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.

Why do good ideas so often fail to become finished work?
This hands-on session explores the creative challenges of implementation, exploring five common reasons meaningful goals and projects stall—and what helps them move forward. Using Creative Problem Solving tools and guided reflection, you will reframe and rework a current goal in real time, building clarity, traction, and a more workable path toward action.

Takeaways:
Participants will:

• Identify why a current goal or idea is stalled and where implementation breaks down
• Apply Creative Problem Solving tools such as mind mapping, action planning, and assistors/resistors—to redesign a goal for traction and follow-through.
• Leave with a clearer, more workable path forward they can begin implementing immediately

We all have an innate sense of judgment, an ability to quickly decide what we like, what we don’t, and what feels “right.” While this helps us make sense of the world, it can also limit how openly we engage with new ideas. In this 90-minute, hands-on session, participants will explore how their sense of judgment manifests in creative work through a collaborative painting process. Guided by facilitators from KnowInnovation, a company dedicated to accelerating scientific innovation, participants will respond to the prompt “What does ‘innovate’ mean to you?” and practice noticing, reflecting on, and loosening their judgments as they create. No art experience needed; in fact, Donnalyn would say she’s scared of it.    

Takeaways

• Recognize how judgment naturally arises in ourselves and how it shapes what we see
• Intentional practices for noticing and managing judgment in order to stay open to new ideas.
• Leave with a visual keepsake and a renewed understanding of deferring judgment
• Bonus: A fun, collaborative experience