We have been active participants in Mindcamp for close to nine years. It is a conference that attracts all sorts of creativity specialists from around the world. Most if not all the participants are delightfully idiosyncratic. You can get a flavour of this from a video we put together last year called, What is Mindcamp?

This year we are going to shoot a video that explores the question, “Does the Mindcamp experience (the theory, the games, the playfulness etc.) help organizations in the commercial world deliver real innovation?”

I am perennially fascinated about the difference between the skills required to pontificate about a subject and the skills required to actually do it. For instance, at one point I was a member of Canadian Speakers Association where I would see members deliver riveting speeches about how to become a better leader. In most cases these speakers were refugees from large companies who worked alone – without employees.  If they were such great leaders themselves you would expect them to be leading a team. And conversely business leaders who are excellent at what they do would not be good at sounding off about their leadership skills. Deliberating about leadership might actually divert their energy away from leading.

Is “creativity” the same? Can one learn about creativity by intellectualizing it? Is it not better to just get on and be creative? Can one learn states of mind that enhance ones ability to drive innovation? Here is a thread where we discuss these questions.

I enjoy intellectual pursuits but in the case of creativity I prefer doing it rather to talking about it. And that is the reason I will be leading this video workshop where we will use new technology to create something – together.