Creativity 

Yesterday's solutions do not solve today's problems. 

Your success in today's global economy depends on your ability to identify the insights your competitors miss. Simply relying on yesterday's ideas, products and certainties will spell failure. Don't be afraid to test your assumptions and attack problems from a new angle. This is the first and most important step in unleashing the creative potential within yourself, your team, and your company. Our programs highlight:

• Strategic Planning: Identify evolving strategic patterns and generate ideas on how they can be applied to your organization.
• Abstract Thinking: Learn to develop and analyze the ideas, images, and data that come from exploring relationships, patterns, and associations.
• Creative Techniques and Activities: Foster creativity by exploring and sharing a number of possible solutions.
• Curiosity: The people who ask the most questions and who are engaged are the ones who will understand the root of the problem and find a solution more quickly.

After AMA training in thinking and innovation, you will begin to see problems from a variety of different perspectives and look for solutions in a different way. For a suggested listing of AMA seminars, webcasts, and articles on thinking and innovation, see below:

First

Seminars:

• Creative Thinking in Business #2208
  Discover new ways to break through mental barriers, ho-hum thinking and roadblocks.
• Fundamentals of Strategic Planning #2565 
  Understand the impact of strategy on your work and your organization's success.

Articles:

• Developing Your Creative Personality, by Cy Charney 
  Ten strategies you can use to become more creative.
• The Power of the Open-Ended Question, by Dan Coughlin 
  Utilize one of the most powerful tools of leading with influence—the open-ended question.  

Then

Seminars:

• Critical Thinking #2533
  Explore the art of applying critical thinking skills in a business setting and with hands-on practice and feedback.
• Assertiveness Training #2188
  Deal with conflict, give and receive feedback and address business etiquette with assertiveness training.
• Essentials of Project Management for the Non-Project Manager #6548
  Learn essential terminology and apply basic PM techniques to increase your effectiveness both on the team and in your own functional area.

Articles:

• How to Succeed as an Entrepreneur, by Jim Stovall
  Five ways to improve your odds of entrepreneurial success.
• Leading Employees Toward Innovation, by Donna J. Bear
  Four rules for leaders to ensure that innovation becomes a natural part of every employee's workday.

Polish With

Seminars:

• Developing Your Emotional Intelligence #2144
  Enhance your self-awareness and make emotions work for you to build more productive relationships-professionally and personally.
• Moving from an Operational Manager to a Strategic Leader #2242
  Learn how to anticipate, initiate, and manage change with our strategic leadership training.
• Strategic Planning #2526
  Develop the best strategic planning to support your company's goals.

Articles:

• The Power of Counter-Intuitive Thinking 
  Demonstrate that you are different and that you are thinking differently.
• Harnessing Your Company's "Rudolphs" to Drive Innovation, by Cyndi Laurin, PhD, and Craig Morningstar 
  What really keeps a company competitive is its people—more specifically, the people who know how to innovate.