Natalie Nixon
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This talk builds the business case for creativity and that the best leaders are creative to their core- no matter the sector. At the end of this talk, you will be equipped with a simple and unique method to apply creativity as well as tips to regularly exercise creativity for strategic outcomes and business impact with your teams and clients.
Generative AI tools such as Chat GPT are neither a dystopian quagmire nor a utopian panacea. Brilliant and rambunctious imagination is required now – more than ever! By the end of this keynote, you will walk away with the confidence to view AI as you collaborator and co-creator, as well as have a healthy critical assessment of the technology – all with the goal to amplify what makes us uniquely human.
There are lots of opportunities to reframe collaboration, teaming and leadership to yield the best innovation and meaningful work post-pandemic. The place to start is by applying Natalie Nixon’s 3i Creativity framework: inquiry, improvisation and intuition. In this talk, Natalie shares examples and tactical methods to boost critical skills in our new working world.
This talk explores how the most successful and flourishing companies will be ones that are adaptive and improvisational. You will learn the connections between jazz improvisation and optimal organizational design. The talk will break down what improvisation is, and how to improvise more at work, and explain what foresight is and how to build this competency.
Natalie Nixon, PhD changes lives through ideas. She is a creativity strategist who happily integrates wonder and rigor into her life and work. She converted a 16-year career as a professor into a successful consulting practice. At Figure 8 Thinking, she emboldens leaders and organizations to apply creativity & foresight for transformative business results. Clients have included Comcast, Bloomberg, Vanguard and Living Cities. Natalie incorporates her background in anthropology and fashion, as well as her experiences living in Brazil, Israel, Germany, Sri Lanka, and Portugal to help her clients become more dynamic versions of themselves.
She is a global speaker and the author of The Creativity Leap: Unleash Curiosity, Improvisation and Intuition at Work; the editor of Strategic Design Thinking: Innovation in Products, Services, Experiences, and Beyond; and a regular contributor to Inc. magazine on creativity, design thinking and the future of work. Natalie’s board experience includes: Trustee of Vassar College; The Philadelphia Art Commission; the Arts & Business Council of Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce; and The Charter High School for Architecture & Design (CHAD).
Natalie earned a BA (honors) in Anthropology and Africana Studies from Vassar College; an MS in Global Textile Marketing from Thomas Jefferson University; and a PhD in Design Management from the University of Westminster in London. She is also certified as a Foresight Practitioner by the Institute for the Future.
When she’s not dancing up a storm in hip-hop class, she’s fine-tuning her foxtrot, salsa, and tango on the ballroom floor. She lives in her hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with her husband, John Nixon, and is the proud stepmother of Sydney.
Expertise
Communication Creativity Critical Thinking Emotional Intelligence Innovation Performance Persuasion
Attributes
Fluent in English
Woman
Religion
Lit Learning
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In "The Creativity Leap," Natalie Nixon emphasizes that creativity is not limited to the arts; it's essential for innovation in various fields like science, engineering, and entrepreneurship. Nixon, a creativity strategist with a diverse background, argues that creativity is a trainable competency that balances wonder and rigor. By incorporating inquiry, improvisation, and intuition, she presents a roadmap for fostering creativity. Through interviews with individuals from diverse backgrounds, Nixon showcases how creativity manifests across professions. The book combines practical tools, real-world examples, and the belief that everyone has innate creativity, inspiring readers to tap into their full creative potential for adaptation and innovation.
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"Natalie spoke to a select group of our most valued business partners and employees at our annual meeting, and she hit an absolute home run. Centered on change and what is required in a fast paced, high growth environment to adapt and thrive, Natalie was on point and impactful. As a speaker, Natalie is warm, engaging, thoughtful and funny all while having absolute command of the audience based on her background and experience in both academia and the corporate world. Virtually every attendee declared Natalie “the best hour of the entire conference!"
Natalie’s presentation on creativity was engaging, inspiring, and practical! Her framework and practical suggestions for creativity were incredibly valuable.
"Working with Dr. Natalie Nixon has been a true pleasure! The virtual keynote was insightful, engaging and inspirational, and the topic – “What to do when there is no playbook” – so well aligned with this moment in time. We particularly appreciated Dr. Nixon’s collaborative approach and interest in understanding our company and aligning with our global audience."
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