110 Heidi Place
Salt Spring Island, BC
V8K-1W5
250-653-2007
burtonh@saltspring.com

Specializing in Creative Thinking Workshops.

Become more:

  • Flexible
  • Innovative
  • Versatile
  • Powerful
  • Practical
  • Confident
  • Unleash that 99% of the brain that never gets used. The human brain is the greatest renewable resource known to man. Many people try to improve their physique, but few actively try to improve the brain. Explore some new territory.

Creative thinking is best summarized by the question, Is there a better way?
It becomes a search for new and different ideas.

Creativity was in each of us as a small child. In children it is universal. It is almost lacking in most adults. The great question is, “What happened to this enormous and universal human capacity.” Tillie Olsen

Warm Up Fun

 
Why did the Chevy Nova not sell well, when it was marketed in Puerto Rico?
Answer: “No va” means, “won’t go” in Spanish.

 
During a walk in the woods, what inspired Swiss scientist, George de Maestrol in 1940, to invent VELCRO?
Answer: The way in which a common burr stuck to his clothes.

 
What famous scientist in 1932 said, “there is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will?”
Answer: Dr. Albert Einstein.

 
What is the significance of QWERTY?
Answer: QWERTY refers to the top line of the keyboard used in most English language applications and is a label which identifies that our common keyboard configuration. It was invented in 1870 by Sholes and Co to be purposely inefficient so that typist would have to slow down and not jam the keys. After 127 years, this configuration still is used and will be present for many more. Can you imagine the difficulty in both cost and human suffering to install a more efficient configuration.

 
What childhood toy inspired Einstein to discover some of the hidden laws of physics?
Answer: A toy magnet when brought close to a compass shows an interaction which indicates there must be some hidden forces causing the compass needle to turn.

 
Name the much hated creature, which helped doctors at Foothills Hospital, Calgary, Alberta to successfully reattach the scalp of Chris Pick. During a bear attack 14 hours previously, the scalp had been ripped off?
Answer: Bloodsuckers had been placed on the reattached scalp. The sucking action of the bloodsuckers had drawn the blood out of the scalp and subsequently across the wound. This helps establish a quicker, better blood flow.

 
What was the highest mountain in the world before Mt. Everest was discovered? Answer: Obviously ……………………….

 
What inspired Eero Saarinen as he ate his breakfast, to discover a great design for the TWA airport terminal at Kennedy Airport?
Answer: A cross section of a grapefruit showed the present design of many airports today with a central hub with spokes radiating from it.

 
What commonly used device inspired the idea of roll-on deodorant?
Answer: The ballpoint pen has the same structure.

 
Why are many manhole covers round?
Answer: A round manhole cover is easier to move, but also from the safety point of view, a round manhole cover can not ever fall down into the hole onto the workers. A square manhole cover can fit down the hole.

 
The Mind as an Infinite Idea Generator

“…You do not know what is in you-an inexhaustible fountain of ideas…” Brenda Ueland

“…A mind that is stretched to a new idea never returns to its original dimension…” Oliver Wendell Holmes

“…The best way to get a good idea is to get lots of ideas…” Linus Pauling

“…Creative people wh can recognize change and capitalize on it will be the movers and shakers of the nineties…” The Toronto Globe and Mail

The Course

  • Lengths of 1 to 6 hours to fit any schedule
  • Up to 25 participants.
  • Non threatening, supportive and sharing oriented.
  • Instills flexibility, helping people to become more confident when approaching problems (which should be viewed as challenges)
  • Practical and useful at home, work or play.
  • Uses humour so that participants get to laugh, have fun and relax.
  • Views failure as part of the process leading to success.
  • Celebrates the human brain.
  • Stresses the importance of sharing ideas and using ideas of others as building blocks.
  • Valuable for all ages and all walks of life.
  • Comments

This is the first professional development activity that I haven’t slept through.

(Nipissing Secondary School teacher at Creative Thinking Workshop)

About the Mentor
Harry Burton, B.A.Sc., B.Ed, is a professor of environmental management as well as an organic fruit grower on Salt Spring Island. His engineering background, his artistic creations, his flexibility of ideas, his love of varying perceptions and his love of novel ideas tend to combine to ensure a very practical and powerful course, while his joie de vivre will inspire and celebrate our marvelous gift – the human brain.

*****Money Back Guarantee******

If you are not completely satisfied that you have gained creative brain capacity and also had an enjoyable time, you money will be cheerfully refunded. You will gain back the cost of the course within a year. HB