Organizational Creativity: A Practical Guide for Innovators & Entrepreneurs

About Gerard J. PuccioJohn F. CabraNathan Schwagler

Gerard J. Puccio is the Department Chair and Professor in the Department for Creativity and Change Leadership SUNY-Buffalo State. Dr. Puccio has written more than 60 articles chapters and books. His most recent book titled Organizational Creativity and Innovation: A Personal Journey for Innovators and Entrepreneurs (2018 by Sage Press) highlights the crucial role creativity plays in an economy driven by innovation. Prior to this publication Dr. Puccio co-authored The Innovative Team published by Jossey-Bass a fable about a team that was able to apply proven creative-thinking tools to turn around a dysfunctional and unproductive situation. Dr. Puccio is an accomplished speaker and consultant; he has worked with major corporations universities and numerous school districts. Some of his recent clients include the BBC Fisher-Price Brands Blue Cross and Blue Shield Kraft Foods The Smithsonian Institution BNP Paribas Rubbermaid Coca-Cola and the Fashion Institute of Technology. He has delivered creativity workshops and presentations across the United States and in more than 20 different countries. In 2013 Dr. Puccio was selected by the Teaching Company as one of Americas Great Lecturers and as such was invited to design and deliver a course comprised of twenty-four 30-minute video sessions. This Great Course titled The Creative Thinkers Toolkit was released in January 2014. Dr. Puccio was also a featured speaker at a TEDx event held in New York City in December of 2012. Gerard holds a Ph.D. in organizational psychology from the University of Manchester England. John F. Cabra is an Associate Professor at the State University of New York College at Buffalos International Center for Studies in Creativity where as part of a team he focuses on teaching assessing and researching the science of creativity. John specializes in facilitating and accelerating scientific and interdisciplinary innovation. John has written journal articles books chapters and books in the areas of business technology engineering and creativity.   In recognition for his work he was awarded the Presidents Award for Excellence in Teaching the State University of New York Chancellors Award for Excellence in Teaching and grants from the National Science Foundation and the State University of New York.  John is also a Fulbright Scholar.   Some organizations that have benefited from Johns training and organizational development expertise include IBM Pfizer Kraft Foods Coca-Cola British Home Office National Science Foundation NASA Drexel University Penn State University Purdue University and The Ohio State University.   Dr. Cabra held internal consulting positions for American Airlines in the fields of training and development employee relations and organizational development.  Before joining American Airlines he was a training and organizational development specialist for FisherPrice Toys. Nathan Schwagler is a founding Co-Director of The Dalí Museum Innovation Labs where he serves as lead program designer and executive facilitator. Before joining the Museum Nathan served as the nations first Business School Creative-In-Residence at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg where he designed and delivered courses on Creativity and Innovation and New Venture Creation. His students were back-to-back-to-back national champions in the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organizations business simulation competition and his 3-member startup academic department was recognized as the top Emerging Entrepreneurship Education Program across the entire United States by the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) in 2013.   As a consultant Nathan has supported more than 150 organizations including: Abbott Labs Transamerica Insurance DuPont Chemical Novartis the Miller/Coors Brewing co. the Converse Shoe co. (NIKE) the Tampa Bay Rays the Home Shopping Network Bloomin Brands Raymond James Financial and thousands of innovators as theyve deployed their innovation capabilities to drive business outcomes.   Nathan holds a BA in Psychology and a Master of Science degree in Creativity from SUNY Buffalo State and a Master of Science degree in Entrepreneurship from the University of South Florida. He is a published author of peer-reviewed and popular press articles.