Creative Problem Solving Institute 2026

Creative Problem Solving Institute 2026

2:00pm EDT

Elevate Divergent and Convergent Thinking through Play

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

Divergent and convergent thinking are fundamental steps in the Creative Problem Solving Process, yet many struggle with one or both. This session will explore how to harness the power of play and games to practice sitting in uncertainty and approach divergent and convergent thinking with ease.

Takeaways

Discuss the underlying skills for creative thinking.
Identify and practice core game mechanics and dynamics connected to these skills.
Reflect on play as an experiential learning tool for elevated problem-solving.

Presenters

Alexandra Suchman

CEO and Co-founder, Barometer XP

Alexandra (Alex) Suchman is a DC-based play facilitator passionate about empowering leaders to create cultures where people are excited about their work and feel a strong sense of purpose and belonging. As CEO and co-founder of Barometer XP, she helps companies leverage the power... Read More →

Laura Rentas

Licensed Trainer | Master Facilitator, Strategic Play Global

Laura is a gifted storyteller and trainer with over two decades of success in strategic communications, public relations, and corporate affairs. As a Licensed Trainer in LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methods, Laura’s work combines play with serious work. She excels in building engagement... Read More →

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

Breakout Workshops

Program Category Process Tools & Techniques

2:00pm EDT

Going Around the (Creative) Block

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

2:00pm EDT

Intelligent Collaboration: Human + AI for ELEVATE-ing your Creative Problem Solving Practice

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

In this dynamic, hands-on session, participants will discover how human creativity and AI’s analytical power can work together to accelerate the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) process. Leveraging the AI tool Sluice AI and CPS principles, attendees will engage in experiential exercises that demonstrate how AI can amplify ideation without replacing human insight. This workshop introduces a practical AI tool and frameworks for accelerating organizational innovation, enabling smarter, faster, and more impactful solutions. Participants will leave with actionable strategies to blend technology and creativity for breakthrough results.

*If you have a laptop, it would be great for you to bring it to this session*

Takeaways

Human-in-the-Loop Innovation: Understand how combining human judgment with AI-driven insights enhances creative problem solving in real-world contexts.
Practical Tools: Learn to use Sluice AI and other tools to Explore Data, Clarify the Problem, Ideate, and Develop Solutions quickly and effectively.
Integration Strategies: Gain strategies for embedding AI into creative workflows without sacrificing human perspective.

Presenters

Hallie Brinkerhuff

Sr Director R&D and Innovation, Zimmer Biomet

A 25-year career fostering innovation in the Medical Technology industry to solve unmet patient needs. A passion for creativity, technology and encouraging growth in others. Wife, mother, youth group leader, STEM champion, service dog trainer.

Rush Bartlett

Co-founder, CEO, Sluice AI

Rush Bartlett is the Co-Founder & CEO of Sluice AI, where he combines human-centered innovation with AI to dramatically accelerate the creative problem solving process. Over the past 15+ years, he has helped startups, Fortune 500 companies, and hospital systems turn unmet needs into... Read More →

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

Breakout Workshops

Program Category Business, Current Topics, Process Tools & Techniques

2:00pm EDT

Reframing Creativity at Work: Turning Pushback into Possibility

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

Creativity often gets a bad rap in corporate and educational settings, dismissed as frivolous or irrelevant. This interactive 90-minute session will explore how to reframe creativity as a vital, strategic tool for solving today’s complex challenges. Drawing on the principles of Positive Creativity, participants will learn to shift perceptions, build buy-in, and demonstrate the tangible value of creative thinking. Whether you’ve faced resistance from a client, manager, or colleague, this session will equip you with the tools to advocate for creativity with confidence and clarity.

Takeaways

Reframing Creativity: Learn to position creativity as a strategic, results-driven approach rather than a "soft skill."
Positive Creativity Tools: Discover practical techniques to overcome resistance and build enthusiasm for creative thinking in the workplace.
Actionable Advocacy: Leave with a personalized plan to communicate the value of creativity to skeptics in your organization or community.

Presenters

Kim Marie McKernan, MBA, MS

Founder, Inspired Outcomes Now LLC

Kim is an international marketing leader, facilitator, and presenter. She left a career as a marketing executive at a 3 billion company to found her business, Inspired Outcomes Now, to help organizations be more positive, creative, and strategic. Over 125 organizations and individuals have leveraged her A Nu Way™ Branding and Co-Creating the Future processes to stand apart and design their desired future. With an MBA from SUNY at Buffalo, an MS in Creative... Read More →

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

Breakout Workshops

Program Category Business, 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

Implementation Lab: Getting Ideas—and Intentions—Done

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

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

Presenters

Kathy Goller

Life & Leadership Coach, Facilitator & Presenter, Teal Horizon Coaching

Kathy Goller is a life and leadership coach who helps people who are stuck, stretched, or starting something new to live and work in a way that’s more purposeful and productive so that they can lead and serve others more generously. With 20+ years of personal and leadership development experience... Read More →

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

Breakout Workshops

Program Category Business, Personal Growth, 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

4:00pm EDT

The Art of Exploring Judgment

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

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

Presenters

Donnalyn Roxey

Partner, COO, Lead Facilitator, Knowinnovation

Annemarie Boss

Innovation Facilitator, Boss Collaborative

Annemarie Boss is a dynamic facilitator and strategic partner—equal parts co-creator and trusted guide for teams navigating complexity. As the founder of Boss Collaborative, she designs and facilitates transformative experiences that spark insight, deepen connection, and unlock... Read More →

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

Breakout Workshops

Program Category Personal Growth, Process Tools & Techniques

2:00pm EDT

Co-Create to Elevate: Designing Better Services Through Shared Creativity

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

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.

Presenters

Ponja Hoxha Ocumarez

Principal experience researcher

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

Breakout Workshops

Program Category Business, Current Topics, Process Tools & Techniques

2:00pm EDT

Creative Thinking Profiles, Preferences, and Possibilities

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

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.

Presenters

Hana Mamnoon

Facilitator, Knowinnovation

Hana is your go-to person for blending science, creativity, and project management. With a background in Psychology and Business from the University of Rochester and a Master’s degree in Creativity and Change Leadership from Buffalo State University, she brings both analytical rigor... Read More →

Ryan Hammer

Facilitator, Knowinnovation & Renaissance Teams

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

Breakout Workshops

Program Category Process Tools & Techniques

2:00pm EDT

Storytelling for Impact: Elevate How You Communicate Through the Creative Problem Solving Process

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

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.

Presenters

Christa Heydt-Hernandez

Founder and Principle Consultant, Idea Alchemy

New to independent contracting and freelance work. I help organizations, teams, and individuals who have a challenge or problem to solve and do not think they have the tools or time to solve it. I work with clients to: Position the user first, whether customer, employee or individual... Read More →

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

Breakout Workshops

Program Category Business, Process Tools & Techniques, Personal Growth

2:00pm EDT

The Right Strength at the Right Stage

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

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

Presenters

Kathy Goller

Life & Leadership Coach, Facilitator & Presenter, Teal Horizon Coaching

Kathy Goller is a life and leadership coach who helps people who are stuck, stretched, or starting something new to live and work in a way that’s more purposeful and productive so that they can lead and serve others more generously. With 20+ years of personal and leadership development experience... Read More →

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

Breakout Workshops

Program Category Business, Personal Growth, Process Tools & Techniques

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

4:00pm EDT

The Creativity Canvas: Mapping Your Creative Ecosystem

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

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

Presenters

Kim Macuare, Ph.D

Director of Education and Co-Director of Innovation Labs, The Dali Museum

In her role as the lead program designer and facilitator for the Innovation Labs, Kim has helped many organizations—from non-profits to government entities to Fortune 100 companies—build their innovation capacities by developing creativity-focused mindsets and problem-solving... Read More →

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

Breakout Workshops

Program Category The Arts, Personal Growth, Process Tools & Techniques

2:00pm EDT

Disaster Quick Quests: Elevate Creativity for Social Impact

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

How can we turn fear of disaster into fuel for community resilience? Join this high-energy "Design Studio" to use Creative Problem Solving (CPS) to catalyze social impact. In this hands-on session, you will work in a small team to ideate and develop a "Quick Quest" — a 5-10 minute game-based activity — to help individuals and communities prepare to face a wildfire, flood, or other disaster. You’ll leave with a tangible game concept, a behind-the-scenes look at designing for social impact, and a playful yet powerful tool for rapid collaborative problem-solving.

Takeaways

Rapid CPS Iteration: Experience a ""lightning-fast"" application of the CPS stages to move from problem description to playable prototype in under 90 minutes.
Game Design for Impact: Embrace the concept of ""Serious Games"" and see how play can create a safe space for addressing sensitive and high-stakes issues.
The ""Serious Creativity"" Mindset: Discover how to maintain a bias toward results while balancing divergent exploration with convergent decision-making.

Presenters

Susanne Jul

Founder & Executive Director, Creative Crisis Leadership

Susanne is a multifaceted professional with a passion for empowering individuals to become self-reliant, particularly in times of crisis. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Creative Crisis Leadership, a nonprofit organization dedicated to spreading social resilience and... Read More →

Garett Dworman

Principal Designer, Creative Crisis Leadership

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

Breakout Workshops

Program Category Current Topics, Personal Growth, Process Tools & Techniques

2:00pm EDT

Kaleidoscope of You - Dream, Share, Incubate, Create

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

Kaleidoscope of YOU offers an intimate yet expansive invitation to pause, play, and reawaken child-like curiosity. You will engage in guided daydreaming, visible thinking, writing, and creative mark-making to explore your past, present, and future creative selves. The journey continues in a “Living Gallery Walk.” This innovative workshop also invites others in the CPSI community to contribute to the collective creativity of the Kaleidoscope of YOU.

Takeaways:

Reframe your creative identity through reflection and playful exploration.
Reconnect with early experiences of creativity, joy, and imagination.
Integrate past, present, and future creative selves into your practice.

Presenters

Kathy Frazier

Gifted Education and Creativity Specialist, Touching the Future Today LLC

Katie Ravich

Founder, InsideOut Creativity™

Katie Ravich is a creative education specialist, systems designer and creative strategist who works at the intersection of creativity, learning ecosystems and applied neuroplasticity. With a B.A. in Visual Communications (University of Technology Sydney) and an M.Sc. in Creativity... Read More →

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

Breakout Workshops

Program Category The Arts, Process Tools & Techniques, Personal Growth

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

2:00pm EDT

Possibility Books for Accessing Embodied Wisdom Before Logic

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

Before we analyze, we sense. Before we articulate, we feel. Before we problem-solve with logic, we can access embodied wisdom. Come experience Possibility Books, a creative practice that activates and helps us access the inner wisdom living within each of us. We’ll play with mark-making coupled with dialogue to transform these insights into actionable intuition that can be used for more logical creative problem-solving processes, which you can take with you to your own professional and personal lives.

Takeaways

An elevated understanding of how embodied wisdom generates insight
The transformation of insight to actionable creative ideas
A method for redesigning how you begin the creative process

Presenters

Kris Stanec

Director of Creativity and Innovation, Colorado College

Kris Stanec, MAT, directs Creativity and Innovation at Colorado College. A faculty member for 25+ years, she facilitates sessions across contexts that prioritize active engagement. Her creative leadership transforms learning, cultivates communities, and enhances possibilities for... Read More →

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

Breakout Workshops

Program Category Process Tools & Techniques, Research & Scholarship

4:00pm EDT

A Historical Perspective of Divergence and Convergence

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

Creative Problem Solving (CPS) is a process with many hidden gifts and coping mechanisms to fact today's challenges. This experiential and interactive session will explore the evolution, revolution and application of Divergence and Convergence in CPS in every aspect of our daily lives, if we are willing to take the plunge. We will take a deep dive in the intricacies of divergence and convergence and leave with a self-constructed personal plan for implementation. Come open --minded, open-hearted and thirsty for the outcomes.

Takeaways

Taking this deep dive into the history of divergence and convergence helps us understand its potential and power in all aspects of our lives.
Exploring brain theory and emotional intelligence, as they relate to divergence and convergence, facilitates one's pathway to walking into ourselves with tools and skill sets to manage ever-increasing challenges today.
Understanding the importance of self-exploration with this dynamic thinking duo promotes investment, practice, and commitment for success.

Presenters

Joette Field

Consultant, Creative Problem Solving; Retired, Daemen University

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

Breakout Workshops

Program Category Current Topics, Process Tools & Techniques, Business

4:00pm EDT

Be an Illuminator: Discover Ways to Bring Out the Best in Others

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

Illuminators shine a light on others. They make people and their ideas come alive.
With their distinct blend of skills, they excel as facilitators and relationship builders.

Illuminators make others feel seen, heard, and appreciated. Their curiosity invites richer stories and deeper insights. They see and celebrate others’ strengths.

Takeaways:
In this session, you’ll work with a partner to cultivate illuminator skills and instincts.
You’ll see what distinguishes an illuminator from a diminisher and learn a variety of illuminator “moves”:

Genuine Curiosity: Asking surprisingly simple questions that reveal richer stories
Active Listening: Using your eyes and body (and silence) to make others feel heard
Celebration of Strengths: Expressing your partner’s unique qualities to create a deeper connection

Presenters

Sari Gluckin

Founder, Wishful Thinking

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

Breakout Workshops

Program Category Personal Growth, 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

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

What’s Stopping You?

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

Do you suffer from an unrequited creativity, a particular creative itch you haven’t—for reasons you can’t identify—been able to scratch? In this session, we’ll look at why you might resist doing the creative work you’re called to do, and how to jumpstart and sustain it. First, we’ll identify your creative blocks, drawing on Stephen Pressfield’s The War of Art, Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey’s Immunity to Change, and using the CPS tool “Why? What’s Stopping You?” Then, we’ll introduce several brain- and behavior-based solutions, including James Clear’s Atomic Habits, Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, Paul’s “Creating Time” framework, and Haley’s new research on how the neuroscience of focus and attention affects creativity. At the session’s end, you’ll have a roadmap of your own design that you can use to understand your creative drivers that you can use for this project and future ones.

Takeaways

Identify why you might resist doing something that you (might) truly wish to do.
Review relevant research that shows what might help you overcome resistance.
Make a personalized plan for how to get started and keep going on your project.

Presenters

Paul Reali

Executive Director, Charlotte Lit

Paul Reali is co-founder of Charlotte Lit, a nonprofit literary arts center in Charlotte, NC, and is a lead for its Authors Lab book-writing program. He is co-author of "Creativity Rising", which is used in introductory creativity classes at colleges worldwide. He won the 2023 Doris... Read More →

Haley Forest

Innovation & Strategy Consultant, HCForest

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

Breakout Workshops

Program Category Personal Growth, Process Tools & Techniques