The Centre for Creativity and Innovation conducts and follows great research. Feel free to peruse papers for more information about creativity.
BOOKS
Napier, Nancy K. (2010). INSIGHT: ENCOURAGING AHA! MOMENTS FOR ORGANIZATIONAL SUCCESS. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
Insight helps individuals and organizations create “Aha!” moments, instances of insight when connections between different pieces of information are revealed and new ideas are created. Insight examines three stages of the Aha! experience and the techniques people use to spark the creative Aha! experience. The book is based on interviews with over 100 people of all ages, backgrounds, and professions—from software developers to dancers, from detectives to football coaches—as well as the latest research results from management, psychology, and neuroscience studies about the workings of the brain in creative situations.
Nancy K. and Nilsson, Mikael. (2008). THE CREATIVE DISCIPLINE: MASTERING THE ART AND SCIENCE OF INNOVATION. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers
Why are some organizations more creative than others? What sets innovative, high-performing organizations apart? Can creativity and innovation be learned and enhanced? The answer to the last question, say creativity experts Nancy Napier and Mikael Nilsson, is a resounding yes. And with general consensus that creativity and innovation drive business growth, fostering creativity couldn’t be more important. In The Creative Discipline, Napier and Nilsson illustrate six key factors that power creative, high-achieving organizations, and they provide managers with guidelines for incorporating those factors into their own companies. Business people will learn how innovative organizations get superior results from employees not just through disciplined methods of thinking, but also through free-flowing work spaces and work practices that help supercharge the imagination.
ARTICLES
Gang Rules: Creativity in Unexpected Places : What happens when jail deputies and dancers, software engineers and football coaches, actors and advertising gurus meet and share ideas? Creativity comes from unexpected places. This article discusses some Gang Rules, or lessons from members, as well as how other organizations can benefit from being part of a similar group.
Study Creatively Gauges Economic Success: An article on the creativity index giving Boise’s government, business and arts groups a real tool to measure and pursue economic strength and growth. Boise State’s FOCUS Magazine, Winter 2008 edition.
US Looming Creativity Crisis The US no longer dominates in creativity and innovation – as more countries start focusing on doing more, where will the US end up?
PAPERS
Idaho Film Industry Study : A comparison of Idaho, Austin (TX) and Vancouver, Canada’s film industries – how they grew, factors that are important for each
The Creativity Imperative – National Perspective
Creative Index Brochure : Comparing Boise with Portland and Seatte on key factors that creative cities have in common.
Rethinking Small Places : What smaller cities can do to take advantage of being smaller to become more creative
Incubator Research Paper : Comparison of Boise three business development/incubators: The downtown WaterCooler, the “green” Venga Works (Meridian), and the high tech start up center, TECenter, Nampa