The literature on creativity offers some fine insights for instructional design. I don’t want to stretch these ideas too far, but there are some snippets below that may be applied in fresh ways.

The authors Kelly and Littman encourage designers to focus on real people with lived and felt needs. “To make better products and services, you’ve got to care about the person actually using it” (Kelly & Littman, 2001, p. 34). Another way of expressing this is for an organization to focus outward, not inward. “We’ve also found that the best topic statements focus outward on a specific customer need or service enhancement rather than focusing inward on some organizational goal” (p. 57).

They describe how “Good brainstorms are extremely visual. They include sketching, mind mapping, diagrams, and stick figures. You don’t have to be an artist to get your point across with a sketch or diagram. Leave your performance anxieties at the door and jump in with whatever visual tools you have available” (pp. 61 – 62). This seems helpful for instructional design, with so many ideas that may be expressed visually.

Another very engaging concept is that of the “tech box.” These authors’ company IDEO collects high technology and other objects that would encourage creativity among the company’s employees. The authors write: “The Tech Box straddles process and architecture. It’s both a mindset and a physical statement. It’s a heck of a lot more valuable to our work and culture than the typical corporate art purchase—some twisted hunk of steel welded by an abstract sculptor. The Tech Box is our own private beach of imagination, a place to let the sand run through our toes and catch a few waves.”

The Tech Box has been adopted in this company’s offices worldwide, with curators who constantly seek out new technologies “to collect, evaluate, and distribute around the firm” (p. 145).

Kelly, T. & Littman, J. (2001). The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America’s Leading Design Firm. New York: A Currency Book, Doubleday. 307.