Creative Problem Solving Institute 2025

Fuel your creativity with your favorite Starbucks® treats—right here on campus during CPSI 2025: Stretch!
Please note: Starbucks food and beverages are not included in the CPSI meal plan and must be purchased separately.

Start your day at CPSI with some delicious breakfast.  Sit with someone new or some old friends.  It's a great way to connect!

Check in with Jamie and Rosie and receive your conference bag and name tag. Get any questions answered and decorate/customize your name tag with sharpies and stickers.

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.



In today’s volatile and fast-changing world, effective leadership demands more than just traditional management skills—it requires creativity. This workshop, grounded in the pioneering work of Dr. Gerard Puccio and his Creative Leadership: Skills that Drive Change, explores the vital intersection of creativity and leadership. Participants will examine the role of leaders as creative problem solvers, tasked with navigating complexity and ambiguity through imaginative thinking. Drawing from cutting-edge research, the session highlights how core creativity skills—especially divergent thinking—are strong predictors of leadership success. The workshop also considers global findings that identify creativity as the most valued leadership competency in the modern workplace. Through discussion, reflection, and interactive activities, participants will discover how to strengthen their own creative leadership capacity and foster it in others.

Key Learning Objectives:

• Understand the concept of creative leadership and why it matters today
• Recognize the leader’s role as a creative problem solver in complex environments
• Explore the connection between divergent thinking and leadership effectiveness
• Review global data and research underscoring creativity as a top leadership skill
• Develop personal strategies to enhance creative leadership capacity

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.

Day 4: Make Creativity Happen - Now! Stretch Yourself Further By Getting Stuff Done More Creatively, Effectively, and Efficiently
David Eyman, Faculty / Innovation Director, Miami University (Oxford, Ohio)

We get busy and often forget to create novelty. Instead, we often go with the flow and are left unsatisfied by the work we do or the relationships we share. I believe we can stretch ourselves to be more creative more often and have more satisfaction in life through creativity. People who get more done earn respect, trust, and promotions over those who say they’ll get to it eventually or obediently provide mediocre results as instructed or expected.
Get Stuff Done is a mindset affirmation to help you be yourself more often.

Key Takeaways:
Build your Creative Confidence
Set your Vision - Big vision and Micro vision...plan it, write it, make a plan
Spark your Entrepreneurial Hustle - learn how to get out of your own way

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!

Need a little something? Join us in the HUB (Caudell Hall) for some snacks, coffee and tea.
They'll be available each day - just drop in when you have chance.

Stop by our pop-up bookstore and explore a curated collection of titles published by our very own CEF Press.
Everyone’s invited—leaders, attendees, and curious minds alike! Take a moment during your break to browse, grab a snack, and maybe even spark a conversation with a fellow creative thinker. There’s something for everyone!

12:00-1:00 Core CPS Track and YouthWise
12:30-1:30 Immersion Track

Join everyone at the Dining Hall for an array of meal options. Healthy, fun, and specialty diet options are available. Join a table of people you have not met yet and find your next best friend!

Every afternoon, treat yourself to short CPSIesta after lunch. Visit the bookstore in Caudell Hall, go for a walk outside, or go back to your room and decompress. How you use this mini midday break is up to you.

We all know self-care is important, but finding time for it often feels impossible. In this session, we'll break down the myths around "self-care" and dive into the essential elements of rest, renewal, and review—and why each one is crucial for keeping our creativity and energy flowing. Using creative problem solving tools, you’ll develop personalized strategies that actually fit into your life, so you can recharge, reignite your creativity, and avoid burnout.

What if you could create time — what would you do with it? Time is the stuff your life is made of, the most precious commodity you have, and the only one you can’t create more of—or can you? In this session you will create time where there was no time, so that you have more time to create.

Steve Shama

If you are a member of a committee, head of a business or organization or simply a person who has difficult people in your life, like a colleague, friend, family member, who are e.g. angry, controlling, demanding, this course is for you. You'll experience creative ways of dealing with difficult people so you make peace not war. Bring your difficult people scenarios and we’ll generate, thru role playing, many powerful and practical approaches to solving these frustrating situations and you'll leave with a time-tested handout of tools and techniques, in a session that will be filled with humor and poignant moments.

Jen Verbakel

After an enlightening and stimulating conference, participants have the chance to give themselves the gift of time for pausing and reflecting, so they can be more effective at implementing change when they get home. This workshop serves as an opportunity for participants to consider what they've learned and how they will implement their new ideas. This session will incorporate collaboration, mindfulness, reflection, and planning.

MaryEllyn Vicksta
Cheryl Nee-Gieringer

This session explores how core practices of creative problem solving such as deferred judgement, listening generously, and assumption reversals provide a natural antidote to prevailing divisiveness and polarization. It then looks at how these tools can be used to revitalize civil discourse and even create opportunities for constructive conversation.

Join us in the Hub (Caudell Hall Lobby) and grab a quick drink and snack so you can recharge your batteries!

All good things must come to an end—but at CPSI, the Closing Celebration is just the beginning of what’s next. Join us as we reflect on our shared experience, explore ways to stay connected, and discover how to keep stretching, growing, and creating beyond the conference.

Enjoy our farewell dinner at CPSI 2025.