the creativity imperative - tedxiit
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What's America's Number One resource, energy source and priority? Hint - it's NOT oil. Tom Tresser gave this presentation at TEDxIIT on March 26. Follow Tom on Twitter - tomstee.TRANSCRIPT
The CreativityImperative
Tom TresserMarch 26, 2011
It starts with a single mom and a pad of paper in a café…
• Book sales (1-7) exceed 400 million copies worldwide (69 languages)
• #7 had 20 million print run, Amazon sold 2 million (50% boost in profits!)
• 1 million visitors to new Universal “Wizarding World” Orlando
• Revenues:
- Books = $9 billion
- Consumer products = $7 billion
- Movies = $6.3 billion (first 7 films, #8 due 7/11)
- DVDs = $2.7 billion
- Video games = $1.9 billion
- TV = $495 million
The magic of a great story!Shekels
Accummulus!
WHAT IS CREATIVITY
?
Creativity is when you
thinkdoor
make something new.
Tom’s simple definition
WHO IS CREATIVE?
Howard Gardner
John H. and Elisabeth A. HobbsProfessor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Senior Director of Harvard Project Zero.
http://www.howardgardner.com
Project Zero aims to understand and enhance learning, thinking, and creativity in the arts, as well as humanistic and scientific disciplines, at the individual and institutional levels.
http://www.pzweb.harvard.edu
HOWARD GARDNER’S 8 INTELLIGENCES
Linguistic
pitch, rhythm, timbre
awareness of others' feelings, emotions, goals, motivations
Intrapersonal
DO YOU SEE
YOURSELFON THIS
LIST?
Intelligence Core Operations
syntax, phonology, semantics, pragmatics
Musical
Logical-mathematical
number, categorization, relations
Spatial accurate mental visualization, mental transformation of images
Bodily-kinesthetic
control of one's own body, control in handling objects
Interpersonal
awareness of one's own feelings, emotions, goals, motivations
Naturalist recognition and classification of objects in the environment
Creativity & American Heritage
America, the Invented Country
The Power of words…
Thomas Paine – 1737 - 1809
The Power of words…
“We have it in our power to begin the world over again. A
situation, similar to the present, hath not happened since the days of Noah until now. The birthday of a new world is at
hand, and a race of men, perhaps as numerous as all
Europe contains, are to receive their portion of freedom from the event of a few months.”
The invention of America
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.etc. etc.”
Tom Crafts reads the Declaration aloud in Boston - July 19, 1776
“The bells rang, the privateers fired the forts and batteries, the cannon were discharged, the platoons followed, and every face appeared joyful…After dinner the King’s Arms were taken down from the State House and every vestige of him from every place in which it appeared, and burnt…Thus ends royal Authority in this State…and all the people shall say Amen.”
Abigail Adams letter to John describing Tom Crafts, a house painter, reading of the Declaration of Independence aloud on July 19, 1776 from small balcony in front of the Massachusetts State House, Boston.
U.S.A!U.S.A!
U.S.A! U.S.A!
VALUE OF CREATIVITY
?
Creativity is our promise
43,000,000 people in U.S. born abroad
Creativity is our promise
I.I. Rabi won the 1944 Nobel Physics Prize for his work on the Manhattan Project.
- born in Austria- came to America as infant - father worked making women’s blouses in a sweatshop - Rabi was a brilliant student, became a physicist- leading member of the Manhattan Project
On the occasion of the award a journalist asked, What did Rabi think of this great honor? “What do I think? I think that in the old country I would have been a tailor.”
- David Halberstam, “Defining a Nation – Our America and the Sources of its Strength,” 2003.
Since 1906, 309 U.S. citizens have been awarded Nobel Prizes.
82 were foreign-born (including Isidor Rabi).
The increasing value of creativity
Creative Economy Workforce According to Richard Florida
Super-Creative Core:• Computer and mathematical occupations• Architecture and engineering occupations• Life, physical, and social science occupations• Education, training, and library occupations• Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations
Creative Professionals:• Managerial occupations• Business and financial operations occupations• Legal operations• Healthcare practitioners and technical operations• High-end sales and sales management
Rise of Creative Class
Creative Class =
* Super-Creatives,
15 million workers +
* Creativity pros,
23 million workers
38 million strong 30% U.S. work force
“The Rise of the Creative Class,” Richard Florida
Size of U.S. Creative Economy Workforce
Source: Catalytix Consulting
Value of U.S. Copyright Industries 2007
Core Partial Support Independent
To create, produce, distribute, exhibit copyright materials
Some aspect of product qualifies for © protection
Distributes both © and non-© to business/ consumers
Produce, distribute equipment that used in creating, use of © materials
Books, periodicals, movies, music, broadcast, software, DVDs
Fabric, jewelry, toys, games,
furniture
Transporta-tion, communi-cation, whole-sale, retail(only partially counted)
Manufacturer, distrib,retail of CD players, TV, VCRs, PCs, blank discs, etc.
Value of U.S. Copyright Industries 2007
11% of GDP
What % of Illinois Workers Toil in the Creative Industries?
35%
Chicago Region Creative Workers
Super-Creatives = 467,760
Creative Pros = 834,080
Total = 32% of labor forceSource: Metro Chicago Information Center
Creativity Drives U.S. Social + Economic Progress
Jane AddamsJonas Salk
Creativity in business
Creativity can be applied to all types of business
THISBECAME THIS
How much value does Starbucks add?
Cost of coffee bean when harvested =
$0.50/lb.
Value realized by Starbucks from selling cup of coffee =
$230/lb.
AN INCREASE OF VALUE OF +46,000%
Creativity can be applied to all types of business
THISBECAME THIS
Creativity can be applied to all types of business
THIS BECAME THIS
http://innovateamerica.org
“Innovate America” – National Innovation Initiative Report, December 2004
REPORT SIGNED BY CEOS OF 11 MAJOR US COMPANIES AND PRESIDENTS OF 8 UNIVERSITIES!
-BellSouth, IBM, American Airlines, Advanced Micro Devices, Ab Initio, Verizon, Amgen, Dana, Morgan Stanley, GM, PepsiCo
- Georgia Institute of Technology, Texas A&M, Columbia University, University of North Carolina, Stanford, Rensselaer, MIT, University of Michigan
PAGE 1:
“RESOLVED --
Innovation will be the single most important factor indetermining America’s success through the 21st century.”
Prosperity = Literacy + Open Minded Creativity + Innovation
Tom’s Unified Field Theory of Creativity
BUT…
Take the Pledge
“I hereby declare that I (say your name) as of Saturday, March 26, 2011, am a Creativity Champion and that I will stand up for creativity, innovation, new ideas and an open mind at home, at work and in my community.”