Plumbing Manufacturers International’s Aspiring Leaders’ Program to Connect Dali’s Art to Leadership and Creativity

What is the link between Salvador Dali’s art and business leadership? While it may not be obvious, the parallels are striking.

Like business leaders, Dali and many other artists imagine the future and think about how ideas might look when they are accomplished – only artists work ideas out on canvas instead of on a conference room’s dry-erase board.

Dali’s artwork will take center stage to help those participating in Plumbing Manufacturers International’s Aspiring Leaders’ Program to get more comfortable with their creative side – and spark innovation in their work. The program is scheduled for the first day of the PMI19 Conference, Nov. 4–7 at The Don Cesar hotel in St. Pete Beach, Fla. Program participants will be surrounded by beautiful works of art a short distance away at The Dali Museum in St. Petersburg as they learn what creativity is and is not, what the tenets of creativity are, and why it is important for leaders to understand these tenets.

Led by Kim Macuare, Ph.D., education manager of the Innovation Labs at The Dali Museum, this one-of-a-kind program will help participants learn about their personal cognitive style. “Every stage of the creative problem-solving process is connected to cognitive style, and your cognitive style determines how you’re going to engage in the process,” Macuare said.

Macuare, a FourSight trainer, will apply FourSight’s mindset profile during the program. She explained that mindset helps everyone understand innovation is their job. “We’re accustomed to thinking of creativity as a chaotic, indefinable or hard-to-understand process. FourSight helps us understand that process and think about engaging in it in a more mindful way. Once we do that, it’s easier to improve both our creative thinking and innovation outcomes,” Macuare added.

During a creativity workshop, participants will learn more about Dali’s art, philosophies and methods to better understand the definition of creativity: novel ways of seeing, doing and being. After the workshop, participants will tour the museum’s galleries, working with the artwork and focusing on leadership vision while practicing some of their newly learned skills.

“We’re a unique program. We’re the only museum in the United States or even abroad with an innovation lab dedicated to using works, processes and methods derived from art to jumpstart creativity and promote innovation outcomes in organizations and corporations,” Macuare said.

Take a look at a video about The Dali Museum’s Innovation Labs to see what the Aspiring Leaders’ Program will be like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1mHitxTb28&feature=youtu.be.

To register for PMI’s Aspiring Leaders’ Program, please visit PMI’s website at https://www.safeplumbing.org/events/aspiring-leaders-program.

Register for the PMI19 Conference at https://www.safeplumbing.org/events/calendar/event/id-2019-pmi-conference.

About Plumbing Manufacturers International

Plumbing Manufacturers International (PMI) is the trade association of plumbing product manufacturers that produce more than 90 percent of the United States’ plumbing products, represent more than 150 iconic brands, and develop safe, reliable and innovative water-efficient plumbing technologies. PMI members contribute more than 464,000 jobs and $85.5 billion in economic impact to America's economy.

With a vision of safe, responsible plumbing – always, PMI advocates for plumbing product performance contributing to water efficiency and savings, sustainability, public health and safety, and consumer satisfaction. PMI members manufacture water-efficient toilets, urinals, faucets, showerheads and other products at more than 70 locations across the country and market them online and in more than 24,000 home improvement stores, hardware stores and showrooms in all 50 states. For more information on PMI, contact the organization at 1750 Tysons Blvd., Ste. 1500, McLean, Va., 22102; tel.: 847-481-5500; fax: 847-481-5501. www.safeplumbing.org.