Cracking the Creativity Code: Discovering Ideas (Coursera)

Cracking the Creativity Code: Discovering Ideas (Coursera)

Skill at discovering new ideas, and delivering them, may be one of the most important practical job skills, in today’s and tomorrow’s job market. Creativity is an acquired skill, one that improves with practice. This course aims to empower individuals who believe they have lost their innate creativity, because they, their employers or teachers prefer the three R's: replication, repetition and rote, to innovation. We show how to re-ignite rusty creative powers. During this course, you will learn proven tools, frameworks and concepts useful for discovery– generating an endless stream of new ideas implementing at least some of those ideas with skill and persistence, based on books and articles written by the instructors.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

In the first part of the course, you will learn a proven structured method for generating and implementing world-changing ideas known as ‘Zoom in, Zoom out, Zoom in’ that makes creativity more accessible to everyone. In the following weeks, you will learn practical proven tools useful for delivering ideas by employing the basic principles of business and management. You will practice the method, use it to tackle challenging real-world needs and produce a 2-3 minutes video presenting your idea.
On successfully completing this four-week course, you will be able to:

  • Manage a process to generate an unending stream of creative ideas
  • Lead a process of innovation and implement ideas through all phases from discovery to delivery.
  • Apply creativity to a wide range of strategic management issues.
  • Solve problems with a high degree of innovation, creative thinking and risk taking.
  • Use and apply proven structured method for generating and implementing world-changing ideas known as ‘Zoom in, Zoom out, Zoom in’.
  • Develop and implement an innovation in your own practice.
  • Identify new and unfamiliar challenges and reflect on these challenges from a creative point of view, action they require and service they provide.
  • Demonstrate creative problem solving skills for defining, structuring and solving real world operations management problems.

Course 1 of 4 in the Startup Entrepreneurship Specialization

Syllabus

WEEK 1: What is Creativity?
WEEK 2: Zoom in, Zoom out, Zoom in
WEEK 3: Creativity in practice
WEEK 4: Reinventing yourself
WEEK 5: Bonus material (ungraded module)

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Mastering bitumen for better roads and innovative applications (Coursera) Coursera
École des Ponts ParisTech

Mastering bitumen for better roads and innovative applications (Coursera)

During the four coming weeks, best experts in bitumen will bring you their knowledge and experience to build a strong understanding of today’s realities and new perspectives on the future of bitumen. Total is the European leader on bitumen markets. Innovation has always been the key to sustainability and durability in the products they develop. Their main objective here is to share technical knowledge and experience to insure bitumen are being used in the most effective and efficient ways for their different applications in road works.

Oct 5th 2026
4 Weeks
Beyond Silicon Valley: Growing Entrepreneurship in Transitioning Economies (Coursera) Coursera
Case Western Reserve University

Beyond Silicon Valley: Growing Entrepreneurship in Transitioning Economies (Coursera)

The path for entrepreneurs to grow their companies outside of well-developed entrepreneurial ecosystems like Silicon Valley is challenging. Most markets around the world do not look like Silicon Valley, and they never will. But there are other models to support new businesses. In transitioning markets (where entrepreneurs do not have much access to private sector financing), government officials, donors, and business leaders are experimenting with creative approaches to support the growth of entrepreneurs. Northeast Ohio, whose largest city is Cleveland, is one such community. During our time together in this course, we will be exploring some of these innovative approaches.

Sep 28th 2026
5-12 Weeks
The Art of Negotiation (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, Irvine

The Art of Negotiation (Coursera)

The art of negotiation comes into play daily in the life of employees at all levels and in every position. Participants explore how current approaches to negotiation strategy and tactics are used, what negotiation entails, types of negotiation relationships that exist from hard bargain to win-win, to fully partnered relationships and personal ones. The course explores the personal and behavioral characteristics of an effective negotiator. Participants discuss how empowerment, power, and authority affect the negotiation process and outcome. Topics include how important it is to plan and prepare for a negotiation session.

Sep 28th 2026
4 Weeks
Technology Commercialization, Part 1: Setting up your Idea Filtering System (Coursera) Coursera
University of Rochester

Technology Commercialization, Part 1: Setting up your Idea Filtering System (Coursera)

New ideas based on high-technology research have a high failure rate because they hit the ground running with lopsided priorities and misalignments. Students complete this course with an Innovation Creed (“Why are you doing this?”) and a customized Idea Filter (“Are you working on the right priorities?”)—2 simple tools that steer concept-stage commercialization to success.

Oct 5th 2026
4 Weeks
Legal Tech & Startups (Coursera) Coursera
IE Business School

Legal Tech & Startups (Coursera)

LegalTech is the reaction to the disruption that technology is having across all sectors of the economy. Considering that the legal sector is one of the most resistant to change, due to its conservative nature, we can see just how different the future will be. In this course, IE professor Marti Manent will guide you through the essential stages of this disruption in technology, giving you the key tools and ideas to consider when starting your online business.

Oct 5th 2026
4 Weeks
Experiencing Design: Deepening Your Design Thinking Practice (Coursera) Coursera
University of Virginia

Experiencing Design: Deepening Your Design Thinking Practice (Coursera)

How do we unlock the transformational power of design thinking? To do this, we must understand that this power lies not in what it encourages us to do, but in who it encourages us to become. We become design thinkers by experiencing design. In this course, developed at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, we will guide you through six key phases of the design journey - Immersion, Sensemaking, Alignment, Emergence, Imagining, and Learning in Action.

Oct 5th 2026
4 Weeks
Innovar (Coursera) Coursera
Arizona State University

Innovar (Coursera)

La innovación ha cobrado una importancia significativa en las corporaciones de hoy, y con frecuencia es vista como un motor importante de crecimiento y éxito en una organización. En este curso introductorio, usted aprenderá sobre el significado, la importancia, el proceso e impacto de la innovación.

Oct 5th 2026
5-12 Weeks