90 minutes · Live online · Future Skills 101
Creative thinking isn't a trait. It's trainable.
Led by Karen Hold, co-author of Experiencing Design: The Innovator's Journey, this session introduces the five research-backed power skills behind creative thinking and innovation.
Before you book
Two minutes on what the session actually covers and who it's for.
The problem
According to the World Economic Forum, the most in-demand skill for today's workforce is creative thinking. Here's the catch: it isn't a personality trait, it's a trainable skillset.
Most people treat creative thinking as something you either have or don't, with no shared way to build it.
Without a common vocabulary, teams can't name what innovation actually requires, so they can't train for it.
Without an assessment, most people have no idea which of the five power skills they lean on and which they avoid.
If you're leading a team, scaling a company or shaping what's next, this is the session that names the skillset.
The core idea
Five research-backed skills behind every innovator.
Based on research with Jeanne Liedtka at UVA's Darden School of Business, this session gives you a shared language for five essential creative thinking skills and a self-assessment to see where you stand.
How it works
The 90 minutes are the middle. What happens either side is what makes them stick.
No pre-work worksheet. Watch the two-minute intro above if you like, then just show up ready to think about your own creative habits.
Optional, before the sessionKaren Hold walks you through the i2 Innovation Skills Assessment, a shared language for the five power skills and a peer exercise to explore how they show up in you and others.
90 minutes, live onlineTake your certificate, then bring what you've learned back to your work, or go further with a private session for your whole team.
Optional · ongoingWhat you take away
This is an introduction and it's honest about that. Ninety minutes buys you a working assessment of your own creative strengths, which is more than most courses manage in a day.
A research-backed assessment that identifies your creative strengths and growth areas.
101Five essential creative thinking skills, named and defined, so your team can finally talk about them.
101A paired exercise that shows you how these skills show up in others and how to grow them together.
101A practical planning tool to help you apply what you've learned, plus the prerequisite for our 201-level deep dives.
101Who it's for
What people notice
They notice that you:
And afterwards
Everyone who attends gets a Future Skills Certificate for Creative Edge 101, shareable on LinkedIn and one tile in a collection that grows as you take more of the series.
Want Karen to run this for your whole team, using your own creative habits as the material? Ask on the day, or get in touch.
Practical details
Want it for your whole team, in your own context? Get in touch.
Dates & booking
Pick a date below, or ask us to schedule one. Confirmation and a calendar invite arrive straight away.
No date is on the calendar for Creative Edge 101 right now.
Want it for your own team? Every Future Skills 101 course is also available bespoke and in-house on a date that suits you. Get in touch to set it up.