In this episode of Real Talk School Leadership, we builds on last week’s conversation about thinking preferences and dive deeper into how schools and organizations can turn good ideas into real impact.

Using the FourSight problem-solving process — Clarify, Ideate, Develop, Implement — we explore why both the process and the people matter. You’ll hear how Clarifiers, Ideators, Developers, and Implementers each play a critical role in innovation, and why so many school initiatives struggle when teams skip steps or rely on only one type of thinking.

Grounded in research on team creativity and innovation, this episode connects theory to everyday school leadership — from MTSS meetings and curriculum rollouts to building-level committees and district change efforts. We also unpack why traditional brainstorming often falls short, how psychological safety impacts creativity, and what leaders can do right now to design better meetings and stronger teams.

If you’re a teacher leader, principal, coach, or district administrator looking for practical ways to improve collaboration, strengthen problem solving, and support student success, this episode offers concrete strategies you can take straight back to your building.

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Here are the key studies and resources referenced in this episode.

• Team Creativity and Innovation (overview of cognitive processes beyond brainstorming)
  https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=team+creativity+and+innovation+cognitive+processes
  
  
• IBM Team Innovation / FourSight-related research (Casimer DeCusatis and colleagues)
  https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=DeCusatis+innovation+teams+FourSight
  
  https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=IBM+innovation+teams+thinking+preferences
  
  
• FourSight & the Breakthrough Thinking Process
  https://foursightonline.com
  
  https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=breakthrough+thinking+process+problem+solving
  
  
• Psychological Safety and Team Effectiveness (Amy Edmondson)
  https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Amy+Edmondson+psychological+safety+teams
  
  
• Alex Osborn and What Brainstorming Was Meant to Be
  (Founder of brainstorming; emphasizes deferred judgment, quantity before quality, and building on others’ ideas)
  • Osborn, A. (1953). Applied Imagination
    https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Alex+Osborn+Applied+Imagination
    
    
  • Overview of Osborn’s original brainstorming principles:
    https://www.mindtools.com/a4wo118/brainstorming