[Part 2 of a series of posts from ICSC’s RetailGreen conference.]
In a unique presentation at the ICSC RetailGreen conference, Professor Barry Kudrowitz of the University of Minnesota demonstrated “How Play and Humor Help Us Innovate.” My friend and fellow conference committee member Ed Doyle of Target discovered Mr. Kudrowitz at a company team-building retreat and was so impressed that he brought Mr. Kudrowitz to our conference. Now, this presentation was not directly about sustainability or retail development. Instead, it was about “innovation.” It was fantastic! Via a series of hands-on activities, Mr. Kudrowitz led the audience through mind-mapping exercises, word games, and even a game called “the bears and tigers”. The most interesting thing we learned was that more ideas equals better, more creative ideas.
And the audience loved it. In fact, I’ve never seen a conference audience get so worked up and deeply involved. Everybody was shouting answers and comments, and I believe everybody could feel the creative juices flowing. If you’d like to know more, please contact me and ask about the bears and tigers game. I’m dying to play that one again.