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Spotlight A Creative Boost The new creativity lab at the Uni- versity of Tulsa in Oklahoma may be called Studio Blue, in honor of one of the school's colors. But to TU students and faculty, it's a "creative greenhouse," where students of all majors come to cultivate their best and wildest ideas. In class students often are afraid to give the wrong answer, says Jacob Johnson, who helped hatch the concept. "At Studio Blue, it's about coming up with as many ideas as possible." Johnson, a TU graduate and owner of a product development firm, worked with several faculty members to develop and pitch the idea to the school's administration. Students gain the confidence to believe they can come up with good solutions to nearly any problem they face. —Charles Wood The administration agreed to provide space to house the studio, which opened in 2007. Studio Blue is equipped with flat Art major Libby Rhodus selects the raw materials for an entry in a Studio Blue competition that asked students to design a new use for discarded pizza boxes. 72 BizEd JULY/AUGUST 2010 screen televisions, mobile white- boards, magnetic walls, iMacs, cameras, rolling furniture, and even a refrigerator stocked with energy drinks. Its design was inspired by creative spaces at some of the world's most innovative companies, includ- ing IDEO, Google, and Apple, says Charles Wood, associate professor of marketing at TU. Wood directs the studio, which operates as a student-run agency. Participating students help their classmates with projects and work on projects for nonprofit and for- profit clients. Students who work with clients are paid hourly. Others, who man the studio during the eve- nings, receive work-study credit. Some client projects even inspire student competitions, including one for Mazzio's, a Tulsa-based Italian restaurant chain, which asked stu- dents to think of ways to "create value" out of discarded pizza boxes. The winning idea was designed by engineering students who created a wind turbine with blades fashioned from the cardboard. The studio also recently hosted a statewide innova- tion competition to brainstorm ideas to decrease the high rate of incarceration among women in Oklahoma. If other schools want to build a room like Studio Blue, Wood offers several pieces of advice. First, provide administration with a visual of the idea. "People need to see it before they can start to understand the benefits," he says. Second, make the project interdis- ciplinary, involving the entire Charles Wood, associate professor of marketing at TU's Collins College of Business, works with a group of students in Studio Blue. campus. Finally, make sure the project has a champion who is pas- sionate about the space and its benefit for the school. The ultimate objective is to teach students that there's more than one way to approach any problem, says Wood. "I hope students gain the confidence to believe they can come up with good solutions to nearly any problem they face." ■ z