DePaul Center, Creativity Forum Bridging the Ingenuity Gap in the 21 st Century Creativity, Connectivity and the Mind’s Best Work Creative Leaps International John J. Cimino, Jr. "Ancora imparo." ("I am still learning") Michelangelo at 87

The Ingenuity Gap: the space between problems that arise and our ability to solve them The Ingenuity Gap Scholar Thomas Homer Dixon describes the “ingenuity gap” today as growing at an alarming rate (in business, industry, education, the environment and world affairs).

The Ingenuity Gap:

the space between problems that arise and our ability to solve them

The Ingenuity Gap A problem for the world and our inner world

Wanted: leaders and other professionals who can See clearly what is Imagine what can be Act to bring something new into the world The Harvard Business Review and the Corporate Sector Speak: The Ingenuity Gap Close the Ingenuity Gap The Writing on the Wall Wall Street Speaks

Wanted: leaders and other professionals who can

See clearly what is

Imagine what can be

Act to bring something new into the world

The new MBA is a liberal arts degree. Traditional business training is too narrow and lacking in creative problem-solving skills. We need leaders and managers who can think broadly, creatively and adaptively in environments of constant change, who know how to improvise and work through complex problems with imagination and self discipline. The Writing on the Wall Wall Street and the Arts The Harvard Business Review and the Corporate Sector Speak: The Ingenuity Gap

The new MBA is a liberal arts degree.

Traditional business training is too narrow and lacking in creative problem-solving skills. We need leaders and managers who can think broadly, creatively and adaptively in environments of constant change, who know how to improvise and work through complex problems with imagination and self discipline.

The liberal arts teach people to deal with ambiguity, emotion, complexity and interpretation. These are critical issues in business, particularly as you move higher in the organization. Northrop Frye writes, “The kind of problem that literature raises is not the kind that you ever ‘solve’”. This is exactly the kind of problem one regularly confronts as a manager. It’s also the mirror image of engineering or physics where students are only exposed to solvable problems.” (The Liberal Arts and Business) David Creelman The Writing on the Wall Wall Street and the Arts The Harvard Business Review and the Corporate Sector Speak: The Ingenuity Gap

The liberal arts teach people to deal with ambiguity, emotion, complexity and interpretation. These are critical issues in business, particularly as you move higher in the organization. Northrop Frye writes, “The kind of problem that literature raises is not the kind that you ever ‘solve’”. This is exactly the kind of problem one regularly confronts as a manager. It’s also the mirror image of engineering or physics where students are only exposed to solvable problems.”

(The Liberal Arts and Business) David Creelman

“ As ingenuity gaps widen the gulfs of wealth and power among us, we need imagination, metaphor and empathy more than ever, to help us remember each other’s essential humanity.” Thomas Homer Dixon The Ingenuity Gap The Ingenuity Gap

“ As ingenuity gaps widen the gulfs of wealth

and power among us, we need imagination,

metaphor and empathy more than ever, to

help us remember each other’s essential

humanity.”

Thomas Homer Dixon

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood… Option I: Scholarship and Contemporary Research Option II: Da Vinci’s Insights

John Cimino Creative Leaps International "All our knowledge has its origins in our perception.“ Leonardo Da Vinci “ Everything is connected to everything else.” Leonardo Da Vinci

It is not logic which guides discovery and artful creativity, but perception and imaginative insight . Receiving from the outside… Conjuring from the inside… Now, imagine learning as personal discovery. (Vico) John Cimino Creative Leaps International "All our knowledge has its origins in our perception.“ Leonardo Da Vinci a footnote from neuroscience

Imagination = perception ? In terms of neurological events, our memories and imaginings of experience produce much the same experience as direct experience itself. (experiments using P.E.T. scans) The more we learn about learning and the brain, the more we learn how powerful our own beliefs are in creating what we experience as reality. Now, what’s the upside of this equation? a footnote from neuroscience

Imagination = perception ? In terms of neurological events, our memories and imaginings of experience produce much the same experience as direct experience itself. (experiments using P.E.T. scans) The more we learn about learning and the brain, the more we learn how powerful our own beliefs are in creating what we experience as reality. Now, what’s the upside of this equation? Imagination as interior sight and senses. a function of the physical body. a footnote from neuroscience

Fantasia Italian, for “imaginative insight”, (according to Vico) a knowing equivalent to the uniquely intimate knowing of an inventor or creator, more immediate and personal than knowing mediated via the stratagems of logic. “ Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Einstein

"All our knowledge has its origins in our perception.“ Leonardo Da Vinci One purpose of art is to alter the quality of our attentiveness -- to enhance, refresh and sharpen our perceptions . It is not logic which guides discovery and artful creativity, but perception and imaginative insight . Receiving from the outside… Conjuring from the inside… Now, imagine learning as personal discovery. (Vico) John Cimino Creative Leaps International a footnote from neuroscience

What do you see?

What do you see?

What do you see?

What do you see?

What do you see?

What do you see?

"All our knowledge has its origins in our perception.“ Leonardo Da Vinci One purpose of art is to alter the quality of our attentiveness -- to enhance, refresh and sharpen our perceptions . It is not logic which guides discovery and artful creativity, but perception and imaginative insight . Receiving from the outside… Conjuring from the inside… Now, imagine learning as personal discovery. (Vico) John Cimino Creative Leaps International The arts inhabit and thrive at this cusp of perception and meaning-making, flexing both in favor of creativity, discovery and learning. The arts live here!

Artists on Perception and Art I paint things as I think of them, not as I see them. Picasso

I paint things as I think of them, not as I see them.

Picasso

Artists on Perception and Art I paint things as I think of them, not as I see them. Picasso Each thing we see hides something else we want to see. Magritte

I paint things as I think of them, not as I see them.

Picasso

Each thing we see hides something else we want to see.

Magritte

Artists on Perception and Art I paint things as I think of them, not as I see them. Picasso Each thing we see hides something else we want to see. Magritte The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions that have been hidden by the answers. James Baldwin

I paint things as I think of them, not as I see them.

Picasso

Each thing we see hides something else we want to see.

Magritte

The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions that have been hidden by the answers.

James Baldwin

When art works, play’s the thing Creative Leaps International John J. Cimino, Jr.

The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be ignited. Plutarch

John Cimino Creative Leaps International “ Everything is connected to everything else.” Leonardo Da Vinci Transfer Double description, Lenses and Binocular Depth, Metaphor and Creative Juxtaposition The Medici Effect To think as Nature Thinks Steps to an Ecology of Mind Consilience Knowledge Integration

Metaphors as mini-lenses and instruments of double description The power and paradox of metaphors Let's jump in a bit deeper... John Cimino Creative Leaps International a footnote from neuroscience

The power and paradox of metaphors

a footnote from neuroscience Metaphor is defined neurologically as a spreading activation of the brain during learning. (Imaginative action) Governing Metaphors

The logic of metaphor as the logic of induction Induction: from multiple observations to general principle Setting the inductive process in motion “ You make two statements; what is true of both of them is the formal truth” (Bateson) Creative juxtaposition Metaphor as creative juxtaposition Metaphor as “double description” Optimizing Metaphors and Connectivity John J. Cimino, Jr. Creative Leaps International Metaphors: a spreading activation of the brain during learning Metaphors as mini-lenses and instruments of double description

The logic of metaphor as the logic of induction

Induction: from multiple observations to general principle

Setting the inductive process in motion

“ You make two statements; what is true of both of them is the formal truth” (Bateson)

Creative juxtaposition

Metaphor as creative juxtaposition

Metaphor as “double description”

Optimizing

Metaphors and Connectivity

Discovery and innovation in today’s world are more likely to be found at the crossroads of our disciplines than at their established centers, more likely to be revealed at the collision points of our cultures than in their mainstreams. “Only connect”, said Bateson. “This is how we make meaning, this is how we learn to think as Nature thinks.” A working philosophy of interdisciplinary connections and knowledge integration The Medici Effect

John Cimino Creative Leaps International “ Everything is connected to everything else.” Leonardo Da Vinci Corson’s Inlet Transfer Double description, Lenses and Binocular Depth, Metaphor and Creative Juxtaposition The Medici Effect To think as Nature Thinks Corson’s Inlet Steps to an Ecology of Mind Consilience Knowledge Integration

Creative Leaps International John J. Cimino, Jr. “ I went for a walk over the dunes again this morning to the sea…” A.R. Ammons Thinking about thinking at Corson's Inlet Thinking and learning with other logics Corson’s Inlet Let’s take a walk…

… I see narrow orders, limited tightness, but will not run to that easy victory: still around the looser, wider forces work: I will try to fasten into order enlarging grasps of disorder, widening scope, but enjoying the freedom that Scope eludes my grasp, that there is no finality of vision, that I have perceived nothing completely, that tomorrow a new walk is a new walk. A.R. Ammons (1963) Thinking about thinking at Corson's Inlet

Consilience Literally, a “jumping together” of knowledge across disciplines, consilience is all about connections, revealing deeper, common groundworks of explanation. “ Everything is connected to everything else.” Leonardo Da Vinci

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood… Option I: Scholarship and Contemporary Research Option II: Da Vinci’s Insights

Mind Processes of the Arts What do YOU think they are? What are your everyday names for these habits of mind?

Mind Processes of the Arts Qualitative relationships in the absence of rules Acting flexibly with purpose to approach a goal Learning to explore possibilities within a medium Using imagination to see multiple perspectives Learning to pay attention to nuance Surrendering to processes rather than leading Learning to use language figuratively Creating emotionally what cannot be expressed literally The qualitative features of the arts and the world Eliot Eisner Stamford University

Qualitative relationships in the absence of rules

Acting flexibly with purpose to approach a goal

Learning to explore possibilities within a medium

Using imagination to see multiple perspectives

Learning to pay attention to nuance

Surrendering to processes rather than leading

Learning to use language figuratively

Creating emotionally what cannot be expressed literally

The qualitative features of the arts and the world

Eliot Eisner

Stamford University

Creative Competencies of Leadership Noticing – slowing down, taking in more Subtle representation – eye for detail & relationship Fluid perspective - attuned to multiple points of view Using R-mode – non-verbal, intuitive processing Personalizing work – arts interests spill into work Skeptical inquiry – preserving the questions Serious play – learning and exploring without rules Portraying paradoxes, conflicts, unknown – mystery Facility with metaphor – generative thinking Making shared meanings - engaging creative tensions Center for Creative Leadership

Noticing – slowing down, taking in more

Subtle representation – eye for detail & relationship

Fluid perspective - attuned to multiple points of view

Using R-mode – non-verbal, intuitive processing

Personalizing work – arts interests spill into work

Skeptical inquiry – preserving the questions

Serious play – learning and exploring without rules

Portraying paradoxes, conflicts, unknown – mystery

Facility with metaphor – generative thinking

Making shared meanings - engaging creative tensions

Center for Creative Leadership

Creative Competencies of Leadership Noticing – slowing down, taking in more Subtle representation – eye for detail & relationship Fluid perspective - attuned to multiple points of view Using R-mode – non-verbal, intuitive processing Personalizing work – arts interests spill into work Skeptical inquiry – preserving the questions Serious play – learning and exploring without rules Portraying paradoxes, conflicts, unknown – mystery Facility with metaphor – generative thinking Making shared meanings - engaging creative tension Center for Creative Leadership Qualitative relationships in the absence of rules Acting flexibly with purpose to approach a goal Learning to explore possibilities within a medium Using imagination to see multiple perspectives Learning to pay attention to nuance Surrendering to processes rather than leading Learning to use language figuratively Creating emotionally what cannot be expressed literally The qualitative features of the arts and the world Eliot Eisner Stamford University Mind Processes of the Arts

Noticing – slowing down, taking in more

Subtle representation – eye for detail & relationship

Fluid perspective - attuned to multiple points of view

Using R-mode – non-verbal, intuitive processing

Personalizing work – arts interests spill into work

Skeptical inquiry – preserving the questions

Serious play – learning and exploring without rules

Portraying paradoxes, conflicts, unknown – mystery

Facility with metaphor – generative thinking

Making shared meanings - engaging creative tension

Center for Creative Leadership

Qualitative relationships in the absence of rules

Acting flexibly with purpose to approach a goal

Learning to explore possibilities within a medium

Using imagination to see multiple perspectives

Learning to pay attention to nuance

Surrendering to processes rather than leading

Learning to use language figuratively

Creating emotionally what cannot be expressed literally

The qualitative features of the arts and the world

Eliot Eisner

Stamford University

Creative Competencies of Leadership Noticing – slowing down, taking in more Subtle representation – eye for detail & relationship Fluid perspective - attuned to multiple points of view Using R-mode – non-verbal, intuitive processing Personalizing work – arts interests spill into work Skeptical inquiry – preserving the questions Serious play – learning and exploring without rules Portraying paradoxes, conflicts, unknown – mystery Facility with metaphor – generative thinking Making shared meanings - engaging creative tension Center for Creative Leadership Qualitative relationships in the absence of rules Acting flexibly with purpose to approach a goal Learning to explore possibilities within a medium Using imagination to see multiple perspectives Learning to pay attention to nuance Surrendering to processes rather than leading Learning to use language figuratively Creating emotionally what cannot be expressed literally The qualitative features of the arts and the world Eliot Eisner Stamford University Mind Processes of the Arts

Noticing – slowing down, taking in more

Subtle representation – eye for detail & relationship

Fluid perspective - attuned to multiple points of view

Using R-mode – non-verbal, intuitive processing

Personalizing work – arts interests spill into work

Skeptical inquiry – preserving the questions

Serious play – learning and exploring without rules

Portraying paradoxes, conflicts, unknown – mystery

Facility with metaphor – generative thinking

Making shared meanings - engaging creative tension

Center for Creative Leadership

Qualitative relationships in the absence of rules

Acting flexibly with purpose to approach a goal

Learning to explore possibilities within a medium

Using imagination to see multiple perspectives

Learning to pay attention to nuance

Surrendering to processes rather than leading

Learning to use language figuratively

Creating emotionally what cannot be expressed literally

The qualitative features of the arts and the world

Eliot Eisner

Stamford University

Coeur The French word for “heart” from which we also derive the word “courage”. The heart: our body’s gateway to another order of knowing. “The heart has reasons, which reason does not comprehend.” “ It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.” St. Exupery a footnote from neuroscience

a footnote from neuroscience Emotional markers and learning The amygdala, in effect, tags each experience we have with an emotional marker. The stronger the emotion attached to an experience, the stronger the marker, the more intense our memory of that experience. Engaging emotion in learning invariably increases the vividness and retention of particular learning experiences. (UCI)

What do you think? Emotions precede our application of logic, impelling particular directions of exploration over others and singling out certain associations among ideas or idea fragments over others. (intuitions, hunches, feelings) Emotions as integrators of experience and ideas: “ the feeling of what happens” (Antonio Damasio) Emotions, Imagination and the Body Not losing our minds, but coming to our senses

Emotions, Imagination and the Body

Not losing our minds, but coming to our senses

a footnote from neuroscience Neurogenesis and neural plasticity We are constantly growing new brain cells and do so all our lives. Only we can decide what our brains will become. (a story…) Good news…

John Cimino Creative Leaps International "All our knowledge has its origins in our perception.“ Leonardo Da Vinci “ Everything is connected to everything else.” Leonardo Da Vinci So, how do we infuse creativity and connectivity into our schools, universities, organizations, businesses and communities? What sort of entity could serve as a catalyst, enabler or model for our 21 st century institutions? The Big Question:

Governing Metaphors Visual Images What sort of entity could serve as a catalyst or model for our 21 st century institutions? Visual Explorer

Renaissance Center for Innovation, Learning and Leadership We envision a new institution, a uniquely 21st century center for learning, discovery and innovation which will bring together the domains of education, business, the arts and sciences in a revolutionary new research and learning environment. Vision

Renaissance Center for Innovation, Learning and Leadership The performing and creative arts will occupy center stage at this new institution, but not as destinations in themselves, rather as lightning rods for creative thinking across the disciplines and as new lenses for problem-solving, dialogue and research. Research and Learning Environment

Renaissance Center for Innovation, Learning and Leadership The challenges facing leaders in education, business and the social sector are today exceedingly complex and unsuited to solutions generated from within the silos of individual disciplines. Nor will these challenges will be resolved by a business as usual reliance upon traditional methods of analysis and the usual linear models of causality. Challenges

Renaissance Center for Innovation, Learning and Leadership More than ever before, there is a profound need for more imagination and ingenuity, for new conceptual frameworks and fresh approaches to the complexities of our world. Where will this come from? We must look bravely to a species of thinking and learning that flows from incendiary new perceptions and vivid new unifying insights. “ Knowledge is limited,” Einstein reminds us. “Imagination encircles the world.” Imagination

Renaissance Center for Innovation, Learning and Leadership Discovery and innovation in today’s world are more likely to be found at the crossroads of our disciplines than at their established centers, more likely to be revealed at the collision points of our cultures than in their mainstreams. “Only connect”, said Bateson. “This is how we make meaning, this is how we learn to think as Nature thinks.” A working philosophy of interdisciplinary connections and knowledge integration

Renaissance Center for Innovation, Learning and Leadership Arts Creative, Performing, Interpretive Connectivity Interdisciplinarity, Knowledge Integration Research Creativity, Arts, Learning, Culture, Neuroscience Technology Creative, Educational and Systems Support Education Teacher Formation, Renewal, Professional Development, Educational Leadership, K-12 Arts Integration (The Learning Arts) Business, Government, NGOs Leadership, Creativity, Innovation, Resilience & CRO Services (Creative Leaps International) Living Systems Science and Human Values Sustainable Technologies, Education, Public Interest Imaginative Universities and Business Schools Creativity, Leadership, Knowledge Integration, Entrepreneurship Teaching Artists and Consultants Training, Mentoring, Professional Development Harnessing the power and vitality of the arts to help organizations and their leaders access multiple creative connections, deeper personal insights and rich new solutions to the challenges at hand Serving five inter-connected constituencies

Renaissance Center for Innovation, Learning and Leadership Why a “Renaissance” Center? Renaissance , from the French and Latin, meaning “re-birth” 1. Historically , the transitional movement in Europe between medieval and modern times beginning in the 14 th century in Italy, lasting into the 17 th century, and marked by a humanistic revival of classical influence expressed in a flowering of the arts and literature and by the beginnings of modern science 2. Universally, a movement or period of vigorous artistic and intellectual activity We seek a 21 century renaissance of the human spirit -- enlivened by creativity, impassioned by learning and guided by wise and compassionate leadership. We seek a more vibrant and mutually sustaining relationship with our planet Earth. We seek a vigorous interplay among the arts, sciences and entrepreneurial pioneers. We seek ideas across all boundaries, cultures and disciplines. We seek a peaceful, sustainable, equitable society. The Renaissance provoked inquiry, encouraged criticism, revealed a deeper, freer human nature, shattered narrow mental barriers and connected the disciplines of knowledge in a three century burst of creativity and invention. Achievements of the Renaissance : a new way of regarding the material world and human nature, a new conception of humankind’s destiny and duties on this planet, a new culture and new intellectual perceptions penetrating every sphere of thought and energy -- and on the world stage, new reciprocal relations among the nations.

Renaissance Center for Innovation, Learning and Leadership There is an emerging awareness among leaders, researchers and scholars that interdisciplinarity, knowledge integration, leadership and entrepreneurship: are inextricably linked as 21 st century sensibilities, constitute the new high ground in higher education, scientific research and economic development, and may be achievable only through a vast systemic infusion of imagination, creativity and ingenuity. Collateral Insights

There is an emerging awareness among leaders, researchers and scholars that interdisciplinarity, knowledge integration, leadership and entrepreneurship:

are inextricably linked as 21 st century sensibilities,

constitute the new high ground in higher education, scientific research and economic development,

and may be achievable only through a vast systemic infusion of imagination, creativity and ingenuity.

Renaissance Center for Innovation, Learning and Leadership Enter the mind processes and disciplines of the arts. Synthesis Facility with metaphor Recognizing patterns Solving problems in the absence of rules Using imagination to see multiple perspectives Learning to pay attention to nuance Finely crafting with attention to detail Comfort with ambiguity and paradox Integrating input from the periphery of awareness: “peripheral learning” Rigorous, disciplined preparation Acting flexibly with purpose to approach a goal Resisting closure: not connecting the dots too soon An iterative working style keyed to deadlines Engaging emotion as an integrator of learning Expressing figuratively what cannot be expressed literally Ensemble approaches to leadership and peak performance Working with multiple levels of meaning and alternate modes of expression Creating affirmative thinking environments where something different begins to feel possible

Faculty of Creative Leaps International Richard Albagli “ The Hero’s Journey” Donna Wissinger “ Top Form: Habits of Excellence” Paul Spencer Adkins “ Of Color and Courage” Jon Klibonoff “ Risk, Focus, Flow” Dianne Legro “ The Kinesthetics of Leadership” John Cimino “ Leadership: Thinking, Perceiving & Judgment”

WE ARE TRANSMITTERS We are transmitters, natural transmitters of mysterious transmissions. Whatever it is that we as parents and professionals give or transmit to our children and colleagues, it is far more than our mastery of subject. It is very much palpable essences of who we are and our own impulses toward growth. We are transmitters of life, or the absence of life. Our choice is clear. John J. Cimino, Jr. Creative Leaps International 845-469-7254 [email_address]

We are transmitters,

natural transmitters of mysterious transmissions.

Whatever it is that we as parents and professionals give

or transmit to our children and colleagues,

it is far more than our mastery of subject.

It is very much palpable essences of who we are

and our own impulses toward growth.

We are transmitters of life, or the absence of life.

Our choice is clear.

Contact Information John J. Cimino, Jr. President & CEO Creative Leaps International 88 Hardscrabble Road Chester, NY 10918 845-469-7254 [email_address]

John J. Cimino, Jr.

President & CEO

Creative Leaps International

88 Hardscrabble Road

Chester, NY 10918

845-469-7254

[email_address]

Metaphors of vision and explanation Invent organizational metaphors for our universities, businesses and families as they are and as they could be. As the are As they could be Universities Businesses Families (Governing metaphors)

Invent organizational metaphors for our universities, businesses and families

as they are and as they could be.

Reviewed by Eric Booth in Teaching Artist Journal Volume 5, Number 1 (2007) Persisting Thinking and communicating with clarity and precision Managing impulsivity Gathering data through all senses Listening with understanding and empathy Creating, imagining , innovating Thinking flexibly Responding with wonderment and awe Thinking about thinking (metacognition) Taking responsible risks Striving for accuracy Finding humor Questioning and posing problems Thinking interdependently Applying past knowledge to new situations Remaining open to continuous learning We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. Aristotle Habits of Mind Developmental Series (Volume 1) Edited by Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick

Persisting

Thinking and communicating with clarity and precision

Managing impulsivity

Gathering data through all senses

Listening with understanding and empathy

Creating, imagining , innovating

Thinking flexibly

Responding with wonderment and awe

Thinking about thinking (metacognition)

Taking responsible risks

Striving for accuracy

Finding humor

Questioning and posing problems

Thinking interdependently

Applying past knowledge to new situations

Remaining open to continuous learning