3 Days Of Creativity And Innovation In New York City

Recently made a trip to New York City to attend a company sponsored training course conducted by WhatIf.

I have to admit, when I was first informed about this, I was highly skeptical. After all, it seems counter-intuitive to think that creativity and innovation could be 'taught'.

Furthermore, the course was pitched as one that's focused on new product development. Given Singapore's small size, it hardly seems likely that anything new will be commissioned from this country. Singapore is used frequently as a test market, but certainly not a breeding ground for new products, at least, not in this company.

So, it was quite a surprise when I turned up in NYC to learn that:
(1) This was the first time anyone from Samsung had been enrolled in this course. In other words, I had the privilege of being 1 of the first 15 in the entire company to be there.
(2) The classroom certainly didn't look like a classroom. In fact, the first thought that struck me was how much it resembled a playroom in a kindergarten back in Singapore.
(3) We didn't have to do the case studies so beloved of other marketing-related courses I've attended. This was a huge relief, since those case-studies tend to be pretty divorced from reality.

In fact, the learning experience was the best I've come across in a long time. Our trainers, Lisa and Gareth, made the effort to break the ice. They taught us about different techniques we could use to cultivate creativity and innovation, all in the context of developing a new product.

And the way it was taught was certainly memorable. Of course, principles were explained and definitions clarified. But throughout the course, there was role-playing, actual field-work, demonstrations and hands-on sessions where everyone chipped in.

And it was during the course of this training that Lisa & Gareth helped me realise that the techniques and tools didn't have to be restricted to new product development. In fact, the techniques and tools could be applied in everyday work, if we took the trouble to do so.

All this certainly made the long trip there worthwhile. And it was definitely s very positive experience to be remembered and lessons to be applied.