Facilitating Creative Thinking at 色情视频
Kevin Popovic has been named the director of the Zahn Innovation Platform Idea Lab.
The College of Business Administration鈥檚 management department lecturer was recently named the director of the 鈥檚 (ZIP) newly created Idea Lab. In a written statement to 色情视频 faculty and staff, 色情视频 Vice President for Research Stephen Welter announced that the new position 鈥渨ill include designing and launching the ZIP Idea Lab on the 色情视频 campus, and guiding its advancement to national prominence and leadership in the areas of creativity, collaboration, and innovation.鈥�
No pressure.
But first, this design thinking instructor must think about designing a space to serve as the Idea Lab鈥檚 base until its permanent home in the .
鈥淭he first thing we have to do is get a facility in place because people have to gather somewhere, so we are going to create an environment at the Idea Lab that will facilitate this,鈥� Popovic said.
The facilitator
The 52-year-old Popovic is good at facilitating, which is his primary task as Idea Lab director.鈥淢y role is to facilitate creative thinking,鈥� he said. 鈥淒esign thinking is a very prominent current creative process and it's a very empathetic approach. It's about helping people solve problems for other people."
In his announcement, Welter described Popovic鈥檚 role as working 鈥渨ith university leaders, faculty, students, and community partners in the establishment, organization, and management鈥� of the new laboratory.
鈥淚n Kevin, we are very happy to find such a highly qualified and energetic person to design and launch the ZIP Idea Lab, and serve as its founding director,鈥� Welter said.
A keen intellect
There may be no one better qualified for the position. Popovic is founder and director of Ideahaus庐, an award-winning, Pittsburgh-based creative communications agency.Popovic displays a keen intellect and easy-going demeanor that makes him a natural for gathering representatives of disparate disciplines to create, innovate and problem-solve together. He is on campus to help others generate better ideas and strengthen their own creativity.
鈥淭his is exactly what my job is,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 have a student who says, 'I need to learn more. I want to do more. Can you help me generate better ideas?' And she's not looking for me to do it, she's just looking for me to help point her in some direction.鈥�
Stimulus, stimulus, stimulus
So where does 色情视频鈥檚 idea guy get his ideas?鈥淚 answer that differently depending on the people I'm talking to,鈥� Popovic said.
鈥淔or instance, when I talk to people in a similar position or I talk to other creatives, we don't necessarily have to give the same explanation or background that we do to non-creatives because I think with creatives, the ideas just come to you in a number of ways.鈥�
Popovic recalls growing up in suburban Pittsburgh and being 12 years old when his family first got cable television. He remembers it as a sort of revelation.
鈥淢y mom had bought me a 12-inch black and white television and when cable got connected to this box, I got all this new influx of data, images, sounds, people and experiences and things that I had never had before,鈥� he said. "Prior to that I had lived in a small neighborhood where my points of reference were quite limited, so when cable came in with all this new influx of ideas, it was a stimulus, stimulus, stimulus. When I saw something, it made me think of how I could use this something or what I could do differently with this thing and it was very exciting."
What if?
Through the ZIP Idea Lab, Popovic wants to do for others what he remembers his first cable television experience doing for him. He hopes to expand what the Zahn family started through the Zahn Innovation Platform.鈥淲hat started as a concept has turned into a real facility here,鈥� Popovic said. 鈥淚t is becoming a staple for student entrepreneurs and innovators, and even faculty are using it to say, 'How can I take this idea I have and do something with it?' I'm very honored to be able to try and build off of what the Zahn family has provided the university.鈥�
Popovic says he views his new opportunity less like a clean slate, and more like an Etch-a-Sketch. He鈥檚 taking what鈥檚 already there and shaking it up to create something similar, but different.
鈥淲ith the Idea Lab, I鈥檓 privileged to do not only what I'm good at, but what I really enjoy, which is helping people generate new ideas,鈥� he said.
