Workshops sound like a great idea...until everyone gets in a room together and the creative juices dry up faster than the desert in July. Why can it feel so hard to manifest creative ideas when the ingredients all seem to be there? Because the design of a workshop experience is just as important as the people you have in the room. 

As an IDEO Partner and a Managing Director in the Tokyo office, Mike Peng has developed an ability to collaborate with all kinds of teams across many cultures and markets. With a background in neuroscience and wide-ranging personal interests including hip-hop dance, tennis, and the occasional reality TV show, Mike sources inspiration from many places. Leading up to the launch of our Cultivating Creative Collaboration online class, which Mike teaches, we caught up with him to chat about his passion for understanding human motivations, the role of creativity in teamwork, and what’s inspiring him lately.

In this episode of our Creative Confidence Series, IDEO Partner and Managing Director Mike Peng chats with IDEO U Dean Suzanne Gibbs Howard about creative collaboration—the method IDEO teams use to come up with innovative new ideas. Mike gives insight into our new course, Cultivating Creative Collaboration, that teaches you how to guide others through the creative collaboration process. He also shares tips for overcoming common challenges, why this way of working is necessary in today’s world, and how tension can be harnessed to unleash creative ideas.

Effective collaboration is fueled by empathy—an awareness of others and an ability to detect their emotions and understand their perspective. To come up with truly innovative solutions requires new ideas. And to bring new ideas to light requires seeking a diversity of perspectives and creating a welcoming space for people to share their ideas without fear of judgment. 

In this episode of our Creative Confidence Series, New York Times bestselling author Daniel Coyle chats with IDEO Managing Director Coe Leta Stafford about his newest book, The Culture Code, three skills that the most successful teams have in common, and how high performing teams react to tension differently. He shares why these skills are important and tactical ways to implement them today, whether you’re leading a team or want to make a change from wherever you sit.

Keith Yamashita, SYPartners Chairman and Founder and instructor for our newest class From Superpowers to Great Teams, sat down with IDEO U Managing Director Coe Leta Stafford to discuss creative leadership and how great teams are built on a foundation of diversity, collaboration, trust, and self-awareness.

Brendan Boyle, Founder of the IDEO Toy Lab and a contributing instructor in our Unlocking Creativity class, has a knack for helping others insert more creativity and playfulness into their work. He recommends that you start every meeting with a creative workout to elevate the energy in the room. Here’s a simple activity in imagination play that Brendan uses to get the team into a more creative headspace.

Your Superpower is your contribution, the role that you’re put on this Earth to fill. It’s what you do better than anyone else. Tapping into it will not only help your team, but you’ll find your work more satisfying, too.