About Us
Creativity at Work (TM) is a consulting, coaching and training alliance at the forefront of transformational change, through creativity and innovation.
We are an international consortium of professional educators, practitioners of arts-based learning, coaches, culture-change agents, ethnographers, and innovation experts.
We help organizations accelerate business performance through arts-based learning, coaching and consulting. Our insights and methodologies are drawn from the multi-disciplinary perspectives of business management, art, design, and social science research. Our focus is on leadership and team development, creativity, collaboration, and cultivating environments that foster innovation.
We believe in positive psychology and the philosophy of Appreciative Inquiry (AI): People and organizations flourish when they focus on human ideals, achievements, and best practices.
Our work is informed by 20+ years of experience, collaborating with clients, and scholarly research.
Who We Are
Linda Naiman
Linda Naiman is founder of Creativity at Work, and recognized internationally for pioneering arts-based learning as a catalyst for developing creativity, innovation, and collaborative leadership in organizations. As an innovation consultant, Linda advises senior leaders and managers on how to develop creativity and innovation in employees, to improve business performance, as well as how to foster an organizational culture that supports innovation. Her consulting is informed by principals and practices of business, arts, design, and social science research.
Linda is co-author Orchestrating Collaboration at Work and is recognized globally for pioneering arts-based learning, as a catalyst for innovation. She has spoken at US Navy Leadership Symposiums, Syracuse University, Leadership Labs at the Banff Centre, and Singapore Management University. Organizations who have sought out Linda for her expertise include American Express, GE, BASF and Intel. She is based in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Details
Associates:
Kevin Asbjörnson
Kevin D. Asbjörnson, MIM, is recognized in the 2010 Marquis Who's Who in the World of Global Citizens for his creativity with the integration of music, performing arts-based learning and 21st Century Leadership. Kevin is Founder & Principal Performing Artist of Inspire! Imagine! Innovate! His groundbreaking, interactive leadership development experience, Artistry of Leadership - Creating Meaningful Connections®, integrates his original music with an exploration of the parallels between artists and leaders.
Cynthia DuVal
Cynthia DuVal is an artist, cultural psychologist and innovation researcher who specializes in applying ethnography to change goals. As a pioneering industrial ethnographer Cynthia developed research projects and customer centered design competencies for Xerox PARC, Apple Computer, Microsoft, Verizon Labs, IBM, Red Hat, Radius Design and most recently Transform Australia.The practice of ethnography generates in-depth knowledge of people, values and behaviours and how people shape and are shaped by the cultures, communities, historical context and places in which they live; this knowledge brings customer perspectives into innovation discovery, testing and planning and leads to fresh creative insights, improved customer satisfaction, organizational efficiency and opportunities for brand differentiation.
Erna Hagge, CEC, HRMC, EMC, RMC
Erna's experience of over 25 years in human resources management in three major organizations and numerous clients encompasses coaching, organizational and personal development, employee relations, recruitment, training, facilitation, and business development. She is known for building coaching and learning cultures. She is the founder and past Lead of Coaching Services for the University of British Columbia (UBC). Her leading edge work has been recognized twice by the International Coach Federation (ICF) with Prism Awards for coaching excellence within organizations, and the Canadian Association of Universities Business Officers Award for Quality and Effectiveness. Erna is co-author with Debbie Payne of the Trinamics Coaching Triangle System.
Marilyn Hamilton, CGA, PhD
Dr. Marilyn Hamilton is author of Integral City: Evolutionary Intelligences for the Human Hive. She leads a practice community using Integral City frameworks and practical tools to support multi-stakeholder groups in transforming their whole city and eco-region into habitats that are as sustainable and resilient for humans as the beehive is for bees. Her Integral City approach incubates transformation strategies for City Staff, Civic Leaders, Civil Society, Entrepreneurs and Community Participants that integrate their contributions with Purpose, Place, Priorities, People and Planet.
Carol Mase, MA, DVM, MSc
Dr. Carol Mase is a biologist, veterinarian, educator, coach-consultant, and a former pharmaceutical executive. She has worked in global marketing, strategic planning, and large scale organizational change. Prior to joining the business community, Dr. Mase completed three fellowships researching the cell-cell communication that allows complex, non-linear tissues to coordinate and integrate autonomous actions; she is the inventor of the first patent for an anabolic treatment for human osteoporosis. Dr. Mase brings design thinking and the “new sciences” of complexity, neuroscience, and self-organizing systems to business and leadership; providing clients with a living-systems approach to organizational design, and producing results that are innovative and sustainable.
Harold Nelson, PhD, M. Arch.
Dr. Harold Nelson is the Co-founder and CEO, Advanced Design Institute and co-author of The Design Way. His expertise lies in social systems design, organizational systems design, educational design, environmental design, and design scholarship (writer, lecturer, thought leader) His focus is in two areas:The first is on the development of design competent organizations and the second is on innovation leadership development. He was the Nierenberg Distinguished Professor of Design, Carnegie Mellon University (2009-2010) and is an affiliate associate professor in the department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington. Clients include universities, governmental agencies and business organizations. Nelson holds a Ph.D in Social Systems Design, from the University of California/Berkeley, 1979
Debbie Payne, MA, RODP, CDA
Debbie Payne has over 30 years experience as an adult educator, facilitator, manager, organizational development specialist and leadership consultant, including dept. head Coordinator of the award-winning Certified Dental Assisting Program at the Open Learning Agency and six years as the Leadership and Organizational Development Specialist at Terasen Gas Inc. She is the author of over 25 curriculum publications and articles, and two books, the most recent Tri-namics Power of One, Two, Three: Provocative Questions for Leadership Wisdom, co-authored with Erna Hagge.
