Organizational Creativity

Gerard J. Puccio is the Department Chair and Professor in the Department for Creativity and Change Leadership, SUNY-Buffalo State.Dr. Puccio has written more than 60 articles, chapters and books. His most recent book titled Organizational Creativity and Innovation: A Personal Journey for Innovators and Entrepreneurs (2018 by Sage Press), highlights the crucial role creativity plays in an economy driven by innovation. Prior to this publication, Dr. Puccio co-authored The Innovative Team, published by Jossey-Bass, a fable about a team that was able to apply proven creative-thinking tools to turn around a dysfunctional and unproductive situation.Dr. Puccio is an accomplished speaker and consultant; he has worked with major corporations, universities, and numerous school districts. Some of his recent clients include the BBC, Fisher-Price Brands, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Kraft Foods, The Smithsonian Institution, BNP Paribas, Rubbermaid, Coca-Cola, and the Fashion Institute of Technology. He has delivered creativity workshops and presentations across the United States and in more than 20 different countries.In 2013 Dr. Puccio was selected by the Teaching Company as one of America’s Great Lecturers and as such was invited to design and deliver a course comprised of twenty-four 30-minute video sessions. This “Great Course,” titled The Creative Thinker’s Toolkit, was released in January 2014. Dr. Puccio was also a featured speaker at a TEDx event held in New York City in December of 2012.Gerard holds a Ph.D. in organizational psychology from the University of Manchester, England.John F. Cabra is an Associate Professor at the State University of New York College at Buffalo′s International Center for Studies in Creativity where as part of a team he focuses on teaching, assessing and researching the science of creativity. John specializes in facilitating and accelerating scientific and interdisciplinary innovation. John has written journal articles, books chapters and books in the areas of business, technology, engineering, and creativity.  In recognition for his work, he was awarded the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, the State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, and grants from the National Science Foundation and the State University of New York.  John is also a Fulbright Scholar.  Some organizations that have benefited from John’s training and organizational development expertise include IBM, Pfizer, Kraft Foods, Coca-Cola, British Home Office, National Science Foundation, NASA, Drexel University, Penn State University, Purdue University, and The Ohio State University.  Dr. Cabra held internal consulting positions for American Airlines in the fields of training and development, employee relations, and organizational development.  Before joining American Airlines, he was a training and organizational development specialist for Fisher–Price Toys.Nathan Schwagler is a founding Co-Director of The Dalí Museum Innovation Labs, where he serves as lead program designer and executive facilitator. Before joining the Museum, Nathan served as the nation′s first Business School "Creative-In-Residence" at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, where he designed and delivered courses on Creativity and Innovation and New Venture Creation. His students were back-to-back-to-back national champions in the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organizations’ business simulation competition, and his 3-member startup academic department was recognized as the top Emerging Entrepreneurship Education Program across the entire United States by the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) in 2013.  As a consultant, Nathan has supported more than 150 organizations including: Abbott Labs, Transamerica Insurance, DuPont Chemical, Novartis, the Miller/Coors Brewing co., the Converse Shoe co. (NIKE), the Tampa Bay Rays, the Home Shopping Network, Bloomin’ Brands, Raymond James Financial, and thousands of innovators as they’ve deployed their innovation capabilities to drive business outcomes.  Nathan holds a BA in Psychology and a Master of Science degree in Creativity from SUNY – Buffalo State, and a Master of Science degree in Entrepreneurship from the University of South Florida. He is a published author of peer-reviewed and popular press articles.

• Introduction: Purpose and Design of This BookAbout the AuthorsPART I. KNOWING: CREATIVITY KNOWLEDGE TO SUPPORT A 21st-CENTURY INNOVATORChapter 1. Innovation Wired: You Evolved to CreateKnowing—You Were Born to Be CreativeDoing—Tuning in to the Creativity Already Inside of YouBeing—Making Reflection a HabitChapter 2. How to Survive and Thrive in an Era of Innovation and ChangeKnowing—The Forces for and Against Creative ThinkingDoing—Removing the But in Your ThinkingBeing—Reflecting and Redirecting Yes-But ThinkingChapter 3. What We Know About CreativityKnowing—Sorting Creativity Fact From FictionDoing—Creating Your Own MoodBeing—Developing an Internal Locus of ControlChapter 4. The Practical Benefits of Creativity: Becoming an Innovation AssetKnowing—Top Reasons for Studying and Developing Your CreativityDoing—Selling CreativityBeing—Making Creativity a HabitPART II. DOING: PROVEN PRACTICES FOR 21st-CENTURY INNOVATORSChapter 5. Think: How to Improve Your Fundamental Capacity to Think in Creative WaysKnowing—Understanding the Creative MindDoing—Training the Creative MindBeing—Internalizing the Divergent Thinking PrinciplesChapter 6. Understand: The Power of Observation and the Importance of Problem DefinitionKnowing—Seeing and Questioning What Others MissDoing—Acting Like a Serial OpportunistBeing—Living Like a Serial OpportunistChapter 7. Ideate: Ways to Visualize and Generate Breakthrough IdeasKnowing—Ideating: The Mind’s Capacity to See the FutureDoing—Using Associative Thinking to Visualize AnewBeing—Living Like an Idea GeneratorChapter 8. Experiment: Strategies to Develop and Validate the Best SolutionsKnowing—Developing and Validating Through ExperimentationDoing—Acting Like an Idea DeveloperBeing—Living Like an Idea DeveloperChapter 9. Implement: Gaining Buy-In and Driving ChangeKnowing—Everyone Is in the Business of SalesDoing—Acting Like an Influencer and Change AgentBeing—Influencing and Leading ChangePART III. BEING: WAYS TO SUSTAIN YOURSELF AS A 21st-CENTURY INNOVATORChapter 10. The Emotionally Intelligent LeaderKnowing—Emotional Intelligence Is Not a Soft SkillDoing—Tools and Strategies for Overcoming Creative BlocksBeing—Actively Learning From FailureChapter 11. Sustaining Your Creativity: Learning to Defy and Transform the CrowdKnowing—Investment Theory of CreativityDoing—Addressing Resistance to ChangeBeing—Becoming a 21st-Century InnovatorNotesIndex

"This book is about creativity and how students can better understand a complex subject that is both subjective and ever changing. This book brings about some practical examples of creativity from a historical perspective as well as a current perspective and pushes students to think differently than their peers."