Robert Alan Black

Robert Alan Black, Ph.D., known professionally as Alan Black, is a creative thinking consultant, professional speaker, author, and educator specializing in creativity, innovation, and organizational development. Black operates through his company, Cre8ng People, Places & Possibilities, providing consulting and speaking services to clients in business, industry, finance, education, and government sectors. With a career spanning decades, Black brings experience from 47 different roles across eight fields, drawing on his background in creativity, design, architecture, counseling, and educational psychology to deliver practical skills, tools, and techniques to diverse audiences.

Black holds a Ph.D. in Creativity, a master's degree in guidance and counseling with a focus on creative and talented individuals, a master's degree in art with dual majors in visual communication and interior architecture, and a Bachelor of Science in architecture. Before his consulting career, Black worked as a licensed architect, interior designer, graphics and signage designer, cartoonist, freelance writer, and television writer. He completed his doctoral studies in creativity at the University of Georgia under the guidance of E. Paul Torrance, Ph.D., a leading researcher in creative thinking and creativity.

Black has delivered nearly 3,800 presentations, including keynote speeches, platform presentations, breakout sessions, and workshops at conferences, conventions, and institutes across the United States and internationally. His work has taken him to 49 states and 84 countries, where he has promoted creative thinking in workplaces at all organizational levels. Black is an active member of the Creative Education Foundation, American Creativity Association, National Speakers Association, Georgia Speakers Association, National Storytelling Membership Association, and Southern Order of Storytellers.

Black is the author of the book "Broken Crayons: Break Your Crayons and Draw Outside the Lines," published in the United States, Turkey, Slovenia, and South Africa. He has co-authored books with creativity experts such as Andy van Gundy, Kobus Neethling, and Kanes Rajah in the United States, South Africa, and England. Black developed the M.I.N.D. Design thinking style instrument, based on his doctoral research into teaching and learning styles for creative thinking, which has been completed by more than 400,000 individuals.

Black has received several awards from the Creative Education Foundation, presented at more than 150 creativity conferences, served on the board of the American Creativity Association, and received the Dave Tanner Champion of Creativity Award. He has published over 700 articles on leadership, communication, teamwork, conflict resolution, and the development of creative thinking skills. Black's work emphasizes that creativity is a learnable skill accessible to individuals and organizations across industries.