Creative Problem Solving Institute 2025

If you are new to CPSI, Foundations of Creative Problem Solving is your fast track to a deliberate creativity process for solving problems and capitalizing on opportunities. You’ll learn the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) Process, the research-based gold standard of creativity methods, and be exposed to the FourSight framework, which can help you understand how you and your teammates approach challenges.

In an incredibly engaging format, your team of experienced facilitators will use hands-on activities, real-world examples, and a variety of divergent and convergent thinking tools to give you the skills you need to advance your personal and professional goals.

Foundations of Creative Problem Solving is the first of four skills-building courses in Creative Problem Solving. After completing all four CPS courses, you will deepen your ability to facilitate and train others in the CPS process, while also becoming eligible to be considered to lead CPS programs at future CPSIs!

In this course, you will:
• Recognize and overcome blocks to creativity.
• Identify attitudes and behaviors conducive to creative thinking.
• Apply core concepts of creative thinking.
• Use a variety of divergent and convergent thinking tools.
• Apply the CPS method to many simulated or real situations.
• Consciously be creative when facing problems and opportunities.

NOTE: You must attend your Core CPS Course all four mornings of the conference in order to complete this program. This core track is limited to 45 attendees. You must select Foundations of CPS when registering for CPSI to attend this track (selecting it here in Sched does not qualify as reserved spot).

*PREREQUISITE: Level 1: CPS Foundations at previous CPSI or FLCC. If you did not take Level 1 but have a solid understanding of the Osborne-Parnes Creative Problem Solving process, you must connect with CPSI Program Staff before being enrolled.

Level 2: Creative Problem Solving Tools is a natural stepping stone if you have previously taken Level 1: Foundations of CPS. This fast-paced course allows beginner to intermediate facilitators to go deeper into the CPS process, adding more facilitation tools to your repertoire.

You will gain a clear understanding of which tools to use at each stage of the CPS process, as well as how to modify them to fit your session objectives or add a bit of creative flair. You will have time to practice tools to gain real mastery of them. You will also learn a variety of energizers and fun grouping games to keep your sessions engaging and interactive. Learn through small- and large-group work, including round-robin sharing and show-and-tell exercises.

In this course, you will:

• Explore a variety of divergent and convergent tools for individual and group problem solving.
• Learn how and where to apply different tools within the CPS process.
• Practice facilitating tools.
• Discover how to use tools when you or your team are unable to progress or working in areas of low preference.

NOTE: You must attend your Core CPS Course all four mornings of the conference to complete this program and qualify for the credential assessment for CPS Level 2.
This core track is limited to 25 attendees. You must select Tools when registering for CPSI to attend this track (selecting it here in Sched does not qualify as reserved spot).

*PREREQUISITE: Level 1: Foundations of CPS and Level 2: Creative Problem Solving Tools at previous CPSI or FLCC. If you did not take Level 1 or 2 at CPSI/FLCC but have a solid understanding of the Osborne-Parnes Creative Problem Solving process and have experience with CPS tools, you must connect with CPSI Program Staff before being enrolled.

Level 3: Facilitating CPS
Facilitation skills are central to the effective use of CPS, whether in formal meetings or informal brainstorming sessions. This course is designed for those who already know the CPS process in theory and are ready to put it into action as a facilitator. This course uses peer-group practices to prepare participants for working with actual clients. Characteristics of successful facilitation will be identified and practiced, and you will develop an awareness of your own strengths and areas for development. In this course, you will:

•Review and internalize the CPS process through the lens of the facilitator.
•Experience CPS from several points of view – as a facilitator, as the problem-owner, and as part of the resource group.
•Understand how to facilitate each step of the CPS process.
•Receive general facilitation tips that enhance any meeting.
•Receive individual and group feedback on facilitation skills.
•Explore and develop your facilitation style.

*PREREQUISITE: Level 1: Foundations of CPS at previous CPSI or FLCC. If you did not take Level 1 at CPSI or FLCC but have a solid understanding of the Osborne-Parnes Creative Problem Solving process, you must connect with CPSI Program Staff before being enrolled. PREFERRED: Completion of Level 2: Creative Problem Solving Tools and Level 3: Facilitating CPS. Registrants should have a solid understanding of CPS tools and facilitation skills.


This workshop series is designed for experienced Creative Problem Solving (CPS) practitioners seeking deeper insights into advanced methodologies, emerging research, and cutting-edge applications. Each session will engage participants in thought-provoking discussions, hands-on exercises, and collaborative problem-solving to refine their expertise and expand their strategic toolkit. Information on specific topic areas to come.

Instructors: Dr. Gerard Puccio, Chair & Distinguished Professor, Center for Applied Imagination, Buffalo State University; Dr. Susan Keller-Mathers, Associate Professor, Center for Applied Imagination, Buffalo State University; Dr. Roger Firestien, Associate Professor Emeritus, Center for Applied Imagination at Buffalo State University, President of Innovation Resources, Inc.; additional instructor TBD

In YouthWise, kids will explore Creative Problem Solving through fun, hands-on activities, "field trips," and games. They will put their new and enhanced skills to work as a team, by creating and presenting a solution to a unique challenge.

This Immersion will be four experiences in one! Each day will focus on a different topic, yet they’re all connected by developing the creative person, the creative process, the creative culture, and a creative product. Creativity thrives with a multidimensional approach. This Immersion experience will explore various facets leading to enhanced creativity.

It has been said that everyone has a book inside them. This workshop helps prospective book authors take the first steps toward getting that book OUTSIDE. This workshop is for anyone who has wanted to write a book, but hasn't been able to get it done, or even get it started; anyone who feels that they need to write a book, for career or personal reasons; and anyone who just wants to know what it takes to get a book written and published. The lessons here apply to any type of book-length manuscript: novel, memoir, poetry or essay collection, business or self-help book.

Three Takeaways:
1. Explore WHY you might want to write a book, and WHY you have been finding it
difficult to get it started or get it done.
2. Identify WHAT books you should write and who it’s for.
3. Learn HOW to actually get the book written, and HOW you might get it published.

In this dynamic series, we will explore the integration of Creative Problem Solving (CPS) with other problem solving approaches such as design thinking and agile to enhance innovation. Participants will explore how CPS underpins these processes, and how to view the collaborative process through a series of diagnostic filters. The session challenges the myth of linear workflows, emphasizing the iterative and turbulent nature of innovation. Through engaging activities and reflective exercises, attendees will identify personal strengths and areas for growth in their collaboration approach that align with the non-linear demands of creative leadership.

Participants will:

• Identify personal strengths and areas for growth in your collaboration approach that align with the non-linear demands of creative leadership
• Visualize where you and your team spend the most time in collaboration
• Learn how to map your team’s project and use diagnostic filters to identify blind spots and ways to enhance innovation

Why is Adult Play so important? How we play is directly linked to how we learn, think, work, feel, perform, and interact with others. What you learn in play you remember for life!

This immersion program includes everything you need for your one-stop facilitator play chest! We have strategically blended Jump into LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methods, Playsonality™ Assessment, What the Duck, and LSP 3D Diagnostic Cards into one complete 14-hour program:
Day One: The Power of Play & LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methods
Day Two: Playsonality™ Assessment
Day Three: Now What the Duck Activities
Day Four: 3D Diagnostic Cards and

If you are looking for a new way to engage with your team and you want to add more fun to your work or workplace culture, this session is designed for you. This is a facilitated thinking & communications technique. Our Playology program draws on extensive research from the field of business, organization development, psychology, and learning. Using hand-brain knowledge, we will share the processes that help individuals and teams surface information, explore ideas, create better options, develop deeper knowledge, and identify solutions faster with 100% engagement. And yes, we have corporate, community, and education examples with case studies.

You will walk away with new insights about the power of play and how we all use play daily, and multiple new tools that you can use immediately to improve individual and team performance, while adding more play to corporate culture.

Are you looking for a session which will:
1. Unpack the value of play at work and discover the ROI of play
2. Access the Playsonality© app to decode your facilitator play style
3. Conduct a deep dive into how play formulates our identity
4. Discover new ways to stimulate powerful conversations
5. Supplement your creative program with engaging activities that people will remember
6. Gain new tools and techniques for your facilitator’s play chest
7. Explore how play paves the way to the flow zone where we do our best thinking

Learning Objectives:
-Add LEGO® bricks and directives to your workshops to improve engagement;
-Apply the five-step processes to improve communication;
-Identify when PLAY can be most useful;
-Supplement your creative program with the playstyles assessments;
-Avoid conversational roundabouts;
-Use flow theory and underlying neuroscience principles that make this so powerful and memorable.
-Facilitate and explore ideas on a deeper level using a play chest of new tools.

Let’s get ready to PLAY!

All Aboard! Join us for a dynamic journey in our fun, hands-on facilitation session that will supercharge your skills and bring your sessions to life! Whether you’re teaching a class, leading a board meeting, guiding a strategic planning session, or simply communicating with your team, this highly interactive session will give you the tools, tips, and techniques you need to keep everyone engaged and energized. Along the way, we’ll make stops at practical exercises, engaging discussions, and real-world scenarios with real-time feedback, all designed to make facilitation feel less like a boring, highways-only road trip and more like an exciting, collaborative adventure. By the end of our journey, you’ll be ready to lead with confidence, spark creativity, and make every session a memorable experience!

Problem solving implies a linear experience with a series of independent issues to be solved and moved on from. Life (and work) is messy, with changing variables and shifting priorities in the everyday systems we live and work in. Spotting patterns will stretch your change game from solving one problem that may be a success for today, to uncovering opportunities for shifting patterns for more sustainable change with broader impact.

A sense of belonging is powerful and critical to us as humans. During this session, we will tap into the power of creative problem solving to explore how we can collectively unlock Belonging.

- You Will Unpack What Belonging Means to You
- You Will Have Opportunity to Identify Ways to Increase Belonging
- You will Foster New Creative Connections

Unlock the power of storytelling and body language to enhance your communication and captivate any audience. This interactive session will explore practical techniques to craft compelling narratives and use nonverbal cues to build trust, engagement, and influence. Walk away with actionable strategies to communicate with confidence, authenticity, and impact in any setting.

Facilitators, trainers, coaches, and change agents have all been there:  your beautiful, brilliant, potentially life-changing training/presentation/session gets derailed by one or more resistant participants, who seem fully committed to sabotaging the event.  You’ve tried everything that LinkedIn infographic recommended: smiling at them, selling the “WIIFMs,” negotiating with them. But still they won’t budge.

In this session, we’ll find more creative – and more effective – ways to address the situation. Participants will learn how to reframe the problem, engage with resistors in new ways, and leverage the potential that resistance holds for creating an even stronger session. We’ll see how a divergence/convergence approach can disarm opposition while modeling the kind of respectful and inclusive behaviors we want others to follow. And participants can share with each other what has worked – and not worked – in their own practices, to leave with an even fuller list of tools and resources for the next time a scowling attendee starts to fuss.

Imagine this: a room buzzing with energy, walls covered in vibrant sticky notes, and a community of like-minded individuals ready to push boundaries and ignite transformation!
Whether you’re searching for your next big breakthrough, feeling a little stuck, or just craving a fresh, innovative approach to personal development, this session is designed just for Y-O-U! 
Imagine stepping into the CEO suite of your own life. In this hands-on, game-changing workshop, you’ll learn how to take charge of your personal and professional journey, unlock untapped potential, and create a vision for a future YOU can’t wait to lead.
With nothing more than a stack of sticky notes and the power of your imagination, you’ll master a fun, visual methodology that top executives use to strategize their business empires—now reimagined to help YOU strategize your life. This isn't just another self-help session; it’s a fast-paced, interactive experience that will leave you energized, inspired, and equipped with actionable insights to become the architect of your destiny.
What Awaits You:

• Unlocking Hidden Patterns: Piece together the story of your life—its successes, surprises, and lessons learned—to reveal your strengths and unique value.
• Setting Audacious Goals: Dream boldly and then break those dreams into a step-by-step action plan you can start implementing today.
• Designing Your Vision: Create a personalized "CEO roadmap" that aligns with your core values and sets the course for your next chapter.

Why Should You Attend?
Let’s be honest—there are dozens of ways to “think about your future,” but very few are as dynamic, creative, and downright fun as this. You’ll leave this session with a wall of colorful ideas, your very own strategic life plan, and a renewed sense of excitement about your journey ahead. Plus, you’ll pick up insights and ideas you can use over and over again to stay at the top of your game. Your future CEO self is already RSVP’ing.
Bring your curiosity, your creativity, and maybe even a friend. Let’s make those sticky notes work as hard as you do!

These days its a stretch to take a pause; usually a photo is a quick “snap” of the moment. In this workshop, we will learn how current practitioners of contemplative photography blend their taking of photos with photographic techniques that inspire pausing and reflecting. We will use our phones to practice a contemplative approach to taking photos and use reflection questions to deepen our Contemplative Photography experience.

Discover how simple mark-making can break through traditional thinking barriers and stretch your problem-solving toolkit. This hands-on workshop introduces Possibility Books, an evidence-based method that uses abstract visual responses (no artistic skill required) to build creative confidence, embrace ambiguity, and generate unexpected connections. Participants will experience a series of guided prompts, which can be applied in classes and group facilitations, that demonstrate how reflection through mark-making followed by collaborative sharing can unlock new pathways for innovation.

What if the key to realizing your most impactful ideas wasn’t so much in what you do, but in how you align with the idea first? In this session, we’ll explore the often-overlooked creative alignment or “phase of being” so beneficial in the creative process—the inner work of engaging deeply with your idea(s). You’ll gain a new approach, practical tools and techniques to reflect on and strengthen your relationship with your idea, uncovering what excites you, what holds you back, and what support you need. Because aligning with your ideas isn’t just about creativity—it’s about fostering joy, clarity, and purpose along the way.

In this session, we'll discuss how relentless curiosity can bring you face-to-face with the unknown, sometimes unearthing fear and usually requiring the opening of the vault of vulnerability in your mind. We'll discuss what works--and share what hasn't worked--as we face ambiguity and all that it brings. Ultimately, we will strive to shine a light on the pathway to freedom to take risks and achieve more even more than we hoped.

Are you looking for some fun activities you can do with just a handful of bricks? Like most teachers, trainers, and counselors, HR professionals, management consultants, you are likely being asked to do more with less. If so, this is the perfect short session for you.

You might be working with a classroom full of students, a large group of people at a conference, or a small group, board of directors, or group of executives. Regardless, we have the activities you need to keep people engaged, communicating, and learning while time flies by.

This interactive session will explore how culture and communication styles shape creative processes. Using engaging activities, discussions, and real-world applications, participants will gain insights into the concepts of individualism/collectivism, high/low power distance, and high/low uncertainty avoidance and how they impact creativity.