Tweet

How Creativity and Innovation Day Got Started in Canada

Guest post by: Arupa Tesolin

Article Overview: The story of Creativity & Innovation Day went from an idea in Canada to a global event involving thousands.

How Creativity and Innovation Day Got Started in Canada

By Arupa Tesolin, Mar. 2004,

Spring in Canada is a most welcome change from winter. But you wouldn't have known it yesterday seeing the last of the snow blustering around the sidewalks here. With spring comes renewal and probably the most pleasure we derive from a new season. - the promise of better things.
In such a spirit I'd like to tell you about an initiative that started here in Canada in 2001 and spread out in just the 3 years since then to over 43 countries and 105 communities across the world - Creativity and Innovation Day – or C.I.D. for short.
It is celebrated on April 21 to commemorate the birthday of Leonardo Da Vinci (his actual birthdate is April 15), the famous Italian painter and inventor whose genius far surpassed the aesthetic realm integrated crossover knowledge from many diverse fields engineering, science, anatomy and the imagination of things yet to come.
This is not the first time I’ve written here about innovation. I have previously written on the topic of innovation and research communities in Canada and Canada’s Innovation Strategy. This is a more formal kind of creativity and it is a creativity that is supported through a grant system that benefits universities, researchers, scholars, and industry. C.I.D. is another kind, it is a grass roots movement driven by people who want to encourage and increase our practice of real creativity in life, business, and society.
C.I.D. is the brainchild of Canadian Marci Segal, a creativity specialist and trainer, who in 2001 read a newspaper article called Canada in Creativity Crisis which motivated her to act. She contacted other colleagues and together they formed a discussion group on the internet.
As a result the first Creativity and Innovation Day event was held on June 1, 2001 “to encourage people all over the world to use their creative capacities to make the world a better place and to make their place in the world better too. It's vision rests on the belief that every person is endowed with the ability to use knowledge, imagination and evaluation to create new and meaningful solutions to meet the challenges we face.”
CID provides a time and space where people can feel comfortable expressing their creative abilities, a place where innovation can thrive, and a system of communication so that people all over the world keep informed and feel part of a truly global event. To foster continued creativity and innovation, Idea Week (April 15 - 21) was also developed. During this week, people host activities and programs that welcome, engage and contribute pride in creating and innovating for a personal, professional, community or organizational benefit. For details on how you can participate visit www.creativityday.org.
Canadian company Dofasco Inc., one of Canada's largest steel producers, held weeklong activities last year which included an address from their VP, learning forums held at lunchtime, spotlights on employee artists on their internal website, ‘food for thought’ creativity quotes on food wrappers in the cafeteria, employee musicians entertaining with diverse musical genres, employee inventors discussing their inventions throughout the plant, musical entertainment in the cafeteria, company wide distribution of a mind map of hints on ‘idea generating spaces' and displays of several Science and Engineering Fair Award winners’ projects from a competition open to local area Grade Seven through High School students.
This is a great beginning and the support for creativity and innovation needs to grow in the world – a lot! There are some realities in play that limit the amount of human spirit in organizations, among them boring jobs, unjust supervision, restrictive thinking, antagonistic corporate cultures. These are “people-zappers”, they limit the potential of innovation by the main contributors, our so-called human capital.
There are things companies can do to liberate creativity and the Dofasco example is great because it celebrated individual creativity. This is a big welcome for other people who may not be inventors or artists or musicians to let them know their ideas are important at work. Other examples on the theme of creative-diversity could be opportunities for career development in different areas.
So, it’s a good start. The upward curve is huge. Even the business case, if articulated in terms of Global Innovation Capital is huge. Consider the cost impact of innovation in terms of gross national product and development or even global product – it’s trillions. The cost of failing on innovation is even larger – so it’s a double-ended impact. Even if there is a 20% difference through shortening the research cycle, increasing the development of new products, making better products, the cost is trillions, the benefits, trillions more. And this is not only an industrial problem, it is a societal one too. There are solutions possible for every human condition. All we have to do now is care enough to want to find them.

Related Articles
  Motivating Your Workers for Peak Perfomance
  Here's why you should build creativity in the workplace.
  20 Tips To Initiate & Inspire Innovation From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
  Network Marketing Business Canada: A Place to Start a Business
  The New Leadership Frontier

Article Tags:



Related Forum Posts
Re: What or Who Sparks Your Business Interest - Hi This is really a great thread. For me it was always wanting to be responsible for myself without anyone have the power to make my decisions for me. I have also done many different things in my life. Started as a hairdresser and did that for 20 years, some of them working from home (which was good when my children were young and needed me around). Then worked as a bookkeeper and then a credit manager in a video distribution company for 18 years. Loved the job but hated having to answer to a boss. In between joined an MLM company selling health and weight loss products and then became a bookkeeper again but working for myself with my own clients. Started internet marketing and this I truly love. I can work the hours that suit me and it's totally up to me to do the work if I want to succeed. MichelleJ
Accessing the Canadian Market - Leo, an idea that came to mind is try to align yourself with Hispanic Organizations in Canada. This will build your credibility within communities and get more referrals. Not sure if you plan on being based in Canada or operate your business from Columbia but either way being in the web development arena allows you to work from anywhere. You can also search for opportunities originating from Canada thru elance.com, getafreelancer.com, freelance.com or rentacoder.com
Re: Introducing a US franshise to a Canadian market - [quote="BuzzAroundBooks":1l00q6iy]Hi Everyone, If there was a franchise you liked and located exclusively in the U.S., how likely would you be able to introduce the first one in a new market like Canada? How open are franchisors to this sort of idea? Has anyone heard how this was done in the past?[/quote:1l00q6iy] US franchisors are really open to "export" their concept to Canada for 2 main reasons: the proximity and the culture: Canada is just a few hours away from any US city and both cultures are very similar. I am actually reading stats on this subject as I write and about 80% of american franchises tat go international go to Canada first.
Retired Executives - Hello everyone. Does anyone know where I could be in contact with retired executive? Reason I ask is because I am in seek of a mentor to assist me with my business and I am having a hard time finding a mentor in Canada. It seems like executives in the US and Europe are lot more helpful than in Canada, as I have contacted a few individuals in Canada and they have either been rude or simply did not reply back to my e-mail. Does anyone know where I can find some retired executives, as I might have a better luck with them? Thanks!
Essential Leadership skills - Delegate Serve Creativity optimistic smart Focused Reliable honest Good sense of judgment consistent... It all comes from the confidence from within


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Earn More Money - Easy Home Business Ideas

How To Be A Management Legend

How to Improve Your Time Management

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.