I had the opportunity to sit through the keynote speech at the Gateway 2 Innovation conference in St Louis this morning and must say, it’s the best I’ve seen in a long time. It was a welcomed departure from bland, “innovation” practices and techniques and went back to the core factor that drives innovative solutions; creativity.
Nurturing creativity is something that I feel many businesses don’t do or simply forget over time. Today Erick Wahl, artist and visionary, spoke on getting back to the core of innovation and in the process delivered a stellar presentation that didn’t contain “the 5 bullet points of innovation” but rather focused on doing things that bolster the creative process that we tend to forget as business professionals. A particular part that stuck with me was Eriks use of Crayons in board meetings and creative sessions.