Dr Karl K. Jeffries, one of the key speakers at the Creativity and Culture Online Conference (2017) is a Senior Lecturer in Design at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), and Course Leader for the MA Creative Thinking (Distance Learning) at UCLan. His previous research has focused on the relationship between competencies and creativity, with a particular emphasis on the assessment of design creativity.
Boost creativity in one, two, five, ten, a hundred, a thousand easy steps! In my experience, creative development is both simple and complex at the same time: which is a wonderful ambiguity very much in keeping with the spirit of creativity. I’ve spent years simplifying academic creativity research into key ideas anyone can grasp and apply. At the same time, I’m not a fan of the “it’s so easy” philosophy of some creativity training. Sure, the right principles can be profound (I’ve seen it happen many times), but the complexity is always unique to the person; you’ve got to talk and connect, and understand where folk are coming from to know that uniqueness.
I’m also interested in the evidence base for creativity training, which at times can be variable in research quality. For example, we know that asking people to “be creative” improves their creativity regardless of the creativity techniques been taught. In effect, this can mean some creativity training may be no more effective than giving permission to “be creative”. Contact Dr Karl K. Jeffries here