1. Fostering Creativity
and Innovation
What Libraries Can Learn from The Second City
Christian J. Miller
KLA/KSMA Joint Conference
“Information – the Library Superpower!”
September 29, 2011

2. …With Great Libraries,
there must also come –-
great
creativity-Amazing Fantasy #15 (sort of)

3. Intro/Bio “Mad Libs”
Christian Miller is the Reference, Instruction and _____1_____
Coordinator at the _____2_____ Library in the School of
____3______ and _____4_____ Relations at Cornell University. The
_____2_____ Library is renowned as one of the ____5______
libraries in the world collecting information on _____6_____ issues
and his interests include the library as a ____6______. He also has
served on numerous _____7_____ library committees and is the
current Chair of the _____8_____ Division of the Special Libraries
Association.

4. Origin Story

5. It was a dark and stormy night…

6. Allow myself to introduce: Myself
Animal House Alina, 76
Owen,
Blues Brothers Reading
Caddyshack Performing
Dumb and Dumber Playing with Kids
Sports
Middle Child
2.6
“Visionary”
Librarian Empathy
Ideation
4.0 ENTP Includer
October 23rd Developer
1310 Positivity

7. the quest for creativity begins…

8. Why creativity?

9. It’s a Complex, interconnected world

10. “Making the simple
complicated is
commonplace;
making the
complicated simple,
awesomely simple,
that's creativity.”
Charles Mingus
American jazz bassist and
composer

12. creativity

14. Creativity is the
ability to see
relationships
where none exist.
Thomas Disch
Science Fiction author,
Hugo Award winner

16. The
incongruity – resolution
theory of Humor
So, two fish are in a tank.
One says to the other…

17. “How the heck do we
drive this thing?!?”

18. “Improv”
Usually humorous, spontaneous
theater often created through
audience suggestions
Popularized by The Second City

19. Chris Farley
Tina Fey As
Matt Foley, Motivational Speaker

20. Improv workshop

26. Now, Let’s Do it again!

27. No preparation ≠ no rules

28. Rules of improv
aka “Yes, and…”
• Don’t Block or Deny
• Always pay attention and focus on your partner
• Go line for line
• Go against the voice of reason, take risks, and
celebrate failure
• Justify, justify, justify!

29. By Applying these principles you can
Create an environment of trust
that will encourage creativity

30. 4 myths of personal creativity
1. “Creativity is for geniuses and artists.”
2. “I’m just not naturally creative.”
3. “Well, it’s too late to begin pursuing
creativity now.”
4. “It’s not my job to be creative.”

31. Source: T. Amabile (1998) “How to Kill Creativity”.Harvard Business Review, September, 77–87

32. Creative Thinking Techniques
• Free Association
• Forced Connections
• BrainWriting
• SCAMPER
• Idea Box
• Mind Mapping
• SuperHeroes!

33. Forced Connections
________
(Noun)
Solutions

34. SCAMPER

35. Read more…

36. From creativity…
…to innovation

37. “Thanks, boss, for pointing out how crazy our
ideas are, and why they won’t work!”

38. Creative leadership
Uncover…
Unlock…
Unleash!
Cultivating organizational creativity in an age of complexity, IBM, 2011

39. Creative libraries in action
Library Outside the Library (LOL) aka CUL Labs
Consolidation Task Force experience
Creativity workshops, on to the future…

40. Fully 63% of business executives
interviewed agree that too many
recent college graduates do not
have the skills to be successful in
today’s global economy.
How Should Colleges Prepare Students To Succeed In Today's Global Economy?
Conducted On Behalf Of: The Association Of American Colleges And Universities
By Peter D. Hart Research Associates, Inc.

41. 70% of these employers say
colleges and universities should
place more emphasis on the ability
to innovate and think creatively.
(73% also emphasize critical
thinking/analytical ability)

42. The beginning…
Christian J. Miller
cjm267@cornell.edu