Creative Problem Solving Institute 2026

Have you ever gotten stuck when working on a challenging problem? Have you ever found yourself going back to the same solution, even though you know it didn’t quite work in the past? This workshop focuses on how to use creative techniques rooted in metaphors and analogies to define problems or/and to generate ideas for solutions. Many eminent creators have used analogies and metaphors as their way to keep their creative juices going. Join me to learn how to use their tricks to approach everyday problems in a creative way!


Takeaways

• identifying the role of focusing and expanding metaphors/analogies in create problem-solving;
• applying specific metaphors/analogies to analyze and understand a problem; 
• using metaphors/analogies to generate ideas; 
• learning how to use SYNECTICS, a CPS method that uses metaphors and analogies.

This session reveals what we learned from a yearlong creative problem-solving journey that blended CPS with Design Thinking and Lean Discovery at the University of Richmond. We’ll share real student transformation data—from creative confidence gains to tested prototypes and ventures—and then guide participants through a condensed CPS sprint. The workshop highlights how structured creativity practices change mindsets and behaviors over time. Participants will leave inspired with tools they can immediately adapt in their own programs and organizations.    

Takeaways

• Understand how structured creative problem-solving pathways transform mindsets—including measurable gains in divergent thinking, convergent thinking, ambiguity tolerance, and action orientation.
• Experience a rapid CPS sprint using the same tools that drove student transformation in the Richmond Innovators program.
• Leave with adaptable frameworks and facilitation methods you can use to cultivate creative confidence and real-world problem-solving capacity in your own organization or learning environment.

Is it possible that when people say they don’t want to participate in a creative activity because “they’re not creative,” what they really mean is that they don’t know how to be creative? What if you had a few strategies or methods to engage them in creative activities before they even have a chance to say that? In this session, you will practice creative techniques such as using metaphors and analogies, storytelling, and improvisation to spark engagement and help others build the confidence to participate creatively.    

Takeaways
1. Participants will have creative engagement techniques and activities that will encourage creative confidence. 
2. Reflection prompts will help solidify participants’ commitments to apply what they tried and experienced in this session with others in their own social, educational, or work contexts. 
3. Participants will have opportunities to share ideas in community within the session    

What if your next breakthrough comes from a place you've never considered before? This hands-on workshop teaches the mindset and tools needed to systematically find creative ideas and solutions by recognizing patterns across unrelated domains. Through live exercises and real problem solving, participants will practice pattern recognition both with and without AI tools, experiencing firsthand how strategic "theft" produces solutions that pure brainstorming can't. This is a new approach to creative problem solving. You'll want an AI tool handy on your phone or laptop.

Takeaways:

• Learn a repeatable framework for finding creative solutions by recognizing patterns across unrelated industries and domains.
• Get firsthand experience using AI as a creative accelerant, expanding your "theft radius" far beyond your own knowledge and experience.
• Develop the mindet and skills needed for pattern recognition in a human-AI world that is effective and solves real problems.