This document summarizes Ellen West's presentation on making space for creativity in business school classes. It discusses how she incorporates creative assignments and activities in her organizational change and creativity/innovation courses at Portland State University. Examples include having students interpret organizational transitions through art, music, films and poetry. Student feedback indicates they respond positively to these creative opportunities and are willing to take more risks. West reflects on lessons learned from these experiences and plans to further measure the impact and develop creativity-focused courses.

1. Innovation, Creativity and Leadership –
Research and Practice
Centre for Creativity in Professional Practice
City University London – 13th June 2011
Making a Space for Creativity in
University Business Classes:
voices from the field
Ellen West, Ph.D.
School of Business Administration
Portland State University
Portland, Oregon USA

2. School of Business Administration
Portland State University
Portland, Oregon

3. Creativity is not something that
has to be worked at, but
something that is released
automatically when we are on
the right path. Phillips.

4. Classes Currently Teaching
• Organizational Design and Change
• The Power of Soul and Spirit in Business
• Developing Creativity and Innovation in
Business

5. Questions:
 How might I weave aspects of creativity into my management
classroom?
 What kind of art are business students capable of creating?
 What classroom conditions foster this kind of expression?
 How might I measure the effectiveness of this learning
strategy?

6. Mgmt 445 – Organizational Design and Change
Course Learning Objectives
 Become familiar with major OD interventions
 Become familiar with concept of organizational transitions
 Engage in active learning in order to illustrate change
principles
 Develop ability to understand, analyze, & prescribe selected
change interventions

7. Use of Active Learning
Strategies
“Learning is not a spectator sport”
(Chickering and Gamson, 1987)

8. Bridges Interpretive Transitions Assignment
• Ending – “Yesterday” – The Beatles
• Neutral Zone – “River of Dreams” – Billy Joel or
“Walking on Broken Glass” – Annie Lennox
• Beginning – “Don’t Stop Thinking about Tomorrow” –
Fleetwood Mac

9. Sampling of Student Work
• Films: Titanic; The Lion King; Gone with the
Wind
• Poetry
• Salmon life cycle; life cycle of butterfly
• Music
• Photography
• Painting

10. “Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows”

11. How can we further use art and
creativity in class?
• Construct models
• Have more from each group like pictures, songs, and movies
• Relate theories to music
• Have innovation and creativity be part of the class culture
• Look at before and after pictures to help visualize change in
our lives
• Dancing or live art demonstration
• Bridges change stages Pictionary
• As a way to describe feelings and convey emotions that one
would feel during a transition
• Visit an art museum
• Anything but papers

12. How were you creative?
Make an ice cream Sunday Mix and matched my
clothes
Cut my own hair
Wrote stories Built a filter for a truck
Created a prom outfit Made a scarf
Planning an event for over
A new way to keep track of my schedule
400 guests
Tarot Cards
Dressed up like a
pirate Relaxed Developed ways to handle stress and
manage
This Project
Henna tattoo and scribbled a galloping horse
Given a presentation on high and
low context culture Origami
Designed
something Dress people in different fashions
Made a gift Planned a vacation or trip

13. “Art is the doorway to learning”

14. The Power of Soul and Spirit in Business
Soul =
Spirit =

15. Learning Objectives
1. Understand current
relevance of soul &
2. Develop
spirit in the strategies
workplace; for
integrating
soul &
spirit into
your life
and
workplace;
3. Critique one aspect of soul &
spirit in the workplace

16. Verbal-Linguistic
Intelligence
Logical-Mathematical
Intelligence
Visual-Spatial
Intrapersonal Intelligence
Intelligence
8 Ways of
Knowing* Musical-Rhythmic
Interpersonal Intelligence
Intelligence
Naturalist Bodily-Kinesthetic
Intelligence Intelligence
*Adapted from Eight Ways of Knowing: Teaching for Multiple Intelligences. By David Lazear. (Palatine, Ill.: Sklight, 1998). Pathways of Learning ©2000 Zephyr
Press, Tucson, Arizona. http://zephyrpress.com

18. Our Evening with Soul Photos

19. Photos Continued….

20. Photos Continued

21. Photos Continued

22. Soul and Spirit Quotient
On 5 point scale went from 3.4 to
4.5

23. Mgmt 410
Developing Creativity and
Innovation in Business

25. The Artist’s Way at Work
by Bryan, Cameron, & Allen
The Ten Faces of Innovation
By Kelley

26. Creativity Projects
• Pinstriping
• Gracie

29. Lessons Learned/Reflections
• Students respond positively when given creative
opportunities
• Things don’t always go as planned
• Getting out of the way facilitates the process
• Willing to take more risks in the classroom these
days
• Having a lot more fun
• Students are great

30. Next Steps
• Measuring impact through follow-up
surveys/interviews
• Develop matrix of indicators
• Establish support group/blog
• Create entrepreneurship class
• Assisting with CWLO efforts regarding “Creative
Thinking”