Week_2Theme1Questions

Small Group Discussion on Guiding Others

Background: what does it take to guide or support others to be a creative thinker?

In your small group, spend some time discussing the question assigned to you below (these come directly from the Theme 1 description), and develop a response to the question. As time allows, see if you can identify any specific examples that support your response (you might think of personal examples or perhaps find artifacts on the web--specific examples of creative work that imply that the creator may have grappled with this particular question). Be prepared to summarize your response in a brief informal report to the whole group when you return.

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2. What is actually meant by the terms used in the theme? What distinctions might be made between "creativity" and "creative thinking"? When we refer to "everyone", how can we account for such a group?

4. Can we develop creative thinking, not just by improving practices of creativity, but by managing obstacles? What happens if we look at the overall process of guiding others to creativity as one where we seek a balance between removing, and adding, obstacles in just the right way (meaning, shaping the way that freedom and constraint affect people)?

5. Can we establish the context/setting/environment in a way that makes sure that "everyone can be a creative thinker"? How can we help people to customize their own context to help bring out the best of their own capacity for creative thinking?

6. To the extent that the creative process involves the capacity to manage, seek out, even welcome risk, struggle and failure, how can we feel more comfortable and supported in allowing failures to happen?

7. What is there to support, or contradict, the idea that "everyone can think creatively"? In guiding those who believe that they are not creative thinkers, what steps might be taken to encourage them to at least explore the possibility?