ABSTRACT
For over ten years, we have engaged in education in the area of creative thinking and innovation. Our learners have included doctoral students across many disciplines and healthcare professionals. Throughout, we have learned from working with the former group in order to better engage with the latter. Our underlying philosophy is uncomplicated: creative thinking and innovation opportunities and challenges are all around us in daily life. With confidence and commitment, everyone can engage. In other words, creative thinking and innovation are not the preserve of an elite and highly educated cohort. There are many ways in which the setting for this activity can be established and maintained. In that setting, there are techniques which can be deployed to achieve an immediate outcome in response to a challenge, and a learning outcome for the future. In this sense, we are optimists and pragmatists. Our particular focus is on healthcare professionals. However, the approach is not confined to that critical group of people in our world. Creative thinking and innovation are activities open to all and, with guidance and the development of actionable knowledge, all can engage. This book reflects that philosophy and offers that guidance.
