Michel, founder of a leading creative agency in the Hague, designed an interactive multi-day workshop about Creative Thinking at the request of Fontys University of Applied Sciences. His approach was aimed at moving beyond the confines of a text book, to equip students with the ability to generate big ideas by challenging their conventional assumptions.

Over varying spans of 1-3 days, students engaged with Michel to explore proven practices through discussions about concrete case studies. This immersive experience demonstrated the essence of creative thinking, especially within the realms of concepting, branding and marketing. In the last phase of the workshop, students were grouped together to simulate small agencies, and they were asked to develop and pitch innovative ideas to solve real-world problems. This demanded their creativity across multiple dimensions: concept, implementation, activation.

Not only did the workshops enhance students' understanding of creativity itself, it also fostered a collaborative environment where theoretical knowledge was applied to real-world challenges. Mirroring rational and relevant business scenarios proved to be a great and interactive way to learn. Nowadays it has become the norm, for Dutch institutions to adopt cases or work with real companies to solve problems.