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"Creativity isn't the sole province of artists and musicians - it's
the ability to find better ways to make products or to find and fill needs that no one noticed existed".
Richard Florida PhD.   

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We will be presenting an evening taster session with Business Link Hertfordshire on 19th Oct. 2005.  

CANCELLED |The above event was cancelled by Business Link due to insufficient bookings.

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Sunday courses are held in St Albans several times a year.  Please click here for further details

Our Articles


Music and Organisations How techniques from music can help companies to operate more effectively.


How the Brain Divides its Work
A summary of right and left brain thinking styles and why you need whole brain thinking


The Business Benefits of Creativity 
Why Creativity and Innovation is vital to business


Discussion Board
Discuss Creativity and Business here


Click here to download our flyer

Click here to see a mindmap outlining the thinking behind  Creativity Means Business (in progress)

CONCEPT MAP
Click here to see a concept map describing Creativity Means Business

 

is a collaboration between Sanguma and The Music Workshop Company.

If

Your business processes let you and your customers down
Frustration and apathy are part of business life
You're getting bogged down with problems that won't go away
You need to do more with less - and be more clever about it
Change is happening faster than you can cope with it
You want more effective and forward looking decision making
You want new business ideas and products
You want continual improvement to be more than a slogan
You want to create high business value at low cost

Then

We can help you.  Our course will show you how creative thinking works and give you the techniques and confidence to use it as a routine  business tool.  

Why creativity is vital for business today

Many routine tasks have been removed by automation or have been exported to other parts of the world.  For many companies, having good ideas is the most cost effective or only way of beating the competition and staying in business. 

Globalisation and rapid technical and social change means that the old certainties and assumptions of business are reducing.  Your key competitors may no longer be in the next town but on the other side of the world.  Business opportunities come from new technologies and are quickly claimed by companies and entrepreneurs that have the imagination to see them and the ability to move fast enough.  The Crazy Frog Ring Tone, was recorded eight years ago and licensed last year by Jamba!.  Jamba! saw the business opportunity that others didn't and have made over £14m to date.

Right now the wireless internet is allowing new ways of working.  This page was revised on a bus going through central London and later uploaded via a wireless network while I sat in my garden - I didn't have to be sitting at an office desk to do it.  Can new ways of working make your company more competitive?  Are new ideas helping your business to be more successful?

What we do:

We provide a practical three part course which will help your organisation to be more creative in problem solving and creating good ideas. These courses are structured as follows:

Session 1. Creativity: what it is and why it's important to business - introduction to creative thinking and problem solving skills - introduction to creative thinking tools and techniques - business lessons from musicians (innovation and adaptation 'on the hoof' - intuition and team work) Jazz metaphor - developing themes and breaking rules - musicians comfort zone (e.g. classical vs. jazz). and business. File sharing and music downloads - opportunity vs threat.

Participants will explore a range of musical activities which will encourage them to think creatively and help to build confidence in their creative abilities.

Session 2.Introducing structured techniques for problem solving and idea generation. These include: SCAMPER, Reversal, Reframing, Collision, Attribute Listing.  We'll also look at theories and research into creative thinking and tell you how to start improving your creative thinking skills from day to day.

Session 3. The combination of increased confidence in creative thinking and knowledge of structured creative thinking and problem solving techniques is then be applied to real problems, for example:

How can I build a better mousetrap? - How can we deal with traffic congestion? How can I sell more mobile phones? How can I produce better and cheaper widgets?  Delegates can also propose their own problems at any time before Session 3 (in fact, we'd prefer that - live problems are more fun to deal with)

Interested? 

Please click here for further details or send an email to courses@creativitymeansbusiness.com for a reply by return.

Courses will be provided as one day Saturday courses or evening “twilight courses”. These courses will be fun, innovative and interactive. In-house courses may be provided by arrangement. Download the flyer (pdf format) by clicking here

Contact us here

We presented this course to a large training company in April 2005.  Here's some of the feedback we received:

"Loved it!  Very lively and engaged left and right brains"

"I enjoyed the link between musical improvisation and brainstorming"

"...liked the link between music playing and teamwork"

"Great mix of theory and fun to drive creative thoughts"

"Good mix of creativity and analysing left and right brain activities"
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CREATIVITY AND BUSINESS IN THE NEWS:

Managing Those Creative Types

Bestselling author Richard Florida tells why creativity adds to the bottom line -- and how companies can keep it flowing.

Why Do Quality Efforts Lose Their Fizz?

Edward de Bono argues the need for creative thinking to be part of quality programs. As one of the leading authorities on creative thinking, de Bono’s article is well worth reading. And if you want a creative approach to business process improvement and quality, then we can help!


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Course Designers and Presenters:

Maria Thomas

Maria Thomas is a musician with wide experience of performing, leading workshops and management.

After working in the Orchestral Management department at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Maria started her own business, The Music Workshop Company, supplying tailored music workshops to schools, local authorities and other organisations. Maria has also been instrumental in the launch of the new professional chamber orchestra the Manning Camerata which launched earlier this year.

She has a BMus (hons) and an LTCL from Trinity College of Music, London

 

Brian Hunt

Brian Hunt has a business and engineering background and has worked at all organisational levels from shop floor to senior management.

Over the last ten years he has been creatively applying his design and engineering experience to helping organisations simplify their business processes and quality management systems.  He has a special interest in creative thinking and ideas schemes in organisations.

He also runs the websites www.creativeideas.org.uk and www.sanguma.com

He has a BSc from the Open University, and an MSc from the University of Hertfordshire.