Posts by Valerie Patrick
How to Optimize Learning
I am interested in how to optimize learning because now that I have passed my sixth decade of life, I realize how much there is to learn given the rapid pace of intellectual advancement. The more I learn, the more I can help others through my work. My ability to help others as a leadership…
Read MoreIdea Selection Illustrates the Diversity of Thinking Needed for Innovation
I was surprised to discover that idea selection illustrates the diversity of thinking needed for innovation. I was taught that idea generation takes divergent thinking while idea selection takes convergent thinking. We use divergent thinking when faced with an open-ended task that has many responses such as the following: how might we use our summer…
Read MoreHow to Ensure Brainstorming Success
The topic of how to ensure brainstorming success is important because many people get brainstorming wrong despite what research and experience reveal is needed. I have been following creativity research since the mid 1990’s and I have been practicing successful brainstorming sessions as a Certified Professional Facilitator since 2013. I have witnessed participants push back…
Read MoreHow to Overcome the Greatest Limitation to Being a Creator
You first must know what the greatest limitation to being a creator is before you can overcome the limitation. From my experience as an author (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1632651823), the head of the Creative Center at Bayer MaterialScience, and a Certified Creative Problem Solving Facilitator (https://www.cpsb.com/a-focus-on-facilitation), the greatest limitation to creativity is a false belief. The false belief…
Read MoreHow to Empower Yourself to be Creative
It’s possible to empower yourself to be creative because our brain is wired to create just like the title of Scott Barry Kaufman’s and Carolyn Gregoire’s book (Scott Barry Kaufman and Carolyn Gregoire, Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind, New York: Perigee, 2015). In fact, creativity guru and researcher Dr. Keith…
Read MoreHow Learners Make Learning Last
How learners make learning last is important to optimal talent development. The learner plays a big role in learning that lasts because the learner is central to the four elements that neuroscientists have discovered are critical to learning that lasts (https://membership.neuroleadership.com/material/the-science-of-making-learning-stick-an-update-to-the-ages-model-vol-5/). The first element to learning that lasts is the learner must focus attention on…
Read MoreHow to Learn Like a Leader
You want to learn like a leader because leaders learn how to navigate the interpersonal pitfalls preventing them from making a difference. Similarly, professionals can learn how to navigate the career pitfalls preventing them from finding fulfillment. Career pitfalls include misplaced motivation, unfocused learning, and stunted growth. This post explores how learning like a leader…
Read MoreTo Manage or To Lead in the Workplace
To manage or to lead in the workplace is a false dilemma because the nature of modern work demands both management and leadership skills. There is consensus across business researchers that management focuses on planning and executing work tasks while leadership focuses on visioning and engaging others to support the vision. The work situation can…
Read MoreSix Habits to Revolutionize Remote Work
The six habits to revolutionize remote work are according to an executive with over 10,000 hours of experience as a team leader in Fortune 100 companies and over 10,000 hours of experience as a professional facilitator. Remote work is revolutionized one remote interaction at a time. People interact better both in-person and remotely when they…
Read MoreThe Secret to Successful Leadership
The secret to successful leadership is using facilitation skills when the going gets rough. Leaders change things for the better. Leadership can be as simple as making a sign to guilt people into cleaning the office coffee cup rather than leaving it in the sink for someone else to clean. And leadership can be as…
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