ZIP-See ZIP-Saw Story

ZIP-See is how you pronounce the acronym CPSI, stands for Creative Problem Solving Institute. The parent organization is CEF,
CreativeEducationFoundation.org

My ZIP-See(CPSI) Story -

I was born in China where girls are not valued most of the time.

To prove that I have some value to offer, I become a mechanical engineer. My Daddy worked very hard to distill in my head that engineers are logical, analytical and rational. I think I am pretty good at problem solving, mathematically speaking. However, I never thought of myself being creative. Actually, I was not allowed to do any creative activities growing up.

Then I became a professional artist who combined art and science, revived an ancient art and coined the term, Painting On Water(TM). Most people tell me that's creative and innovative.

When my friend Gregg told me about CPSI 15 years ago, I was not interested.

I am not crafty, I am not artsy. My body of art work was a serious endevor that was made possible thru my scientific research experience. I never thought I belong to a community of creativity, until CPSI was held in my hometown, Chicago, in 2006. It was at my backyard so I stopped by.

Then the rest is history. I have been attending CPSI ever since.

I met people with like mind, carry a certain level of curiosity and yet smart enough to suspend their judgment. Ha, that's when I learned the lesson of holding back the judgment and practice failing fabulously in the safe zone.

Although I had read a number of books previously, I stepped into an environment of living and breathing creativity. Crafty and artistry are only a sub-set. There are a lot more substance to the art and science of creativity.

Being creative is a state of mind. It contains a set of skills that can be taught and learned. It's a way of thinking. Creativity is like the air around us. It could be gathered and powered to become forceful wind in the wind tunnel. Or it could be soft as a gentle breeze that beings a smile to our face. It depends on how one makes use of it. Even if you never pay any attention to it, still AIR still there.

Back to the Zip-See and the Zip-Saw story.

The first conference I attended gave me the language to articulate and communicate about Creative Problem Solving, CPS. It's like knowing the algebra and calculus. The more the vocabularies you have, the more precision you could think and express.

Since the community is very good with sharing, I shared my process of Painting on Water™ in 2007. It was well received. Soon, with Mario's encouragement, I developed it to be an experiential tool to help others to learn. I joined the open source movement.

Bottom line: To think different, Do something different, for a change. Attendees found it to be a meaningful process that access both their right brain and left brain simultaneously.

Since then, I developed several courses on leadership, team building and CPS based on Painting on Water™ as a learning process. I took it from an art demonstration to become a learning tool. The feedback has been phenomenal. To read a few samples, click here.

On Tue, June 21 from 4 - 5:30 I will present at Session 210
Painting On Water™ - The ABC of Creativity Flow

Tomorrow, I will post "From ZIP-See to DIP-See."

Looking back, I am grateful that Gregg Fraley told me about ZIP-See (CPSI). Glad that the CEF Board decided to hold the conference in Chicago. It was Marios Michaelides who pointed out the benefits . A big thank you to all the CPSIers who attended my sessions thru the years, spreaded the words and proved that there are benefits to the business world.

ABZee Tips: Register and attend ZIP-See (CPSIConference.org) from June 20 - 24 in Atlanta and find out your own ZIP-Saw.