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by Robert H. Frantz, MSc., BSEE
Creative Oklahoma cSchool Faculty

“Buffalo? Why Buffalo?!?!” I am often asked this when I explain my research into creativity as a science.  I could answer, “Because workplace conflict has been estimated to cost a typical employee 3 hours of work per week, which amounts to $359 billion in paid hours, or the equivalent of 385 million working days in the U.S., according to a 2008 study by CPP, the publisher of the Myers-Briggs and the Thomas-Killman conflict tools”.  Or, I could answer, “Because Tim McVeigh imagined he was fighting in a violent struggle with the U.S. Government.”  

Pretty sure neither answer would make any sense to those who ask me this.

Buffalo, NY, like Oklahoma City and Tulsa, has a surprising history, including its connection to creativity as a science and as a profession. Google’s word trend chart shows that references in literature to “Buffalo” peaked in the early part of the 1900’s.  That makes perfect sense. Were they using the word as a verb to mean to intimidate or to baffle?   I don’t think so.

In modern days, we know Buffalo as the home of the Bills football team, and the origin of spicy chicken wings.  Wait, what?  It’s true – the unique combination of spicy sauce, bleu cheese, and celery was invented at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo 1964.    Back in the early part of the 1900’s, Buffalo was the second largest city in the U.S.   It was an industrial hub connected by waterways to Chicago and the Atlantic, a center of international commerce, and an educational city for all of New York.  It was considered such a model city for progress that it hosted the 1901 Pan-American Expo, a kind of World’s Fair.  Congress allocated half a million dollars to Buffalo to host the event as a way of reconciling countries throughout the Americas after the Spanish-American war.  New inventions, such as the X-ray and alternating current, were put on display, but the first looping roller-coaster was refused entry to the fair based on public safety concerns.

And, like Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Buffalo unfortunately has its own historic tragedy. President McKinley, following his address to the Expo, was assassinated by a man with socialist anarchist views using a pistol he purchased just 4 days earlier.    He was copy-catting the recent assassination of Italy’s king by another anarchist.  For many in the late 1800’s, the abuses of common laborers by corporations and the complicity of their governments were calls to violent revolution.   McKinley’s assassin believed he was part of a global war to overthrow capitalist-run governments.

If I may make one more surprising statement about Buffalo, please indulge me.   Buffalo is the origin of the term “brainstorming”.   I know at least one noted creativity author who chuckles at the notion that “brainstorming” was invented somewhere — anywhere.  When something becomes so ubiquitous in our culture, we often assume they have always been common.  I guess we assume that they somehow spontaneously appeared in culture.   For Oklahoma City, I get this reaction when I mention that the shopping cart and the parking meter were invented here.  People chuckle at the suggestion, too.   Then I tell them that New York City raised enough revenue from parking to build another Empire State building each week!   That’s a lot of nickels and dimes.

Brainstorming was a specific process developed in Buffalo, beginning in the early 1900’s through to the middle of the century, by marketing expert Alex Osborn. Advertising professionals will recognize Osborn as the “O” of BBDO.  Osborn worked with a professor from Buffalo State College, Sidney Parnes, to develop and refine a new process they called Creative Problem Solving, an unconventional collection of thinking and collaborating methods to get new results.   Together, they founded the Creative Education Foundation (CEF) and the International Center for the Study of Creativity (ICSC) at Buffalo State, both of which are active and thriving today.

So, as a patented inventor, author of 286 US patents for innovative clients, and certified mediator, I was naturally drawn to Buffalo and the vibe of the town.  I see a lot of similarities between Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Buffalo — cities which have contributed so much to Americana, which have experienced tragic events from latent conflict, and which have reinvented themselves after precipitous economic declines.

That’s really “why Buffalo“, to me.    

As a recent alumni of Buffalo State’s graduate degree in the psychology, sociology, and neurology of creativity, problem solving, and innovation, I attended the 2015 Creativity Expert Exchange hosted by ICSC.  I presented a toolset for applying creativity to reduce conflict, increase team cooperation, and avert tragic endings from latent conflict, which I am carrying forward in my doctoral work.  Creativity experts and practitioners from 7 countries listened to my reports of experiences using these new tools for non-profit organizations in Florida, Texas, and Oklahoma, which have included advocates for children caught in ugly legal proceedings as well as defense counsel for those facing the possibility of execution. And, they experimented with a new tool I have developed based on very recent research out of Duke University regarding aversion to solutions.   

The feedback these experts provided was invaluable, and humbling.  It will take me the rest of this year to incorporate the improvements they suggested.  But, that’s what you would expect from a group of world-class brainstormers.

In the “exchange”, I learned about new methods that engage empathy for innovation, and other methods which borrow from Gestault Therapy to increase personal creativity.   And, in a side discussion with several other “experts”, the beginnings of another tool based on neural imprints took root.

I look forward to another year of volunteerism with Creative Oklahoma, offering innovation training for corporations and organizations, and guiding them to discover how to reduce conflict in new and creative ways.    I was proud to informally represent Oklahoma and our creativity movement.   The Buffalo Experts say “Hi!” to the sponsors, volunteers and clients of Creative Oklahoma.

Robert is a creativity practitioner and trainer.  He holds 11 patents for his own inventions. Robert provides intellectual property strategy, patenting, and mediating services for clients across the country, and he has contributed to IP portfolios owned and used by Motorola, GE, Texas Instruments, IBM, Lenovo, Ricoh, and Google.   He is a graduate of Putnam City High School and OU, and he holds the Master of Science in Creativity, Innovation and Change Management from Buffalo State-SUNY, and is a mediator certified by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a part of the United Nations.  Robert has taken the 2015 Oklahoma City Memorial pledge to the Oklahoma Standard.  More information at: www. FranklinGray.com.   

Copyright 2015 by Robert H. Frantz; all rights reserved.  Limited, non-exclusive permission is granted to Creative Oklahoma for use in a newsletter.    This is not an assignable right without additional written permission by R. Frantz.

cSchool faculty provide expert facilitation, training, and professional development for dynamic organizations. Contact Creative Oklahoma for more information at 405.232.5570 or visit https://creativeok.org/cschool/.