Creative Problem Solving Institute 2026: Full Schedule

2:00pm EDT

Monday June 15, 2026 2:00pm - 3:30pm EDT

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.

Presenters

Magdalena Grohman

Monday June 15, 2026 2:00pm - 3:30pm EDT

Breakout Workshops

Program Category Education, Personal Growth, Process Tools & Techniques

4:00pm EDT

From Insight to Action: Measuring Creative Problem Solving Growth Through a Yearlong Innovation Pathway

Monday June 15, 2026 4:00pm - 5:30pm EDT

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.

Presenters

Andrew Ilnicki

Director, Experiential Education + Emerging Tech, University of Richmond

Somiah Lattimore

Executive Director, APEX Center, Virginia Tech

Monday June 15, 2026 4:00pm - 5:30pm EDT

Breakout Workshops

Program Category Education, Process Tools & Techniques, Research & Scholarship

4:00pm EDT

From ‘I’m Not Creative’ to ‘Let’s Try It!’

Monday June 15, 2026 4:00pm - 5:30pm EDT

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

Presenters

Jen Verbakel

Educator & Craftsperson, RIT & Self-Employed

Jen is a speech-language pathologist and educator who enjoys doodling and crafting with various media in her free time. She is currently enrolled in the Master’s in the Creativity and Change Leadership Program at SUNY Buffalo. She has attended FLCC a couple of times and appreciates... Read More →

Cheryl Harris, PhD

Consultant, Self-Employed

Monday June 15, 2026 4:00pm - 5:30pm EDT

Breakout Workshops

Program Category Education, Process Tools & Techniques

4:00pm EDT

Pattern Theft: A Cross-Domain Problem Solving Experience

Monday June 15, 2026 4:00pm - 5:30pm EDT

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.

Presenters

Prashant Anilkumar

Founder/Speaker, Beyond Singular

Monday June 15, 2026 4:00pm - 5:30pm EDT

Breakout Workshops

Program Category Business, Education, Process Tools & Techniques

2:00pm EDT

Unlocking the Power of Constraints: How Limits Make Us More Creative

Tuesday June 16, 2026 2:00pm - 3:30pm EDT

Creativity is often sparked not by unlimited freedom, but by meaningful constraints. In this interactive workshop, participants experience how limits on time, materials, and rules can actually increase innovation through hands-on design challenges. Drawing on Creative Problem Solving principles and Eliyahu Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints, this session will reveal how identifying and leveraging limitations can unlock new possibilities. Participants will leave with practical strategies for using constraints as powerful tools for creativity, problem solving, and systems improvement in any context.

Takeaways

Constraints are catalysts, not barriers.

Participants will understand that thoughtfully designed limits can focus thinking, increase originality, and lead to stronger creative outcomes.

Identifying the constraint unlocks improvement.

By experiencing and reflecting on "bottlenecks" in hands-on challenges, participants learn to recognize leverage points in creative processes, teams, and systems.

Creativity thrives at the intersection of structure and imagination.

Participants will leave with practical strategies for balancing freedom and structure to improve problem solving, collaboration, and innovation in real-world contexts.

Presenters

Nicole Wagner

Director of STREAM Programming, NativityMiguel Middle School of Buffalo

Nicole Wagner is the Director of STREAM Programming at NativityMiguel Middle School of Buffalo, where she designs hands-on, creativity-driven learning experiences that integrate problem solving, collaboration, and 21st-century skills. She is currently completing a Master’s degree... Read More →

Tuesday June 16, 2026 2:00pm - 3:30pm EDT

Breakout Workshops

Program Category Business, Education, Personal Growth

4:00pm EDT

Elevate the Invisible: How What We Don’t Say Shapes Creative Leadership

Tuesday June 16, 2026 4:00pm - 5:30pm EDT

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

Presenters

Katharine Rumrill-Teece

Professor / Facilitator, Onondaga Community College

Katharine Rumrill-Teece is an accomplished Trainer, Facilitator, and Professor of Communication with over 30 years of experience leading impactful workshops and training programs. With a Master’s degree in Intercultural Communication & Conflict Resolution and a Doctorate in Executive... Read More →

Tuesday June 16, 2026 4:00pm - 5:30pm EDT

Breakout Workshops

Program Category Business, Process Tools & Techniques, Education

4:00pm EDT

Elevate Through Play: Using LEGO® Serious Play to Unlock Creative Problem Solving

Tuesday June 16, 2026 4:00pm - 5:30pm EDT

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.

Presenters

Andrew Ilnicki

Director, Experiential Education + Emerging Tech, University of Richmond

Tuesday June 16, 2026 4:00pm - 5:30pm EDT

Breakout Workshops

Program Category Education, Process Tools & Techniques

2:00pm EDT

Language of Renewal™: Using Narrative Intelligence to Expand Creative Capacity

Wednesday June 17, 2026 2:00pm - 3:30pm EDT

Narrative is one of the most under-used tools in applied creativity. This workshop introduces Language of Renewal™, a framework that helps participants reframe complexity and ambiguity through metaphor, story structure, and reflective creativity practices. Through hands-on exercises, participants learn how narration can discover insight, reduce cognitive rigidity, and strengthen creative problem-solving. The session blends research and experiential learning to help educators, leaders, and practitioners integrate narrative-based creativity into their work.

Takeaways

How to use metaphor, reframing, and story-mapping to enhance creative problem-solving.
Practical methods for helping students, teams, or clients navigate ambiguity by reshaping the “story” of a challenge.
A replicable framework (Language of Renewal™) for integrating narrative intelligence into teaching, leadership, and innovation.

Presenters

Michelle Wicmandy

Global Marketing Campaigns Manager, KBC (A Yokogawa Company)

Michelle Wicmandy, DBA is a global marketing and communications strategist who helps organizations communicate complexity with clarity. Her work integrates applied creativity, sustainability communication, and narrative design to strengthen engagement and leadership impact. She is... Read More →

Frederik Hertel

Associate Professor, Aalborg University (Denmark)

Wednesday June 17, 2026 2:00pm - 3:30pm EDT

Breakout Workshops

Program Category Business, Education, Process Tools & Techniques

4:00pm EDT

Curiosity Is the New Mastery: Elevating Creative Confidence with Improv, Design Thinking, and AI

Wednesday June 17, 2026 4:00pm - 5:30pm EDT

This 90‑minute, highly interactive workshop invites CPSI participants to “elevate” their practice by shifting from mastery-as-endpoint to curiosity-as-engine, using improv, design thinking, and AI as complementary tools. Drawing on research with 94 community college students, Betsy Tuma will show how short, guided improv activities significantly elevated participants’ creative self-concept and individual idea generation, then connect those findings to her “Curiosity Over Mastery” framework for creative and critical thinking in the age of AI. AI will be treated not as an answer machine but as a live curiosity partner—something to interrogate, remix, and “yes–and” in service of more original, learner‑driven ideas.

Takeaways

Curiosity, not correctness, is the real engine of elevated creative problem solving in an AI‑saturated world.
Short, structured improv activities measurably boost creative confidence and idea fluency, making groups braver and more generative.
AI can be designed into sessions as a curiosity partner—something to interrogate, remix, and “yes–and”—rather than a shortcut to the next right answer.

Presenters

Betsy Tuma

Assistant Professor, Pikes Peak State College

Betsy Tuma, MFA, is a design educator and writer based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She teaches in the Multimedia Graphic Design program at Pikes Peak State College, where she helps students rediscover curiosity, confidence, and creative risk-taking. Her MFA in Design Thinking is... Read More →

Wednesday June 17, 2026 4:00pm - 5:30pm EDT

Breakout Workshops

Program Category Education, Process Tools & Techniques, Research & Scholarship

4:00pm EDT

Elevate Emerging Potential: Using CPS & Innovation Sprints to Build Creative Readiness

Wednesday June 17, 2026 4:00pm - 5:30pm EDT

Elevate Emerging Potential: Using CPS & Innovation Sprints to Build Creative Readiness Many emerging professionals—and the educators, mentors, and managers who support them—struggle to name themselves as creative problem solvers. This session explores how Innovation Sprints, paired with Creative Problem Solving (CPS), build creative confidence, agency, and adaptability across varied age groups and experience levels. Participants will engage in hands-on activities that elevate voice, encourage collaborative problem solving, and translate across educational, professional, and community settings. Attendees will leave with practical tools to help learners and early-career professionals navigate ambiguity, contribute meaningfully, and thrive in an increasingly complex and rapidly changing world.

Takeaways

Strategies for elevating creative confidence and self-efficacy in young and emerging professionals through fast-cycle innovation experiences.
Adaptable CPS tools that help early-career individuals frame challenges, explore options, and act boldly.
Sprint-based methods educators and youth leaders can employ in classrooms, leadership programs, and internships.

Presenters

Jessica Driscoll

Innovation Sprints Coordinator, University at Buffalo

Wednesday June 17, 2026 4:00pm - 5:30pm EDT

Breakout Workshops

Program Category Education, Personal Growth

4:00pm EDT

How to Create a Personal AI Assistant for Creative Collaboration

Wednesday June 17, 2026 4:00pm - 5:30pm EDT

In this session, participants will learn to create their own personal AI assistant by exploring and applying easy-to-use AI tools in ChatGPT. Attendees will learn to enhance their skills in creative problem solving, productivity, and innovation with the help of their personalized AI assistant. We’ll cover the fundamentals of prompt design for creating customized projects for real-world applications. Attendees will walk away with practical strategies to build AI tools that support their unique role in the workplace. They will use their AI assistant to apply the FourSight™ Collaboration model and CPS to amplify their creative thinking and collaboration skills.

Takeaways

Learn how to use ChatGPT to build a personalized AI assistant that supports your unique role, workflow, and creative challenges.
Gain practical strategies to leverage AI as a thought partner—enhancing your creative problem-solving, decision-making, and overall productivity.
Use their new AI assistant to apply the FourSight™ Creative Mind Set Collaboration model and CPS to amplify their creative thinking and collaboration skills.

Presenters

Dr. Greg Buschman

Co-Founder, Strategic Leadership Development

Debbie Buschman, MPA, CDO

Co-Founder, Strategic Leadership Development

Wednesday June 17, 2026 4:00pm - 5:30pm EDT

Breakout Workshops

Program Category Business, Education, Process Tools & Techniques

2:00pm EDT

Charting Your Path Without a Map: Using Deliberate Creativity to Anticipate, Adapt, and Move Forward

Thursday June 18, 2026 2:00pm - 3:30pm EDT

Charting Your Path Without a Map invites participants to explore how deliberate creativity can support forward movement when certainty is unavailable and conditions continue to change. Building on the Osborn–Parnes tradition, this live session frames creative problem solving as a shared foundation for anticipating change, adapting with intention, and making progress without waiting for perfect clarity. Designed for both emerging and experienced practitioners, the session elevates how deliberate creativity is understood, taught and practiced-strengthening its relevance and impact in an uncertain future.

Takeaways

Position deliberate creativity, grounded in the Osborn–Parnes tradition, as a shared foundation for anticipating change, adapting with intention, and charting purposeful paths forward in uncertain environments.
Interpret signals that indicate when to persist and when to pivot, using progress, iteration, and learning as feedback to guide creative action rather than waiting for certainty.
Translate key insights from the session into one elevated reframing or teaching move that strengthens how deliberate creativity is practiced, facilitated, or introduced to others.

Presenters