Mayo Clinic, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the University of Wisconsin.
Amy is the host of The Deliberate Creative™ Podcast. She is the designer of Climer Cards, a creativity and teambuilding tool used by thousands to deepen conversations and generate ideas. In 2016 she won the Karl Rhonke Creativity Award from the Association for Experiential Education. Amy lives in Asheville, North Carolina in the U.S.
A Few (Awesome) Quotes From This Episode
“We’ve known actually since the 1970s that creativity training works. The problem is we rarely bring it into our day-to-day work.”
“It’s about being deliberate. You can’t just hope for creativity to happen—you have to follow a clear process and cultivate the right environment.”
“If you want your team to be more creative, spend time clarifying the real problem before jumping into ideation. Even five minutes can change everything.”
“Creative abrasion is when we can disagree around ideas and still respect each other personally. It’s healthy conflict that leads to better solutions.”
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