When done as originally designed, classic brainstorming is a powerful tool for a number of reasons. First, the tool itself is fun and engages creative process. Second, new meaning emerges. Third, well, aha's happen! Here's what we learned to the question -

“What might be all the ways to understand creativity, imagination, and innovation?”

Imagination sparks what might be. Creativity shapes it forward. Innovation brings it to life.

Themes and Takeaways

• Wisdom + Creativity = Innovation: Marrying lived experience, knowledge, and imagination can yield powerful outcomes.

• Psychological Safety Matters: Innovation happens where people feel safe to explore and fail without judgment.

• Creativity is Energy: It’s fueled by curiosity.

• Limitations Encourage Ingenuity: Boundaries can be springboards for breakthrough thinking.

• Diversity Unlocks New Thinking: A variety of backgrounds and perspectives disrupts predictable thought patterns and expands the range of potential solutions.

• Practice Makes Creative: Making creativity second nature means embedding it into culture, process, and daily habits.

Unpacking the Journey: From Imagination to Innovation

Imagination: Unpacking the Spark

Imagination is an origin point. It’s where we begin to see differently, to envision what could be rather than what is.

• Imagination helps us reframe problems, shifting the focus from “what is the problem?” to “how are we seeing the problem?”

• It encourages divergent thinking, the ability to explore many possible directions without judgment.

• Imagination is a tool for personal and professional growth, helping us stretch beyond familiar mental pathways.

• When we celebrate imagination in others, we create a culture where people feel safe to think boldly and dream freely.

To unpack imagination is to invite wonder, possibility, and the permission to color outside the lines.

Creativity: Unpacking the Engine

If imagination lights the spark, creativity is the engine for momentum and change. It’s how ideas start to take shape through practice and process.

• Creativity is not just talent, it’s a learned skill, something to cultivate by doing, iterating, and collaborating.

• Creativity involves making connections, combining old ideas in new ways, and looking past the obvious for deeper insight.

• To fully unpack creativity, we must also unpack the environment: Are people safe to share? Are diverse viewpoints welcome? Are we ok not knowing?

• Creativity is a collective process that requires both freedom and structure, a space to think and systems that support implementation.

When we unpack creativity, we reveal not just inspiration, but the practical mechanics of making ideas real.

Innovation: Unpacking the Outcome

Innovation is creativity applied. It’s the process that transforms ideas into value.

• Innovation is the final destination, the point where imagination and creativity meet reality. It’s the practical application of insight that leads to value.

• Innovation emerges when we reframe problems from a new perspective and create solutions that matter.

• It’s not just about novel ideas. it’s about ideas that work, are adopted, and drive change.

• Innovation requires collaboration, with individuals empowered and systems in place to support experimentation and action.

• Every innovation becomes the seed of the next cycle of creativity.

To unpack innovation is to examine how ideas grow legs, create value, and influence the world around us.

When we embrace all three individually and collectively, we move from insight to impact with intention.

Imagination sparks what might be. Creativity shapes it forward. Innovation brings it to life.