11th European Conference on Creativity and Innovation

Alberto Alessi has been described as the ‘godfather of Italian product design’.

Now Managing Director of Alessi Spa, using his entrepreneurial flair he has successfully explored the frontiers of design and technology. As a result, he has repositioned the company as a design leader partnering world class designers.

Deservedly, his risk management skills are sought by prominent technology and design led organisations around the world.

In its third generation Alessi took the company helm in 1970 and has radically extended the product offering from the fundamental household and trade fare to include innovative yet practical products.

Not surprisingly, he received the MBA Design Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Brooklyn Museum, New York. He also holds a number of honorary titles from various academic institutions.

In his presentation he explores the often fine line between opposing forces – like success and failure – he tempts you into a new world of possibilities.

Based on the Alessi story he shows you how stretching your approach to embrace the borderline between traditional and avant-garde thinking you can increase your potential.

Edward de Bono is regarded as the global leading authority in the field of creative and conceptual thinking. An MD, PHD and Rhodes Scholar, he has authored 72 books in 41 languages. His instruction in thinking has been sought by major corporations such as IBM, Microsoft, Shell, Prudential, GM, Ford, and Citicorp to name a few. His work is in use in thousands of schools worldwide, and mandatory on the curriculum in some countries.

He is the originator of the term ‘Lateral Thinking’ and the very popular “Six Thinking Hats” framework. Based on an understanding of how the brain works as a self-organising information system, Edward de Bono has designed specific thinking tools to maximize the creative process.

Dr. de Bono has worked successfully with organizations such as Pharmacia, Nokia, Philip Morris and Dupont to imbed his thinking tools into their culture.  The ROI for these companies has been impressive.

His presentation at ECCI will be about: 'Why world thinking is so poor'.

The theme of the presentation: the thinking software developed by the Greek gang of three and processed by the church in the middle ages has given us thinking for finding the truth but we have never developed thinking for creating value.

Herman Van den Broeck has a doctor’s degree in psychological and educational sciences, with a major in educational theory. He studied at the Department for Organisational Behaviour, Lancaster University, UK. In his Ph.D. he gained more in-depth knowledge about learning and development strategies of companies.

He is a partner of the Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School, where he is in charge of the Competence Centre ‘People and Organisation’. He is also professor at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration of the University of Ghent.

He lectures in the masters and the MBA-programs of Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School. At the university he supervises courses about organisational behaviour and management skills. His major fields of interest are social skills, change management, emotional intelligence and cognitive styles.

Next to a lot of scientific publications Herman Van den Broeck has published books on change management and social skills.

Kobus Neethling is a world renowned speaker, corporate trainer and author. He founded the South African Creativity Foundation and received the prestigious 'Distinguished Award' from the International Creative Problem Solving Institute. Neethling will speak about the stumbling blocks to the implementation of ideas and how to turn them to your advantage. His approach is theoretical as well as practical.

Mark Raison is an international keynote speaker, facilitator and consultant in creativity & innovation of YELLOW IDEAS since 1987. Helping organizations, men and women to discover their incredible creative potential is his professional passion. Through conferences, training courses, creative meetings or original activities, he offers his support to managers and their organization in their quest for creativity, innovation and change.

Author and innovation consultant Tim Hurson will paint a compelling picture of how old-style thinking got us where we are and why it just won’t cut it in today’s organizational environment.

He offers a way out – a new brand of thinking, Productive Thinking, that will be the critical differentiator between individuals and organizations that stagnate and those that thrive in the new world.

His presentation will be based on the ideas in his best-selling book, Think Better: an innovator’s guide to productive thinking. His book is translated into 6 language and used in Business and professional schools in the US, Canada, Australia, and Brazil.

Simon is managing director of CREAX a software, media and project company. CREAX is supporting companies to access worldwide research knowledge, and to grow an innovation culture. CREAX developed a methodology and a search robot that is used in companies like Goodyear, Gore, Pfizer, GSK, Johnson & Johnson, P&G, Bekaert and many more and is thought in several universities and management schools.

The biggest global brain is the patent database. Up to date, there are over 67 million patents, through all sectors. To put it simple: 67 million well defined problems received adequate solutions.

P&G, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Goodyear and many other companies are already using the patent database as an abundant resource of potentially new solutions. Through abstract problem definition, existing solutions can be defined from outside the company’s expertise. It is not to find something new, but to find something new for your sector. To find something completely new is challenged by existing solutions that have proven their feasibility in a related domain. For example, what has been developed for textile fibre could work for hair fibre or paper fibre.

Comparison of innovation success across sectors have show a reproducible pattern in which innovation potential can be predicted, problems and solutions can be matched and new markets can be generated. The pattern brings speed and efficiency in the creative process. No single one is as smart as everyone. Rather than re-searching from scratch, the use of existing solutions is a more sustainable, sharing way of making innovation in Europe happen.

Jan Buijs (1948) is now for more than 23 years full professor and chair in product innovation and creativity at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering (IDE) of the Delft University of Technology (DUT). He was educated as an industrial design engineer (MSc in 1976), and received his PhD in 1984. Before working at the Delft University he spent ten years as a management consultant.

He is responsible for research in management of product innovation, creativity and multi-disciplinary design teams. He teaches strategy, brand and project management, creative problem solving, innovation and integrated new product development.

At ECCI he will talk about: Implementation is getting people into action.

“Ideas don’t do anything by themselves, it is people acting on them, which makes getting ideas important. Implementation is about acceptance finding, is about commitment finding and is about communicating the results. It is primarily a people’s game. Finding the right people to join in and searching for support in the organisation and in the broader contexts in which the idea has to perform.”

Joost Kadijk

Joost is a professional in the field of creation, innovation and change, with an academic background in Public Health and Drama. He currently focuses on developing a new model for public governance in a complex environment. From a young age Joost has spent many hours performing on stage. Nowadays he uses this experience as facilitator at conferences and creative brainstorms. Key words: serious play, commitment, improvising, finds different angles.

Joost loves:

• Getting people and organizations to move in the right direction, facing the challenges of a professional world today.
• Getting the job done.
• Connecting the heart of the professional to the soul of the organization.
• Finding common ground between opposed parties.
• Improvising when things do not go as planned.

more: http://www.newshoestoday.com/we/joost_kadijk.html

Cyriel Kortleven

25 words to describe Cyriel: new shoes today, speaker, master of ceremony, facilitator, inspirator, creativity, improvisation, experience time, brainstorm, Knight of NOW, stickiness, author, human being, in eternal development, present.

More words to describe Cyriel: Cyriel Kortleven is a crewmember and co-founder of new shoes today – a growing number of soul mates in business who give support to people and organizations on their road to creation, innovation and change. Cyriel makes people more conscious of the opportunities in life. Cyriel is a popular speaker in the domain of creativity and innovation. He gives workshops and presentations in creative skills and attitude and the breaking of fixed thinking patterns. Cyriel moves people in a literally and figurative way by means of a combination of creativity and improvisation - also brought together in the successful Dutch book ‘And ... Action!’. Next to the process of generating ideas, he is fascinated by making an idea or message contagious and sticky. Cyriel is also on an eternal expedition to discover new ways to integrate experience time in our clock time -society. His playful and enthusiastic attitude creates an open and informal atmosphere; ideal for the combination master of ceremony/speaker for bigger events and conferences. To stimulate the consciousness of experience time and the power of creativity, Cyriel is a co-founder of two troops ‘The Knights of NOW’ and ‘Operation Brainstorm’. Do you get the image ... interaction, inspiration, passion and creative, that’s Cyriel Kortleven. Now.

more: http://www.newshoestoday.com/site/we/cyriel_kortleven/