What If Wonder Can Change the Way We Work? Or Better Yet, Change Our World?
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Denver, CO – With companies across the world facing mass resignation, increased costs and a workforce that is distracted and disengaged, our cities and the people who run them are seeking innovative ideas to ensure economic stability and continued growth.
As part of the City Summit of the Americas – where leadership and stakeholders from across the Western Hemisphere will converge in Denver for a three-day conference on shared challenges and opportunities – CU Denver’s Imaginator Academy and the Brain Capital Alliance are exploring how the neuroscience of creativity can help drive economic and cultural transformation at both the company and municipal levels. Through the launch of its Work to Wonder™ initiative, the group seeks to help organizations reclaim their sense of wonder and redefine creativity in the workplace.
That begins with a focus on brain capital.
According to the Brain Capital Alliance, our current economy is a brain economy – one where most new jobs demand cognitive, emotional and social skills (rather than manual ones) and where innovation is a tangible “deliverable” of employee productivity. With the continued rise in automation, our global economy has increasingly placed a premium on the cerebral, brain-based skills that make us human – skills such as self-control, emotional intelligence, creativity, compassion, altruism, systems thinking, collective intelligence, and cognitive flexibility. Therefore, investments in brain health and brain skills are critical for companies and municipalities to navigate the post-COVID economic renewal, advance innovation and establish long-term economic resilience.
“Today’s companies are at a tipping point,” said Harris A. Eyre MBBS PhD, one of the world’s leading neuroscientists. “Beyond facing challenges like labor shortage and increased costs, succeeding in today’s economy requires an entirely different approach to both engaging teams and driving innovation. The companies who understand brain capital and can transform it into enterprise-wide value will lead us into the future.” Eyre co-leads the Brain Capital Alliance, is a fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and a senior fellow at the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute.
“Brain capital is a new economic construct that integrates brain health and brain skills during one’s life cycle and that impacts future growth and wellbeing,” emphasized Professor Rym Ayadi, Bayes Business School, City University of London. Ayadi is the president and founder of the Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association, a senior advisor at the Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS) and co-lead of the Brain Capital Alliance. “Brain capital is a new fuel for creativity and innovation in the workplace, particularly given the growing development of AI.”
According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report, the U.S. workforce overall does not have the skills it needs to succeed in the future of work. The top job skills include:
1. Analytical thinking and innovation
2. Active learning and learning strategies
3. Complex problem-solving
4. Critical thinking and analysis
5. And creativity, originality, and initiative
The skills deficit and a notable shift in generational values combined with a well-documented mental health crisis are pushing companies and talent alike to a breaking point. Last fall, U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, released the Surgeon General’s Framework for Mental Health & Well-Being in the Workplace outlining the foundational role that workplaces should play in promoting the health and well-being of workers and our communities.
Further, the OECD – an intergovernmental economic organization of 38 member companies founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade – asserts that this combination of challenges comes at a significant cost. “Our brains and minds are inextricably linked to productivity. Brain health disorders, such as depression, anxiety and neurodegeneration, cost the global economy trillions of dollars each year in lost productivity. Solutions are urgently required to address this.”
“It’s such a critical time to be a culture futurist,” said Theo Edmonds, a research professor at the University of Colorado Denver and co-founder of the Imaginator Academy. “We face some very real challenges as companies. Yet, it’s also never been a better time to be human. With every challenge comes opportunity, and in this case, science says that it’s time for a new generation of disruptive companies – for those executives willing to lean into what’s emerging. Signals suggest that we may be primed for the next Enlightenment, except this time it will be radically inclusive and culturally responsive.”
Why Wonder?
In the past two months, two books were released that are already shaping a national conversation on the science behind wonder and the arts as drivers of brain health and brain skills: Your Brain on Art and The Power of Wonder.
While diverse scientific disciplines look at different mechanisms of wonder ranging from curiosity and awe to creativity and mental wellbeing, one thing is clear for private and public sector leaders to understand. There is growing evidence, backed by data, that wonder is a central driver of inclusive innovation in a brain economy. Consider this:
Wonder is aligned with most of the World Economic Forum’s top human skills for the future of work.
Wonder in the workplace helps teams to ask better questions, drive innovation, advance inclusion and build brain capital in our companies and communities.
Wonder is the key to better problem-solving, decision-making, and creative thinking in the world’s leading companies.
Wonder is what sustains innovation and growth.
Wonder is the central feature of those beginning to stand out, as transformational leaders in the private and public sectors.
The Work to Wonder™ launch marks the beginning of a three-year, scientific and cultural experiment that will measure how wonder works to drive innovation in large groups such as cities and corporations, educate private and public sector leaders on the value of brain capital and revolutionize the approach that businesses and governments take in upskilling radically diverse talent for the future of work.
Two events during the Cities Summit will help mark the launch of Work to Wonder™.
Wonder Workshop
On Thursday, April 27th, the inaugural Wonder Workshop brings experts in the fields of art, neuroscience, economics and education together to explore wonder and its impact at the company and city levels.
The Wonder Workshop will be broken into three inspirational and informative sections, culminating with an interactive workshop that explores the role wonder plays in the future of work and in our cities.
o Part One will feature a welcome video message from Johns Hopkins' Susan Magsamen, co-author of the New York Times bestseller "Your Brain on Art.”
o Part Two will feature a talk with world-renowned composer, sound artist and percussionist Susie Ibarra, who will share her research on rhythm in nature and her upcoming book on soundscape ecology. Ibarra will also give a preview into her upcoming "sonic opera" planned in rural Colorado for 2024.
o Part Three will be an interactive presentation by CU Denver’s Culture Futurist™, Theo Edmonds, on the efforts to position Denver as a global training hub for corporate creativity in the future of work.
Throughout the event, participants will collaborate on an immersive summit concept and engage in an interactive Sensory Cityscapes workshop exploring how wonder can help us reimagine cities and create a more innovative and brain-healthy workforce.
Cities Summit Main Track Session
According to the World Bank, approximately 56% of the world’s population – or 4.4 billion individuals – live in cities. Therefore, the approaches that our cities take to balancing brain health, built environment and human creativity are important for maximizing inclusive innovation and ensuring economic growth.
Cities Summit attendees are invited to dig deeper into the role of creativity, brain health and the future of work during our plenary main track session on Friday, April 28th. Exploring three intersecting areas – brain health, creativity, and work/built environments – experts from the fields of art, neuroscience, architecture, corporate social responsibility, and economics will explore how cities can prioritize human flourishing as a primary driver of economic growth in the future of work.
Following the presentations, there will be a full panel discussion moderated by the first Chief Civic Wellbeing Officer in any city government in the U.S., Julie Rusk (Santa Monica, CA) exploring how this work could help cities reimagine the future, using the EARTH CREATIVITY OPPORTUNITY (ECO) discussion guide. The guide explores the relationship between sustainability, human creativity and democracy as drivers of economic growth and human flourishing. The panel will include a Q&A session.
SESSION PANELISTS:
Theo Edmonds, JD, MHA,MFA (Host)
Culture Futurist & Directing Co-Founder, Imaginator Academy
Research Associate Professor, Master of Humanities/Social Science Program, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, University of Colorado Denver
National Board of Directors, Americans for the Arts
Lead Culture Strategist, Energize Colorado
Harris Eyre, MD, PHD (Host)
Lead of the Brain Capital Alliance
Brain Health Fellow, Center for Health & Biosciences, Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy Senior Fellow for Brain Capital, Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute
Rym Ayadi, PhD (Host)
President, Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association
Professor, Bayes Business School, City University of London
Co-Lead, Brain Capital Alliance
Chair & Academic Expert, Banking Stakeholder Group, European Banking Authority
Upali Nanda, PhD
Global Practice Director, Research / Partner, HKS Architects
Brain Healthy Workplaces
Kristina Newman-Scott
Executive Director, WNYC’s The Greene Space
National Arts & Culture Leader, Artist & Policy Maker
Jessica von Farkas
Regional Network Organizer, North America, BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt, Responsible Leadership, ESG, Corporate Philanthropy, Equity & Belonging, Community Building
Julio Salazar
Co-Founder of Cirklo, Cirklo / FUN, Mexico City, Purpose Driven Innovation
Julie Rusk (Moderator)
First Chief of Civic Wellbeing in U.S., (Santa Monica, CA)
Founder / Principal at Civic Wellbeing Partners, Civic Engagement · Nonprofit Management · Leadership · Community Development
For more information or to register for the Wonder Workshop, please visit: https://www.imaginatoracademy.com/wonder-workshops/.
Registration for the Cities Summit is now closed, but registered attendees and press are welcome to attend. For more information on the Imaginator Academy’s role in the Summit, visit our website:
https://www.imaginatoracademy.com/cities-summit-2023/
About Imaginator Academy & Brain Capital Alliance.
Imaginator Academy uses the art and science of wonder to advance creativity practices and research, inform policy and promote arts-science collaborations geared toward helping industry leaders build brain capital in their companies and innovation ecosystems.
Imaginator Academy is a collaboration between CU Denver and the Brain Capital Alliance. Brain Capital is a new asset class which recognizes brain skills and brain health as indispensable drivers of the brain economy. The Alliance brings together world-class contributors from various backgrounds to explore approaches to building Brain Capital at societal scale. Following on from the success of the OECD Neuroscience-inspired Policy Initiative (https://www.oecd.org/naec/brain-capital/), The Alliance launched as an expanded, multi-national and multi-organizational program housed in the Euro-Mediterranean Economist Association and focused on neuroscience-inspired investment and public policy innovation as the two most powerful levers for change. The Alliance brings together radically diverse stakeholders spanning fields from brain science to policy, economics and finance.
CU Denver’s Theo Edmonds serves as the global co-leader of the Alliance’s creativity scientific work group.
About the University of Colorado Denver.
The University of Colorado Denver is the state’s premier public urban research university and equity-serving institution. Globally connected and locally invested, CU Denver partners with future-focused learners and communities to design accessible, relevant, transformative educational experiences for every stage of life and career. Across seven schools and colleges in the heart of downtown Denver, our leading faculty inspires and works alongside students to solve complex challenges through boundary-breaking innovation and impactful research, and creative work. As part of the state’s largest university system, CU Denver is a major contributor to the Colorado economy, with 2,000 employees and an annual economic impact of $800 million. For more information, visit ucdenver.edu.