Make it happen – Live from ECCI XI + Interview with Edward De Bono

Thanks to the people from FlandersDC I will be attending the 11th European Conference on Creativity and Innovation. Expecting lots of inspiration and new ideas for this blog.

Follow me live on twitter (hashtag #eccixi)

This year’s edition of ECCI is taking place in Brussels, at the brand new meeting place The Square. Great venue, if you ask me.

Getting ready for creative action
“Enough said about creative theory, it’s time for some creative action.” Talking about creativity is interesting but also frustrating. When attending creativity talks I often went home with lots of great advice, but those were just words. In the end putting these ideas into practice is what counts.

Not in this conference. Apparently, ECCI XI is all about making it happen.

Here great advice and practice should go hand in hand. Apart from the keynotes (more about that further on) there are a bunch of workshops to get us started.

Here’s my pick for the next 3 (!) days.

Day 1:

• 11u00: Virginia Stephen, “When Artist, Executive, Educator and Facilitator Converge: Visual Literacy Becomes a Dynamic Idea Mover” OR Jana Görs, “Five Theseses for Improving the Outcome of the Fuzzy Front End of Innovation – How to Launch a Bird, not an Egg.”
• 14u30: Sandra Minnee, “Creating Acceptance for Change: Mastering Conflicts”
• 16u30: Marc Bogaert – Luc De Schryver, “From Intention to Innovation: How a Company’s Cultural DNA can bridge the Gap between Innovation, Intentions and Results.”

Day 2:

• 11u00: Marcel van der Pol, “The Story of the Hero: Finding Treasures and Making Ideas Work”
• 14u30: Maureen Jenkins, “Regenerating Sources of Creativity – Your Personal Disciplines”
• 16u30: Stavros Michailidis – Donald M. Drost, “Make it Happen with Momentum”

Day 3:

• 11u00: Dorte Blegind, “Coaching as a Tool for Successful Implementation of innovative Projects”

Keynote speakers + Interview with Edward De Bono

Every great conference has interesting keynote speakers. I’m looking forward to the talks of Alberto Alessi, Kobus Neethling and Edward De Bono.

Thanks to Koen Peeters of Flanders DC I get the opportunity to do an interview with The Maltese Guru of Lateral Thinking: Edward De Bono. The interview will be published on this blog, later this week.

Earlier today I asked you to send me your questions for Mr. De Bono.

These are the questions I’ve selected for the interview:

- Is creativity a science or can it be a science? (Batist Vermeulen, Art Director @ Jetstream / Ceci n’est pas de l’art)
- What would you recommend to diplomats of the Copenhagen Summit? (Leen Creve, Journalist @ Knack Weekend)
- For people who feel they have a book or two in them, what would you recommend they do to get it written and out to read? (Bernd Nurnberger, Cocreatr @ Purple Pointr)

Thanks for the great questions tweeps!

Stay tuned.

Show me what you’ve got

via @cocreatr

Who would have thought that you could do this with water?

My guess is, it’s the water who told the designer that this was possible. My guess is, the designer had already done/seen/experienced something similar – however small it may have been – which, by paying attention to it, grew into this fantastic idea.

That’s what I believe about people as well. The great stuff, it’s already there. You’ve already shown some of it along the way but chances are you haven’t noticed yet. Pay attention to them and something beautiful is about to happen.

If you’d ask me what solution focused coaching is about, then I might say it’s about paying attention. It’s about discovering your own greatness and ability to deal with life’s challenges. It’s about caring for your own success.

It’s about planting the seeds and allowing them to turn into trees. It’s about water. And allowing it to become a creative waterfall.

What’s your Secret Underworld?

I found this video on Cecilia Weckström’s blog. I kind of recognize my dad and possibly my future me in this guy. My dad never took the passion that far – we didn’t have a basement and the spare room was already taken with my own LEGO landscapes – but still.

I remember one night my dad started building a city in my bedroom on a wooden board on wheels. Of course it got late and I had to go to bed, but my dad didn’t leave the room before he had finished the city. It’s only then that I thought that it may be possible to build Rome in one day after all.

Beside the LEGO-memory, I was also moved by the passion in this story. The joy expressed here comes from a guy who suddenly connects with a whole society of LEGO-fans like him. These people enjoy the simple fact that they can enter a world where they can build stuff, design stuff and invent stuff without anyone else telling them it’s stupid, silly, childish or impossible. It’s a tribe within which its members simply say: this is what we do, and we love it.

It tells me a great deal about nurturing creativity. You can be as creative as you want, it’s no use if you can’t express your creativity in a tribe however small it may be, a tribe which you trust to be receptive and open to what you do.

Man, what an enthusiasm. I love it.

I wonder where you have found your Secret Underworld? And when did you (re)discover it?

For starters: mine is in basketball I guess. I played it for sixteen years. And only recently I started shooting hoops again on a field just a few blocks away. It felt like coming home. Great to shoot hoops, jump around, try silly moves, play games, … .