Creativity is one of the top five skills professionals need. With the avalanche of new products, new technologies and new ways of working, tech workers have to become more creative in order to succeed in an ever-changing, complex world (World Economic Forum). Read more here. 

Your project group is coming up with the same old ideas all the time, running in a circle. The first idea mentioned by that one person who always takes the first word and his continuously dominant presence is being considered as THE idea to go with. Feelings run high, people in the project group start to mentally check out…The De Bono method of creative thinking called Lateral Thinking allows you to overcome these types of deadlocks in a matter of time. Working with the most dominant idea becomes working with all creative minds present, with a whole lot of new groundbreaking ideas.

Our creative or lateral thinking course is a highly practical training in thinking out-of-the-box by using your creativity. During the course participants learn how to generate a spectacular number of new ideas in a structured and simple way, even if they consider themselves to be not creative at all. Lateral thinking is developed by Edward de Bono. You will learn to avoid the pitfalls of ordinary brainstorming sessions and how to turn an unpromising creative idea into an idea that is both practical and valuable. During one of the numerous practical exercises a small 'think tank' is held in which a problem of one of the participants may be solved. 

The Full course will be a healthy combination of knowhow and full application of the theory, so you will be able to effectively lead brainstorm sessions. Experiencing creative (lateral) thinking by first hand and in a safe environment is an important key to success for using it in daily practice.

This training is available for in-company sessions that can be adapted to your situation and special needs.

Objective

After the Full course participants will:

  • Be able to think out-of-the-box;
  • Understand the logical need for creativity;
  • Be able to use the structured creativity process;
  • Be able to set a clear focus;
  • Be able to cope in a surprisingly simple manner with long-term problems that have been dragging on and were considered insoluble;
  • Be able to challenge the present course of thinking inside the organisation, in a constructive way;
  • Be inspired to produce a spectacular number of new ideas;
  • Be able to see the value in creative ideas and turn them into ideas that are both practical and valuable;
  • Have prepared a plan for further development of the creativity skill.

Intended for

This course is for everyone who is in need for structured creativity, unconventional solutions and new innovative concepts.

Start date In-company only
Duration 2 consecutive days
Score
8.9
Price per participant On request
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Program

Creative (lateral) thinking is a skill; doing it is the best way to learn it. Participants are working in learning teams. Each participant will make his own list of subjects that he wants to generate ideas for. This list will be used during the training, so participants can experience how the creative thinking process can be applied in any real-life environment. The training will be concluded with a creative/lateral thinking session about a relevant topic.

Contents:
The logical need for creativity
The synergy of logical and creative thinking
The necessity for a structured creativity approach
The 4 Lateral Thinking steps:

  • Clearly defining the focus;
  • Four creativity techniques to think out-of-the-box, (Alternative, Challenge, Random Entry and Provocation) with the aim for idea generation;
  • Harvesting: structuring ideas with the aim to increase the yield of the idea generation step;
  • Treatment: take an (unpromising) idea and turn it into an idea that is both practical and valuable. This will take you further than ordinary brainstorming.

Develop your learning plan for after the training.

Methods

Lectures, exercises, discussions, teamwork. Course material: workbook and materials to be used during and after the training.

Certification

Participants will receive a High Tech Institute course certificate for attending this training.

Download brochure

Remarks from participants

‘Good trainer, intensive, added value for work.’

Luc van den Broek – NXP Semiconductors

‘It was very pleasant in a nice and comfortable group and setting, it was better and more useful than expected.’

Randy de Kort – NXP Semiconductors

‘Most important items I’ve learned: breaking to the usual patterns and habits’.

Ruud van Gestel – VDL ETG

‘Most important items I’ve learned: Idea generating tools’.

Hock Huat Chong - Nexperia

'The use of different techniques result in many different ideas for the same target. You do surprise yourself to what ideas you can come up with. The techniques help you to document idea’s for sharing/discussing/defending them with colleagues.'

GertJan van Asseldonk - NXP Semiconductors