Creative Problem Solving Institute 2026

In this workshop, participants will explore how to use creative collaboration and design thinking to transform the way government and public institutions deliver services. Through an immersive design sprint simulation, attendees will learn how to bring together staff, citizens, and leaders to co-design people-first solutions that stick.    

Takeaways

• Experience the impact of co-creation on problem solving and alignment.
• Learn facilitation techniques to foster creativity and inclusion.
• Identify ways to adapt design thinking for complex government challenges.    

Creative thinking profiles and assessments such as FourSight, KAI, VIEW, and others are widely used to help individuals and teams understand creative differences. At CPSI, we are lucky to have both designers and users of various profiles and assessments, and therefore, we wanted to open a discussion on what we can learn from these creative thinking profiles collectively. Through interactive discussions and reflection, we’ll explore how creative thinking profiles can inform facilitation, team dynamics, and process design. We hope to surface practical lessons that cut across multiple assessments.    

Takeaways

• Participants will be familiar with similarities and some differences across a range of creative profiles and assessments.
• Participants will develop greater awareness of how context, language, and facilitation choices shape the impact of creative thinking profiles, supporting more responsible, flexible, and effective use.
• Participants will leave with ideas for translating profile insights into facilitation choices, team conversations, and creative process design.

The most compelling storytellers do more than inform—they shift perspectives, spark emotion, and catalyze action. TEDx Talks provide great examples. This workshop teaches participants how to design powerful, audience-centered stories using the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) process as a backbone for crafting impactful narratives. Through hands-on exercises, participants transform a personal or professional insight into a compelling talk outline that elevates ideas and connects deeply with listeners. Attendees leave with a structured storytelling method they can use in classrooms, boardrooms, and stages of all kinds, even TEDx.    

Takeaways

• A repeatable storytelling framework based on each stage of the Creative Problem Solving process.
• A draft TEDx-style talk outline built in-session using tools for insight generation, reframing, and story shaping.
• Techniques to elevate message clarity, emotional resonance, and narrative flow for greater audience impact.

It’s not a question of IF you are creative, it’s a question of HOW you are creative. In what ways can you leverage your unique talents in the creative problem solving process? Through guided reflection and process mapping, you will examine how your CliftonStrengths talent themes support—or sometimes complicate—different stages of the Creative Problem Solving process. You’ll learn how you are wired to make a unique and valuable contribution to problem solving processes and help teams achieve better outcomes.

Note: It will be helpful for participants to come to the session knowing their top 5 talent themes from Gallup’s CliftonStrengths Assessment.

Takeaways:
Participants will gain:
1) Clarity about where their strengths are most powerful in the CPS process—and where they may need to adapt or partner
2) Greater awareness of what supports or drains their energy at different CPS stages
3) Practical insight into how diverse strengths can be intentionally leveraged on creative teams

Most leadership and creative breakdowns don’t come from bad ideas—they come from unspoken assumptions, invisible power dynamics, and communication habits we don’t notice. This session helps participants elevate the invisible layers of communication so teams can think more creatively, collaborate more bravely, and lead more consciously.

Takeaways:

• Notice what’s shaping the conversation before words appear
• Recognize how creativity rises or falls based on subtle leadership signals
• Interrupt default patterns that quietly limit innovation

This session elevates creative problem solving by transforming play into a strategic invitation—helping participants move from imagination to insight, and from insight to action. Through LEGO® Serious Play (LSP) and Creative Problem Solving (CPS), participants experience how embodied thinking, storytelling, and structured divergence/convergence elevate both individual creativity and group innovation capacity.    

Takeaways

• Use LEGO® Serious Play as a facilitation invitation rather than a standalone method
• Translate metaphorical builds into clear problem statements (HMWs)
• Rapidly prototype solution landscapes using low-fidelity materials and apply the approach in classrooms, workshops, organizations, or community settings.    

This workshop introduces a dynamic visual tool designed to map out your personal creative process. During this 90-minute session, you’ll explore key enhancers and critical blockers that make up your creative ecosystem. Through hands-on activities, you’ll design your own creativity canvas, gaining insights into how to unlock your full potential and drive creative breakthroughs.    

Takeaways

• A complete visual framework that maps your unique creative ecosystem
• A deeper understanding of the key drivers and blockers they face in doing creative work
• An action plan for implementing or optimizing a ritual creative practice