Year Two 2006 - 2007  in Review - The Creative Leadership Forum Initiatives.

 A major national research project  "Is Australian management creative and innovative?"

The survey closes December 30 and we expect to have a report written and released some time in the first 6 months of next year. The raw data offers some surprising insights around Australians' perception of creativity alone. 82.4% of Australia's say they recognize when they are being creative and yet if you ask a room full of people to raise their hands if they are creative, the response is somewhere between 45 - 55% only. This gap between inner and external behaviour is of real interest and one of the areas we will be investigating further.

Thanks to our collaborators in this major endeavor

Australian Institute of Commercialization
Australian Services Roundtable
FastThinking (ETN Communications)
Innovation and Business Skills Australia (IBSA)
IXC Australia (InformationXChange)
Mindwerx
The Australian Facilitators Network
The Creative Skills Training Council, Asia Pacific and Australia
The Creativity Exchange Network
The Global Achievers Network
The Leadership Consortium
The Society for Knowledge Economics

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The International Master Class "Serious Play How To Stimulate Innovation In
Your Organisation" with Michael Schrage.

Michael Schrage, computer scientist, author, journalist for the Financial Times and former head of MIT Executive Education made a compelling argument for less use of the word "innovation" and in its place the word "experiment". Michael's position is that it is important to work with probability and rather than prediction. The best ideas in business regardless of their purpose often come from iteration in an organisation. The best way for an organisation to innovate is to have a whole series of small low cost experiments taking place simultaneously across an organisation. Once an idea seems to have some receptivity by its organisational and customer stakeholders, the organisation should rapidly prototype cheaply and sees what the uptake is on the prototype. The real trick is to know when to kill the prototype or to proceed to full implementation.

Thanks to our collaborators in this project AMP Australia , Deloitte, the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney

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A new CLF programme entitled "Creating Your Future in the Digital World" presented by Ralph Kerle, CEO, the Creative Leadership Forum and Peter Williams, CEO, Deloitte Digital.

Digital communities are the business models of the future and the purpose of the programme was to explore how technology and creativity can combine to create a digital community that has the potential to be a market for products and services in its own right.

This was the first showing of this programme and like any new programme the content evolved as we found our audience and their needs. We presented it in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and moved the content from creativity in the first half of the day - technology, second half to commence to a complete switch around - technology in the first, creativity in the second half.

A new series will be presented in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland, late March, early April 2008.

Thanks to my co-designer and presenter, Peter Williams, Deloitte and Fast Thinking

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A publications and editorial partnership with Fast Thinking.

FastThinking magazine has quickly established itself as the major publication in the area of creativity and innovation in Australasia. ETN Communications, the publisher, have just recently signed a deal for distribution of the magazine through Barnes and Noble outlets throughout the US without amendment to content. A major victory for an Australian publisher. The Creative Leadership Forum will be the main provider of creative leadership and creativity content for Fast Thinking on-line as well as contributing to the magazine whilst ETN Communications will act as a sales and marketing arm for the Creative Leadership Forum International Master Class Series and Programmes.

Finally thank you for your support in 2007. I hope we have been able to inform, engage and provoke you in a thoughtful and creative manner. Our rapidly development could not have occurred without your support and collaboration. We look forward to meeting you on one of 2008 Programmes.

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Year One 2005 - 2006

The Creative Leadership Forum was born in November 2005 as a result of national research that clearly indicated creativity and innovation were on Federal and State governments' agenda both from an economic and skills training perspective. The CLF research was confirmed in March 2006 with the release of an excellent report from the Business Council of Australia entitled New Concepts in Innovation - The Key To Growing Australia. 

An International and National Advisory Committee was formed and has been instrumental in guiding the CLF through its early start up phase. Particular mention must go to Christopher Bell, CEO, the Leadership Consortium and Peter Williams, Senior Partner, Deloitte and CEO, the Eclipse Group. Click here for full details of the advisory council membership.

The first 12 months was like any start-up full of risk, excitement, failure and success.

Strategic alliances were developed with Deloitte, the Leadership Consortium, IXC Australia - the InformationXChange Network and the Global Leaders Network. These organizations provided us with access to their extensive networks and thus a credibility within the market place when they recognized the Creative Leadership Forum was responding to a need for skills training in creativity and innovation in the market place. Thank you!

The Creative Leadership Forum programming has been built on presenting highly interactive International Master classes as an introduction to creative thinking skills and processes supported by case studies presentations from recognized international creativity leaders and practitioners.

Over 100 senior executives from a broad range of Australian companies, universities and Federal and State government agencies experienced presentations in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney by

Caroline Van Den Brul, Project Director, BBC UK on the BBC's famous Making It Happen corporate cultural change programme that aimed at making the BBC the most creative organization in the world. This is now a Harvard Business School case study.

Colin Funk, Director, Leadership Lab, The Banff Centre, Canada on the design and content of the Banff Centre Leadership Programmes, the world's leader in creative leadership programmes for corporate executives designed around creative thinking skills and arts based processes

Dr Kobus Neethling, Executive Director, the South African Creativity Association and the African Creativity Conference on the role of creative leadership in politics in particular in its effect on the apartheid regime and its current importance in business development in South Africa.

Australian presenters included Giam Sweigers, Chief Executive, Deloitte Australia;; Kerry Barwise, Director, the Centre for International Economics; Christopher Bell, CEO, the Leadership Consortium; David McCubbin, Managing Director, coup; Peter Williams, CEO, Eclipse Group; Tess de Quincey, choreographer; Ken Wall, CEO, the Thinking Network and Ralph Kerle, CEO, the Creative Leadership Forum.

Here are some of the responses the CLF received…

I am always sceptical about attendance on seminars, especially those with nebulous titles. I attended this because I realised the need to innovate in my organization. The sessions far surpassed my expectations and have changed my perceptions forever..

Director, University Sector

This forum has been one of the most exciting and relevant programs that I have participated in. It has personal, professional and organizational applications that could positively change, improve and assist all those who participate in it..

Director, Information Technology Sector

Inspiring, Connecting, Passion, Evoking. This program is a must for anyone who is involved in Leadership Development and wants to take themselves and others to the next level of creativity and effectiveness.

CEO Coach

The Creative Leadership Forum is stimulating and energising. The people who attended are effective people in their walks of life and it is wonderful to be a part of a learning process with high calibre presenters and participants.

Senior Manager, Federal Government

This was a really well balanced program from corporate innovation and analysis to experiential process for personal insight and future application

Managing Director, SME

To top the year off, Ralph Kerle, CEO, the Creative Leadership Forum was instrumental in launching the Creative Skills Training Council, Asia Pacific and Australia Region initiative.

The Creative Skills Training Council, Asia-Pacific and Australia Region is a members only global on line network and community of practice and knowledge made up of senior business executives, academics and creative practitioners and facilitators from Australia, Canada, India, Portugal, Norway, Singapore, United Kingdom and United States.

By working with the Creative Skills Training Council, Asia-Pacific and Australia Region, the Creative Leadership Forum now has access to the latest information on theories, trends, applications, experiences, case studies and instant feedback from this global community of practice in the field of creativity and innovation.

Most importantly, through the Council, the Creative Leadership Forum has access to global leaders when devising forum and workshop content which ensures the programme content is practical and applicable whilst being at the cutting edge of creativity and innovation training internationally.