1. Group Genius Chapter 5 Small Sparks Jeff Glancy & Jessica Jones

2. The Inklings J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis form a group of scholars Discuss mythical fiction and poetry Collaborate on ideas Write about those ideas Critique each others works The results, collaborative works: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings trilogy The Chronicles of Narnia

3. The Creative Spark John Reed, Sr. VP at Citibank Modeled the current ATM and credit card authorization network While sitting on a beach in the Caribbean Ideas were not new, but a combination of existing ideas The creative spark coupled the collaborative ideas together

4. Five Stages of Creative Spark 1) Preparation: Work hard, study, collaborate. 2) Time off: Engage in other projects or activities. 3) The spark: A solution, embedded in knowledge and social interactions of the first two phases. 4) Selection: An “Aha!” feeling is not always a good idea. Collaborate with others to select best ideas. 5) Elaboration: Work out the solution with other ideas. Bringing everything together requires social interaction.

5. Problem Solving vs. Insight Problem solving Rely on past experience and knowledge Able to see a path to solution even though it’s far away Insight Thinking outside the box Solution seems impossible until a sudden spark Connect the nine dots with four connected straight lines without lifting your pencil

6. How Insights Emerge Psychologists studies of insight problems Fixation: Previous experience seems to block our problem solving ability Incubation: Must start to think outside the box, acquire new experiences. Breakthrough: The “Aha!” moment seems to come suddenly, when in fact we were busy thinking through the problem the entire time. Confabulation People have no trouble coming up with explanations for their behavior after the fact. (A dream, a spark) They believe they had a solitary insight, but a previous social encounter was likely responsible for the idea.

7. Question What are the five stages of creative spark?