Not your mother's board games

As predicted by an astute reader's comment on a previous post, I am currently immersed in Harvard Business Review case studies of innovative companies and how to foster creativity.  Most of them are surprisingly good at identifying ways in which creative companies and innovative leaders are different.  Reading about others does have benefit; ultimately, however, we have to put the reading aside, get off the bench, and play the game.  And the only way to play better is to play more.

Combining the serious aspects of education (learning objectives, practice, assessment) with the playful aspects of creativity is an opportunity to get into the game in a whole new way.  Since I obviously can't assign a grade to creativity, I'm still considering assessment options.  Ideally, I'd like to find some way to identify shifts in perspective from the beginning of the course to its completion.  I have some glimmers here, but not the fully shaped vision I'm going to need.

One of the course objectives is to be able to see common things in a different light, which stands much of traditional academic thought on its metaphorical head.  So, I'm toying with inviting some of my most playful--and successful--colleagues into the classroom...a physician, an auditor, an attorney...perhaps the executive for an NGO that writes product standards.  All of these people are passionate about what they do and represent a variety of perspectives on pretty much everything. 

I'm liking this...