Modular Course

Our new downloadable Creative Edge course provides individuals with our in-depth Creativity Unleashed training at affordable prices. The first module of the 25 module course is free - the whole course costs £35 ($70).

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Module 1 - What and Why - the free module, introducing the course and some of the basics of creativity.
Module 2 - The Mechanics of Creativity - In the first module of the short course we looked at the 'what' and 'why' of creativity. Now it is time to explore the 'how'. Getting an understanding of what is happening in your brain when you are being creative. How various aspects of socialization and education conspire to block your natural creativity – and how these blockages can be freed up.
Module 3 - The Creativity Toolkit - Creativity is a definitive human characteristic. A key aspect of creativity is creating tools to support and extend our natural abilities. Throughout the course we will be helping you to build your personal creativity toolkit. Now that the basics of creativity have been pinned down, this module introduces the elements of the toolkit that will be used throughout the course.
Module 4 - Experiencing Techniques - The technique is at the heart of business creativity. These tricks of the mind are the essential levers to disturb the pathways of the brain enough to generate some original thoughts. Techniques come in all shapes and sizes from elaborate set pieces requiring props and an extensive location to a mere thought or turn of phrase. This module is a techniques sampler, using different styles of technique to get a flavour for the way they work and feel.
Module 5 - Imagination Engineering Framework - The concept of a framework occurs in practically every serious book on practical creativity. As is often the case with creativity, the need seems paradoxical. We are used to the image of creative people working in free-flow, unfettered by convention and any form of structure. But, in fact, this image is as realistic as any other Hollywood portrayal of life. Many people with pure creative jobs – writers, artists, musicians work in a very structured way. And even where it isn't true of these 'pure' creatives there is a different imperative in business creativity. This module introduces our four stage Imagination Engineering framework.
Module 6 - Surveying - The world is awash with information. There's the information overload of overfull e-mail in-trays, burgeoning TV channels, millions of books in print, the World Wide Web and the corporate tendency to produce ten documents when one would do just as well. When faced with a problem requiring a creative solution, it is possible (and advisable) to pull together a one-liner problem statement, but this doesn't stop there being masses of supporting information, both in print and collectable through the electronic media. Most of this module is concerned with structuring information and formulating the problem statement – remember also the compass and level chain techniques seen in earlier modules.
Module 7 - Building i - There is only so much you can do to survey the problem area and choose a destination, but when it comes down to generating new ideas, techniques flock in multitudes, threatening to overwhelm the creativity practitioner. The requirement to open up the mind, giving a new viewpoint, is ripe with possibilities for anything from a structured assault on the problem to a total deviation from the requirement.
Module 8 - Stretching - Creativity benefits from deviations – having focussed strongly on techniques in the last two modules, we are going to give some consideration to personal creativity before returning to the Imagination Framework in the next module. Working on your personal creativity, as we have seen, is an effective adjunct to creativity techniques. With practice it becomes much easier to make the connections and leaps of imagination that are required in a creativity technique. It also prepares the ground for achieving creative output without techniques, a subject we will return to in module 23. Last, but certainly not least, stretching the brain is fun.
Module 9 - Waymarking - Imagine that you are looking down on a newly made highway, before it is opened. It sweeps across a hilly plain. In either direction, the road disappears over the horizon. It is a blank, unmarked ribbon of tarmac. It might look impressive, but from the point of view of someone wanting to get to a particular goal, it's not very useful. You can't get onto it, you don't know where you are going or where there are hazards. If it's a long road, you won't have anywhere to stop for a rest or to refuel. It has plenty of potential, but it is not usable until the fine details are filled in. This is the stage of the Imagination Engineering framework called waymarking. In the metaphor, it's turning a blank strip of tarmac into a usable road. In practical creativity terms, it's taking a pile of rough-hewn ideas, selecting one or more to go forward with, and refining those ideas until they are capable of practical implementation.
Module 10 - Navigating - In theory, creativity has personal value in its own right. It can be fulfilling for the individuals involved, even if nothing is done with the output. However, creativity that stops short of implementation is incomplete. There is no real creativity without implementation. Imagination Engineering uses the term 'navigating' – this originally meant travelling by sea, and was later widened to include general travel, particularly with a pioneering aspect. Since then the term has come to mean the art of directing travel, rather than the travel itself, but we are using the more archaic concept. This module is about planning for implementation and selling your idea.
Module 11 - Working the Framework - In the last few modules you have experienced each of the four stages of Imagination Engineering. Now it's time to pull all four stages together, working a full framework for a single problem. We won't be introducing any new techniques – instead it's a chance to reinforce the knowledge you have already gained and put it into practice. In this module there are no side references – the aim is to concentrate on the framework.
Module 12 - The Knowledge Pool - With the Imagination Engineering framework firmly lodged in your mind, let's take a side excursion into personal creativity. However good your grasp of techniques, there is still a human being generating the ideas that the technique catalyses. We have already looked at some exercises to help your flexibility in forming associations and new ideas. In this module we explore personal knowledge management. There's a good reason for this. Creativity depends on a being able to dip into a wide-ranging pool of knowledge, combining elements and influences to come up with something new. The more that you can encourage the development of your personal knowledge pool, and your ability to make links and associations within it, the better your personal creativity.
Module 13 - Building ii - The most varied and dramatic creativity techniques (and certainly the greatest volume of techniques) lie within the building stage – the idea generation phase. In this module we are going to reinforce your armoury of building techniques to have the widest possible choice available to suit every requirement and to avoid getting stale, a real danger if you always use the same approach.
Module 14 - Devising Techniques - There's something faintly incestuous about the idea of using creativity on creativity – but it's a valuable approach. There are plenty of excellent techniques in this course and the various books we recommend – but equally there is merit in adding your own techniques to your toolkit. Devising your own techniques is not only personally satisfying, but allows you to keep your creativity fresh, and to use techniques particularly suited to your conditions, your company, your resources.
Module 15 - Creative IT - There's something faintly unnerving about the thought of creative IT. It brings up all sorts of science fiction images of self-aware computers and technology taking over human functions. However, with the possible exception of some of the more formulaic best-selling novels, which could well have been written by a computer, there is nothing to worry about. IT's role in creativity, like that of a creativity technique, is as a mechanical aid to the human mind. The technology doesn't do the creativity, it helps to make it easier. Computers can contribute to creativity at a number of levels. Even everyday software like a word processor or a Web browser can give effective support to creativity, but there is also an increasing range of software available especially targeted at enhancing and structuring creative output. WARNING - a significant portion of this module features software only available for Windows.
Module 16 - Team Creativity - Teamwork is a valuable component of creativity, and almost the whole of the Imagination Engineering framework can benefit from team input. It is really only the pure idea generation stage that needs some individual space. However, though teams have the potential to be great creative resources, they need help to reach this status. In this module we will look at the mechanisms for getting teams working together better, and for helping them to work creatively rather than destructively.
Module 17 - Creative Careers - At this stage in the course we are going to take a step away from pure creativity and put it into context. What's the point of getting all this creative ability? It may be that it's enough to know that you are becoming more creative and more able to encourage creativity in others, but for most of us there's an element of 'what's in it for me?' In the first module you undertook an exercise looking at the activities you would most like to undertake. Part of the goal in being more creative is to be able to achieve more of your desired activities – to drive your career in your prepared direction, using your creative skills. This module helps assess just where you should be going with your creativity.
Module 18 - Rewarding and Supporting Creativity - Being creative all on your own is one thing; doing it with others is a different matter. We've seen some of the practical aspects in module 16, but this module will concentrate mostly on the need to reward and support creativity in others. Any company looking to be more creative (and that means any company that intends to survive) has to be thinking about these issues. Even if this isn't something you are liable to be involved in directly, make sure you complete this module. Part of the process is to do some deeper thinking about the importance of creativity and how it can be enhanced – important for everyone.
Module 19 - The Role of Fun - At the beginning of the course we met Arthur Koestler and his three creative persona – the artist, the sage and the jester. In this module we will be exploring the essential contribution humour and fun bring to creativity. It's not about getting yourself the job title of jester (we'll look into that in module 22), but rather the wider aspects of fun in creativity.
Module 20 - The Creative Environment - There's a classic nature/nurture balance in creativity – how much your creative ability is down to your nature as an individual, and how much it is down to your environment. Both contribute. You have an innate creative ability, yet all the things we have been discussing on this course, from techniques to facilitation are external factors that can assist and improve on that innate ability. In this module we will be looking at the external factors that are most strongly linked with your working environment. What it's like physically and mentally, what you use and are surrounded by.
Module 21 - Selling Creativity - Everyone knows that creativity is a great idea, right? So doesn't it sell itself? The answer is ‘no’ for a number of reasons. All too often, those who you need to sell to simply don't see the need for innovation. This module isn't so much about selling your ideas (see module 10) as selling the need to be more creative.
Module 22 - Organizational Creativity - There's something about the concept of an organization that's inherently stodgy. It's probably because an inevitable implication of organization is bureaucracy. Organizations need processes to operate – even if they are very simple ones – and once those processes are set in tablets of stone, they generate a bureaucracy that takes on a self-importance totally out of proportion to its role. A creative organization sounds like an oxymoron. But it is possible.
Module 23 - Zen Creativity - The title of this module brings out the urge to devise rather strange statements like ‘what’s the sound of one hand clapping?’ (of which more later). In fact, the title is rather misleading. This module does not truly deal with Zen creativity, but rather creativity of a style that is associated with the sort of feeling Westerners usually associate (at least partially falsely) with Zen, concentrating on the slower and more reflective creativity within – but that makes a very clumsy title.
Module 24 - Another Framework - In the previous module we explored the internal world of creativity, the state where you are so familiar with creativity techniques that you yourself become the technique. However, being able to do this requires an ease with techniques that can only be achieved with practice – and the techniques will continue to provide repeatable, valuable creative input for you for as long as you want them to. Bearing this in mind, this penultimate module gives you another opportunity to work through a full Imagination Engineering framework, pulling together the learning of the previous modules.
Module 25 - Creativity and Innovation - Over the last 24 modules we have explored creativity and innovation in depth. Now it’s time to carry forward what you have learned and do something with it. Hopefully you have already started this process, but there’s plenty more to do.

Course Overview

Course detail

This is an opportunity to take a detailed creativity course at your own pace. Each of the 25 modules takes about an hour to complete, with further optional reading.

To see what is on offer download the first module of the course free. RIGHT CLICK HERE and select "Save Target As..." or "Save Link As..." to download the first module - it's free, so why not? All modules are in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format.

This course is individually licensed. If you want more people to use it, there are discounts available for bulk purchases:

Individual copy of the 25 module course - £35 ($50)
Up to 20 copies licence - £500 ($750)
Up to 100 copies licence - £2,000 ($3,000)
Up to 1,000 copies licence - £4,000 ($6,000

Up to 2,000 copies licence - £5,000 ($7,500)
Up to 5,000 copies licence - £7,000 ($10,500)
Up to 20,000 copies licence - £8,000 ($12,000
Unlimited company licence* - £10,000 ($15,000)

* Note the unlimited licence also includes unlimited licence for copies of all our Instant ebooks, and a copy of our Creativity Kickstart DVD. See our ebooks page and DVD page for details.