The Forces of Collaborative Creativity: A practical guide to creative teamwork in the healthcare business

Collaborative Creativity is a powerful methodology for groups that uses short bursts of creative challenges to help people go beyond rational/conscious thinking and uncover, with constructive consequences, the emotional/irrational sphere that influences behaviour. It was developed by Peter Comber specifically for the complex environment of the healthcare industry, and this how-to manual for managers of healthcare companies offers practical advice on how to employ creative processes in their sector.

Table of Contents:
About the author ........................................................................ xiii Acknowledgements .........................................................................xv A brief introduction to Collaborative Creativity ................. 1 Part 1: The foundations of Collaborative Creativity ..7 The five forces of Collaborative Creativity .......................... 9 Self-discovery ............................................................................ 12 Empathy .................................................................................... 16 Invention................................................................................... 21 Realization ................................................................................ 27 Cohesion ................................................................................... 31 Five-in-one ............................................................................... 36 Making sense ..................................................................... 41 Exceptional pharma ........................................................... 47 Creativity and ideas ........................................................... 51 Part 2: How to use Collaborative Creativity .............59 Do-it-yourself .................................................................... 61 Terminology not jargon .................................................... 65 The eight principles of Collaborative Creativity ................ 69 Clearly stated objective ............................................................. 70 Rational and emotional responses ............................................ 72 Exercises are unique to each project ........................................ 74 Multiple, diverse exercises ........................................................ 76 Safe and stimulating environment ............................................ 78 Individual, team and group tasks ............................................. 81 Repetitive organizing structure ................................................. 82 Group discussion ending .......................................................... 83 The Collaborative Creativity project .................................. 85 Problem paper .......................................................................... 86 Project briefing ......................................................................... 86 Mapping .................................................................................... 87 Project statement and project design ........................................ 88 Project output ........................................................................... 92 The Collaborative Creativity session .................................. 93 Coach ........................................................................................ 94 Moderator ................................................................................. 94 Participants ................................................................................ 94 Other actors .............................................................................. 95 Collaborative Creativity session agenda .................................... 95 Designing a Collaborative Creativity session ............................ 96 Refining the session ................................................................100 Before and after the session ...................................................102 Collaborative Creativity exercises .................................... 105 Curating the flow of the exercises in a session .....................106 Inventing a creative exercise ..................................................110 Designing the worksheet and stimuli .....................................116 Collaborative Creativity exercise formats ........................ 119 Time travel ..............................................................................119 Lifebelt ....................................................................................121 Transforma ..............................................................................123 Collage ....................................................................................124 Identikit ..................................................................................127 Parallel universe ......................................................................129 Pre-session exercises ...............................................................130 Moderating ...................................................................... 133 Preparation ..............................................................................133 Session moderation .................................................................134 Deposition ...............................................................................141 Change and opportunity ................................................. 143 Quality office time .................................................................144 Mass distraction ......................................................................144 The soul in the machine ........................................................145 Signal-to-noise ratio ...............................................................146 Plastic brains ...........................................................................146 Trains and helicopters ............................................................147 Further resources ................................................................... 149 Further reading on how we think and act ............................................149 Further reading on creativity ..............................................................150

About the Author :
Peter Comber is the inventor of the Collaborative Creativity methodology and founding partner of Atstrat, a company providing Collaborative Creativity services to the healthcare industry. An expert in applied creativity, with 35 years of professional experience that also includes a deep understanding of qualitative research, strategic planning and international marketing and management, Peter has unique practical knowledge of the power of group creativity.

Review :
I'm not even finished with this book, and it's already clear to me that it is a 5-Star piece of writing and an incredibly practical resource. Having done considerable work with Peter Comber over the past 15 years, I can attest that he is the real deal -- and so is his book. I've seen, firsthand, how Pete gets the best thinking from groups of people, and this book shares his brilliant tips on how to capture that kind of lightning in a bottle. For anyone wanting to foster greater creativity and collaboration in their workplace, get this book. You'll be glad you did.