Roger Firestien, Ph.D.

results. According to many of his clients, working with Roger has enabled them to achieve significant improvements in their operations, as well as bring about an enhanced quality of work.

Due to the creative breakthroughs he has achieved, Roger has often been referred to as the “gold standard of creativity training” by his clients. Among the clients that he has worked with over the years are Disney, Clorox, AT&T, General Electric, The Los Angeles Times, Mazda Motor Manufacturing USA, General Mills, Farmers Insurance, UBS, Merck, Young Presidents Organization, the American Hospital Association, University of California Medical Center, Utah State University, University of Virginia, the US Air Force, the Federal Executive Institute, NOAA, the US Agency for International Development, the Department of the Treasury, and NASA.

Roger is widely-recognized as an effective speaker and seminar leader. He has played a central role in designing and presenting programs in creative problem solving to audiences across the United States, as well as in South Africa and Europe. He derives a great deal of satisfaction from sharing his vast knowledge about creativity and innovation, and strives to make each presentation as dynamic, fun, and interactive as possible.

Fully committed to making creativity practical, productive and simple, Roger focuses his presentations on how creativity is utilized in a business setting. He believes that creativity–despite being commonly labeled as disorganized–can be systematic as well. His energetic presentations offer straightforward and easily implementable creativity solutions that participants can utilize in their own work. Many of the methods he espouses in his presentations can be immediately be utilized to generate innovative results. He also offers insightful tips that will allow individuals to tap into their hidden innovative abilities.

Roger’s career as a creative consultant began almost four decades ago, when he presented his first creativity program in a church basement in Greeley, Colorado. Since then, he has dedicated his life to the in-depth study and practice of Creative Problem Solving. A year after his first presentation, he left his parents’ farm to study creativity at the State University of New York College’s International Center for Studies in Creativity at in Buffalo. He earned his Master’s Degree in Creative Studies in 1979–the seventh person ever to receive this degree.

In 1984, Roger became a member of the faculty of the International Center for Studies in Creativity, where he worked as an Assistant Professor for nine years. In 1987, he earned his PhD in Communication from the State University of New York at Buffalo, specializing in methods that initiate innovation and enhance productivity. His doctoral work involved studying the relationship between groups trained in Creative Problem Solving methods and those that did not undergo training. The result of his doctoral work taught trained groups of people to produce ideas of better quality than groups who were not trained. He then went on to become an Associate Professor at the Center for 14 years.

In addition to being a creative consultant, Roger now also serves as a senior faculty member/lecturer at the Center, a position he has held for more than eight years. His teaching profession primarily focuses on teaching graduate students to be facilitators and trainers in innovation and creativity.

An accomplished writer, Roger has authored over 80 books, articles, podcasts, and video programs focusing on developing and sustaining a creative outlook on business, as well as the effective approaches one can take in business. He is most recognized for his books Leading on the Creative Edge and Why Didn’t I Think of That?, a creative thinking fable. These books are essential reading for individuals and businesses who wish to encourage their teams toward kick-starting innovation. Roger also co-authored Creativity Unbound: An Introduction to Creative Process and Facilitation: A Door to Creative Leadership. He is currently preparing to launch The Color Company – Making Innovation Happen in your Organization, which is the sequel to Why Didn’t I Think of That?.

Roger’s teachings on creative measures and innovative techniques have been published in a number of trade and mainstream publications, including Training Magazine, Entrepreneur, Self Magazine, The Buffalo News, Success, The New York Times, Young Executive Magazine, Delta Airlines Sky Magazine, Creativity Research Journal, National Productivity Review, The Journal of Creative Behavior, Buffalo Business First, Fast Company, and Successful Meetings.

When he isn't traveling, Roger lives in Buffalo, New York, and oversees SK Herford Ranch, a cattle farm located near Medina, New York.