While the act of spacing out has long been attributed to fueling creativity, many of us are downright uncomfortable with being bored. In fact, a prominent social science study reveals that a surprising number of people would rather be electrically shocked than left alone with their thoughts. Add a constant stream of updates, texts, and other technological distractions to an already tense relationship, and it can feel like we’re doomed. What is the connection between boredom and original...

We need an unprecedented nature of innovation if we are to address the challenges of our time. Traditional innovation methodologies such as human-centered design are excellent for designing products and services, but how do we address complex, scaled, and critical challenges that are systemic in nature? Professor Banny Banerjee will speak about the mindsets, processes, and skill sets that comprise systems leadership—the type of leadership that is urgently needed at all levels. Speakers: Banny...

Academy Award-winning producer Brian Grazer, along with partner Ron Howard, just completed season one of “Genius,” a multi-part series for television based on Walter Isaacson’s book, Einstein. Why the focus on genius? What does the celebration of sheer genius do for society at large? What lessons can we learn by studying the lives and works of those we consider geniuses? Speakers: Brian Grazer, Walter Isaacson

Most of us face the desire to be creative within busy, scheduled lives. Therefore, creativity involves carving out and holding space in the midst of complex personal and professional demands and very real performance goals. This workshop frames creativity as a process of “art thinking.” If you are engaged in art as a process in any part of life, you are not going from a known point A to a known point B but inventing point B. That process is sometimes at odds with market assumptions of...

Walter Isaacson is fascinated by innovators — the kinds of geniuses whose ideas have transformed industry, science, and society. Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, and Benjamin Franklin each grabbed his attention in ways that allow us, as readers, to discover the depth and breadth of their brilliant thinking and creative sensibilities. Now comes Leonardo da Vinci, whose boundless curiosity renders him perhaps the greatest creative genius of all time. Isaacson explains what he can teach us?...

Our social nature is a major driver of our creativity: We constantly strive to engage and surprise each other, our inventiveness giving us reasons to tune in. Drawing on The Runaway Species: How Human Creativity Remakes the World, the book he co-authored with neuroscientist David Eagleman, composer Anthony Brandt takes us inside Beethoven’s string quartets to examine what makes classical music such a vivid and compelling model of creative thinking. Featuring live demonstrations by musicians...

Our drive to create makes us unique among living things. What is special about the human brain that enables us to innovate? Why don’t cows choreograph dances? Why don’t alligators invent speedboats? Drawing on their upcoming book, The Runaway Species: How Human Creativity Remakes the World, neuroscientist David Eagleman and composer Anthony Brandt examine the evolutionary tweaks that gave rise to our species’ imaginative gifts. Weaving together arts and science, Brandt and Eagleman explore...

Has America lost its voice? For better or worse, our policies, protests, and pop culture have traditionally had a deep impact both abroad and at home. Do the voices we elevate today amount to a collective identity? Should they? Who lays claim to America’s voice, and what happens to the voiceless? Creative Tensions is not a panel — it’s a conversation that moves. Participants reveal where they stand on an issue by where they stand in the room. Developed by IDEO and Sundance Institute, Creative...

New York Times best-selling author Susan Orlean says ignorance about a subject is a powerful ignitor of curiosity. As someone who has written about bullfighters, orchid fanatics, and an African king who drives a taxi in New York City, she knows a thing or two about delving into far-flung topics. How can we learn to take in the world as an enthusiast and as a curious person? It’s especially important for writers, she says, but it’s more a state of mind than a professional tool. And in this...

A discussion about how Hollywood is adapting to an increasingly cluttered and fragmented marketplace by embracing creative business solutions. Chris Meledandri, the founder and CEO of animation powerhouse Illumination Entertainment, and Jeff Shell, chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, will look at both the macro and micro ways that the film business is being forced to think outside the box in order to thrive in today’s fast-changing entertainment industry. From the way films like...