Presented at the 2009 On Course National Conference

1. Rethinking Creativity
Michael “Zesty” Vaughn
1

2. 2
Opening joke; this is what it’s like where I’m from.

3. world-shaker.net
handouts
activities
questions
slides
13

4. This Session
14

5. Special Session
15
This is a Special Session, not a Strategies or Program Session.

6. 16
It focuses more on an idea and a di!erent way of thinking than a specific type of activity.

7. Define time
without using
the word time
17
First activity

8. Who is creative?
18

9. Are you born
creative?
19
Are some people just born creative?
Or are some people born with extraordinary drive and happen to find a talent?

10. What is creativity?
(answer in less than a
text message)
20
How are we defining creativity?
A text is 160 characters (about two sentences)

11. Artist Musician Singer Dancer
21
Old definition of creativity

12. The process of
having original ideas
that have value.
~Sir Ken Robinson
22
How I define creativity.
Sir Ken Robinson, TED Talk (2006)
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

13. information
experiences
feelings
(i+e)*f 23
The information you have available, plus the sum of your experiences, multiplied by how you
feel about what you are doing.

14. 1) information
2) experiences
3) feelings
(i+e)*f 24

15. Why creativity?
25

16. Why creativity?
25

17. 2069
26
Children entering education this year will retire in 2069

18. they may have a job
that doesn’t
exist yet
27
Students who enter your college or university this year...

19. 28
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25287675-2,00.html

20. UNESCO
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and
Cultural Organization
29
Sir Ken Robinson, TED Talk (2006)
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

21. 30
Sir Ken Robinson, TED Talk (2006)
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

22. Since the
beginning of
history.
30
Sir Ken Robinson, TED Talk (2006)
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

23. 31
We’re on the edge of something major

24. 32

25. the Internet
changed
everything
33

26. Computing isn’t
about computers
anymore.
It is about living.
~Nicholas Negroponte
(OLPC)
34

27. Ten years ago...
35

28. 36
Moms and Dads (but especially moms) are the fastest growing demographic on social
networking sites.

29. Web 2.0
36
Moms and Dads (but especially moms) are the fastest growing demographic on social
networking sites.

30. 37

31. 38

32. 39

33. Usage of your cell
• Texting
• Making Calls
• Checking the
Time
inspired by http://graphjam.com/2009/01/18/song-chart-memes-usage-of-my-cell-phone/
40

34. 41

35. 42
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/04/youtubes-fred-is-first-online-video-
star-to-break-1m-subscribers.html
http://www.youtube.com/user/Fred

36. 43

37. Useless
Wikipedia Articles
44

38. 45

39. in the b-room...the deuce is loose!
in the b-room...the deuce is loose!
46

40. Sharing.
47

41. Consequences
48

42. 1) information
2) experiences
3) feelings
(i+e)*f 49

43. #1
Information
50

44. The process of
synthesizing huge
amounts of data from
diverse sources
51

45. Bloom’s
Taxonomy
52
An example of synthesizing information into a meaningful product

46. 53

47. Q: How many searches
did Google handle in
February 2009?
54

48. 5.3 billion
55
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/top-us-online-search-providers-
february-2009/

49. October 2009: 31st,
Encarta Encyclopedia
goes offline.
56
http://www.techflash.com/microsoft/
Wikipedia_kills_Encarta_and_Microsoft_finally_pronounces_it_dead_42142642.html

50. October 2009: 31st,
Encarta Encyclopedia
goes offline.
56
http://www.techflash.com/microsoft/
Wikipedia_kills_Encarta_and_Microsoft_finally_pronounces_it_dead_42142642.html

51. 3000 BC
1800 AD
57
Historians generally agree prehistory ended around 3000 BC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Prehistory)
https://secure.evenium.com/uploads/contents/25409/File/24748/2008flpexecsum.pdf
CIES Future Leaders of Congress 2008; October 5-7th, 2008; Washington D.C.
Castlerigg Stone Circle (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ennor/518873437/)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Maquina_vapor_Watt_ETSIIM.jpg

52. 3000 BC
+
1800 AD
58
Historians generally agree prehistory ended around 3000 BC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Prehistory)
https://secure.evenium.com/uploads/contents/25409/File/24748/2008flpexecsum.pdf
CIES Future Leaders of Congress 2008; October 5-7th, 2008; Washington D.C.
Castlerigg Stone Circle (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ennor/518873437/)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Maquina_vapor_Watt_ETSIIM.jpg

53. <
One Week
59
https://secure.evenium.com/uploads/contents/25409/File/24748/2008flpexecsum.pdf
CIES Future Leaders of Congress 2008; October 5-7th, 2008; Washington D.C.

54. 60
www.wolframalpha.com

55. Answer
Questions
60
www.wolframalpha.com

56. 61

57. 61

58. Question:
The Calculator
62

59. Long Division
63
Suddenly it became okay to skip long division and just use the calculator. It removed human
error (as long as you pressed the right buttons), and it was MUCH quicker.

60. Calculator
63
Suddenly it became okay to skip long division and just use the calculator. It removed human
error (as long as you pressed the right buttons), and it was MUCH quicker.

61. are these the
calculators
of data?
64
Can we begin using these tools to replace the long division of rote memorization?

62. http://linuxlass.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/1099.html
65

63. Wikipedia
66

64. The best thing about
Wikipedia...
67

65. Literature Science The Arts Business
68
...is that those at the top of their fields can join and contribute.
Left to Right: Toni Morrison (writer), Dean Kamen (DEKA), Meryl Streep (actress), and Steve
Jobs (CEO, Apple Corps.)

66. The worst thing
about Wikipedia...
69

67. 70
...anyone can join and contribute

68. Page Length
75
60
45
73
30
15
18 23
0
Star Wars Shakespeare Dragonball Z Eps
71
True as of March

69. 72

70. 1) information
2) experiences
3) feelings
(i+e)*f 73

71. #2
Experience
74

72. Dream
Products
75
Dream Products activity

73. Developing a
Disciplined Mind
76

74. 4 Things
77

75. #1
Ten years
78
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow.html
It takes ten years of constant immersion in a field before you can be considered a master of
that subject (and can subsequently create something newer/better than what already exists in
that area). Flukes can happen, but that’s the exception, not the rule.

76. 11 years
79
It takes an average of 11 years of education and field training to become a doctor.
http://www.bls.gov/k12/help06.htm

77. 80
Lacks innovation.

78. 81
The wrong kind of innovation.

79. 82
http://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/ebit/joshsilver1.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Silver
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/10/health/self-adjusted-glasses-could-be-boon-to-
africa.html

80. 82
http://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/ebit/joshsilver1.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Silver
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/10/health/self-adjusted-glasses-could-be-boon-to-
africa.html

81. 83
Joel Silver was studying mirrors and made an observation about the curvature of lenses.

82. Yay!
84
Applied his observation and found that silicon-based liquid injected between two lenses can
correct near and farsightedness.

83. 85
Great news for this guy

84. 86

85. 87
For those of you who attended the session and wish to know how this portion of the
presentation was constructed, please e-mail me at the address listed on my contact card.

86. #2
Fear Not
88
We need to move past the fear of being wrong. Now being wrong doesn’t mean being
creative, but you will never create anything original if you are afraid of being wrong.

87. 89
Sir Ken Robinson, TED Talk (2006)
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

88. #3
Rewards
90

89. Secret to Raising Smart Kids:
1. Focus on Intelligence
2. Focus on Ability
3. Focus on Effort
91
Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., prof at Stanford, social scientist
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-secret-to-raising-smart-kids
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Dweck

90. Three decades
of research...
92
Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., prof at Stanford, social scientist
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-secret-to-raising-smart-kids
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Dweck

91. 93
Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., prof at Stanford, social scientist
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-secret-to-raising-smart-kids
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Dweck

92. #4
Mindset
94
It’s a way of thinking about things. An accountant thinks about filing their taxes in a di!erent
way than an English professor.

93. 95
Which way is the bus facing? Left (think of where the door would be).

94. [Creativity] comes
about through the
interaction of different
disciplinary ways of
seeing things.
~Sir Ken Robinson
96
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

95. 97
Think of each person here as a di!erent disciplined mind that you possess. Consider how
they help you solve the problems you encounter.

96. 98
Kanzius Machine (Promising Cancer Cure)
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/10/60minutes/main4006951_page1.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kanzius

97. 1. Ten Years
2. Fear Not
3. Rewards
4. Mindset
99

98. 1) information
2) experiences
3) feelings
(i+e)*f 100

99. #3
Good Work
101

100. What does a hospital
janitor do?
102

101. 103
http://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_on_our_loss_of_wisdom.html

102. Any work that involves
other people is moral
work.
~Barry Schwartz
104
http://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_on_our_loss_of_wisdom.html

103. 105
If you want the tallest building in town, you have two options:
1) Go around tearing everyone else’s building down, or
2) Spend time making your building as tall as possible.
I propose that if you want to have the best town, you have to start helping other people make
their buildings tall as well.

104. Demonstrating
Practical Wisdom
106

105. 107
Unfortunately, a lot of our allies think this is what we’re like.

106. 108
While Wall Street and the banking system pushed the financial crisis over the edge, 30 years
of things like this certainly helped contribute to the problem.

107. 109
We have problems to deal with. It’s hard to stay positive.

108. It’s about people!
110

109. 111
Principle 1: Doing something good feels good

110. 112
Principle 2: Avoid empty gestures

111. 113
Principle 3: Don’t make (or follow) unnecessary rules

112. 114
Principle 4: Understand that companies like this will fail

113. 115
http://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_on_our_loss_of_wisdom.html