Creative Confidence: Navigating Singapore's Future Through Design Thinking

Talk - 9.15am -10.00am

Bill Burnett, Co-founder & ED of the Stanford Life Design Lab, and bestselling author of "Designing Your Life," sets the stage for our festival with a powerful exploration of creative confidence in today's rapidly evolving world. As one of the foremost authorities on design thinking and its practical applications, Bill brings unique insights into the transformative power of creative confidence.

Following the keynote, participants will have the exclusive opportunity to hear from David Kelley, founder of IDEO and Stanford, through a special recorded message. Kelley will share his perspectives on the global creative confidence movement and offer inspiration from his pioneering work in design thinking education.

This session opens up a day of exploration and discovery through workshops, panel discussions, and interactive sessions that will help participants develop creative confidence in their own unique ways.

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Is Creativity the New Superpower in the Age of Artificial Intelligence?

Panel - 10.15am - 11.15am

AI is everywhere! We try to avoid it and yet we cannot deny that it is here to stay. However, we do have one secret weapon - our human ability to think creatively! Our panellists will unpack human's special skill of creative magic, even as AI tools get smarter by the day.

What makes human creativity unique and powerful, especially in the context for Singapore's future? Additionally, pick up practical ways to flex those creative muscles and stay ahead of the game.

Whether you're a business leader, educator, or just curious about riding the AI wave while keeping your creative edge, this session is for you!

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Creativity: A Gift, Cultivated or More?

Panel - 11.30am - 12.30pm

What is creativity? Is it to be able to make it new? Think outside the box? You may think that but the real answer may surprise you.

Our experts pick apart common conceptions about creativity. Whether you've been told you're too practical, too analytical, or too kiasu to be creative, our panel of experts will show you why that's not true. Join this panel to demystify the concept of "creativity", find out how creativity can manifest itself in unexpected ways and pick up practical tools to unlock your creative potential.

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Hook, Engage and Convert with Content

Workshop - 12.30pm - 1.30pm

In today’s digital age, content is the most important voice of your brand. Hook, Engage and Convert with Content is designed to help aspiring entrepreneurs, marketers, and business owners unlock the power of compelling content.

Learn content strategies to make your content stand out and explore smart ways to promote your content across channels to reach your target audience.

Also, discover the latest trending skills in the workforce, resources to navigate our skills-based economy, and how you can use SkillsFuture Credit to upskill yourself.

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[Breakout 1] Creativity is like Walking; We Learn by Falling

Talk - 1.30pm - 2.30pm

All children are born creative. A child's imagination is boundless. They think of pink trees, flying pig and the absurd, free beauty of colouring out of the lines. Such childlike creative instincts is what can challenge and questions the norms. That is how humans have become inventive and thrived in their creativity. Yet somehow, along the way, this childlike spark becomes conditioned out of us. There’s a famous NASA survey that shows "98% children are at genius level creativity with less than 2% maintaining that into adulthood." We should strive then to keep our inner child of creativity well into adulthood.

We need to stay curious, never stop learning and have creative courage.

Ava and Calvin will have a father-daughter conversation about how they preserved this curiosity and thirst for learning as well as the courage to think creativity along with the lessons learnt along the way.

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[Breakout 1] Play, Write, Grow: Reflecting on Our Creative Prowess and Process through Fiero!

Workshop - 1.30pm - 2.30pm

Creativity is a muscle, not a gift. Thus, creativity too requires repetitive exercise.

In this interactive, one-hour workshop, we will co-create crazy ideas, legendary characters, and memorable stories from scratch across 20 possible genres through the three-act storytelling card game Fiero!

Game designer and educator Vince Siu will then have us discuss and reflect on own creative processes, exploring creativity and storytelling through game and narrative design.

Whether you're a designer, writer, game enthusiast, or - especially - someone who doesn’t think of themselves as creative, this workshop will inspire you to create stories that transcend traditional formats and explore new, collaborative ways of creativity.

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[Breakout 2] Design for Belonging

Talk - 2.45pm - 3.45pm

What can be designed are the methods that bring out the feeling of belonging: spaces that offer invitations, rituals that bring us together, roles that develop authentic responsibility, and systems that are respectful and support creativity and innovation. Through her book Design for Belonging: How to Build Inclusion and Collaboration in Your Communities, along with concrete frameworks on to feel, see and shape belonging. Dr Wise offers accessible ways to use creativity to build belonging and to explore the intersection of inclusion and innovation in work, community, and schools.

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[Breakout 2] What The Book Club - Creative Confidence vs Perfectionism

Workshop - 2.45pm - 3.45pm

What The Book Club dives into the deeply personal (and often messy) space between Creative Confidence and Perfectionism. Each participant is invited to bring a book that helped them overcome the paralysis of perfection through creative confidence, with each title offering a unique perspective on what it means to create freely and bravely.

Together, we’ll explore how these books—and our own stories—mirror the inner battles between self-expression and self-doubt. Through small group conversations and shared readings of powerful excerpts, we’ll reflect on what holds us back, what fuels our confidence, and how we define creativity in a world that often demands perfection.

This isn’t about being well-read—it’s about being real. You’ll leave not only feeling more seen and inspired, but also with a co-created “booklist” curated by the community—like a Spotify playlist, but for the soul.  Join us for a morning of honesty, inspiration, and creative reclamation.

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[Breakout 3] Why Creativity Matters More Than Ever in the Age of AI by Tay Guan Hin

Talk - 4pm - 5pm

In this era's need for immediate results with Gen AI, does this mean humanity's emotions, instincts and stories are still necessary?

Hear from Tay Guan Hin, writer of "Collide" to collide with the unexpected. The book reveals how creativity is an evolving organism and how the real innovation is born out of turning conflict into cohesion and collaboration - from taking risks to embracing differences. 

This talk explains how critical thinking is humanity's competitive edge - enabling us to think outside of the box and chase originality.

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[Breakout 3] The Art of Innovation Workshop

Talk - 4pm - 5pm

Bill Burnett will help you and your team understand how to organize for creativity and innovation and teach you how to create a Culture of Creativity in your organization. His workshop will include some neuroscience, some theory, and some very practical ideas for how to shift your thinking to make creativity and innovation a regular part of your personal portfolio.

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[Breakout 3] I Met My Future Self: A Guided Encounter to Build Creative Resilience from Within

Workshop - 4pm - 5pm

This experiential workshop will be a guided, creative journey for you to see the "You" you can be! Discover inner strengths such as creative resilience for navigating uncertain times.

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NLB30 Keynote - Turning Your What If Dreams into What’s Next Realities

Panel - 5.15pm - 6.15pm

Creativity is a boundary pusher while practicality keeps the boundaries up firmly. How then does one balance ambitious ideas with business constraints? How can one assess if there is a market for new, bold ideas? When should one make the difficult decision to abandon an idea?

This fireside chat - featuring Violet Oon from Violet Oon Singapore, Felix Lee from ADPList, Jamie Lim from Scanteak with moderator, Alyssa Woo from SPH - explores how to navigate creative ambition with the realities of the business world to turn your "what if" ideas into "what’s next".

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Fail-a-bration

Experience - 6.30pm - 8pm

Fail-a-bration is a speaker session straight from the heart. It encourages the spirit and courage to fail. This is a safe space created for stories that often go untold: flopped experiments, rejected pitches, bold moves that fell flat. Because failure is evidence of valiant attempts and a springboard for growth. Because if you're going to to fail, fail loud and rise even louder.

10 speakers - from well-known founders and creators to brave audience members - will share their most valuable failure and why it matters for 3 minutes each. We will celebrate each one and at the end, everyone will vote for the "Biggest Fail" and crown our winner with a token of appreciation.

Expect laughter, connection and a refreshing reminder that none of us have it all figured out. You'll leave with more empathy, insight, and confidence to keep showing up. Stick around after for drinks and real conversations at our networking session.

Click HERE to sign up!

What Makes "Generation Z" So Different? | Harry Beard | TEDxAstonUniversity

Co-founder of Gen-Z marketing consultancy, Harry Beard shares why he thinks Gen Z is “the first limitless generation”, thanks to the Internet.

Source: What Makes "Generation Z" So Different? | Harry Beard | TEDxAstonUniversity (2019, Sep 15). TEDx Talks.

Creativity Important in Workplace, Even in Science and Tech: Educators

Educators are highlighting creativity as a crucial skill, not just for students but for success in the workplace as well.

Source: Creativity important in workplace, even in science and tech: Educators (2024, Dec 12). CNA.

Why Employers Seek Candidates with Creativity and How You Can Cultivate Your Creative Side | Forbes

LinkedIn's 2019 Global Talent Trends report highlighted creativity as the most crucial soft skill for professional advancement. Forbes contributor Amy Blaschka outlines five practical strategies for cultivating creativity in the workplace.

Source: Why Employers Seek Candidates With Creativity And How You Can Cultivate Your Creative Side | Forbes (2020, Oct 20). Forbes.

How to Make Creative Thinking a Habit 

Creativity isn’t a gift that only certain people have: to be human is to be hard wired to be creative. Join creativity expert, Natalie Nixon in this course to learn about opportunities to bring creative thinking into your workflow.Creativity isn’t a gift that only certain people have: to be human is to be hard wired to be creative. Join creativity expert, Natalie Nixon in this course to learn about opportunities to bring creative thinking into your workflow.

Start the course here.

Three Thought Provoking Questions to Ask in Your Next Presentation 

Excite your audience with thought-provoking questions to keep them engaged. Join organisational leadership expert Rachel Staples Guettler to explore the three thought-providing questions that helps foster discussion and a deeper understanding of your presentation topic.

Start the course here.

Why Conflict is Necessary and How to Manage It 

Conflict can be anxiety provoking and hard. Find out from conflict management expert, Amy Gallo, how her four-step process can transform conflict into a force for good in your work relationships.

Start the course here.

Chapter 3: Creative Industries Skills Spotlight

This report examines the growing demand for creative skills in non-creative industries. Find out what are they and how they matter in this report put together by SSG to stay in the forefront of career developments in Singapore

Source: Retrieve report from here.