The Fertile Unknown

Nonverbal Creativity for Sensing and Sense-Making

I'm looking forward to leading a sesison on Nonverbal Creativity for Sensing and Sense-Making at the  Project Renaissnace Learning & Creativity Doublefest today (my 13th year in a row presenting there). If you are in the DC area, it's not too late to join this small conference for a day. I love this unconventional event - every year Win Wenger (founder of P.R. and author of The Einstein Factor and 39 other prolific creative thinking/mnd/brain/intelligence books) attracts a fascinating, diverse mix of participants and presenters from around the world to his event. It is so different each time, and I always come back feeling expanded. I know it's late notice (just thought about it), but if you are around today, come join me for:

Nonverbal Creativity for Sensing and Sense-Making
Where the wisdom of the "silent retreat" meets whole-brain creativity in a collective group field

This lively and fun session is about actively engaging whole-brain, sensory creative process in real time, going beyond what you consciously  "know" and stepping into more of your Creative Self.  It is about expanding the playing field beyond habitual ways of thinking and being into energized presence and deepened embodiment and bringing back new insights and discoveries for sense-making. 

Creativity flourishes by engaging the non-habitual. By not using words, you access different parts of your brain and present-moment awareness. Your other senses becomes heightened. By doing this with a group, a collective co-creative field is developed. You have access to the creativity not only in your self, but also that in the "group field" where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The results are the emergence of new perspectives, perceptions and experiences; easier access to the "creative flow" state; and an increased number of "ahas" and novel connections.

In this session, we will use the silence as a creative resource, along with a variety of focused creative practices from the worlds of story, improv, movement  and creative thinking. Leave with an expanded concept of Self;  practices you can use at home for increased awareness and sense-making;  ability to see situations from a novel perspective; increased presence and in-the-moment awareness. And have fun doing it!

Day's full schedule is here and registration is here

Going underneath the buzz words to liberate creativity

Business cliches - words used often, habitually, and often
unconsiously - inhibit the creative process.  Getting under the word into meaning and story liberates it. Just ask any work team that says they want to be more "innovative" what that actually means, and you find so many different perspectives. When you get under the word "innovation" and into what really matters, and the context and stories behind it, that is when you can start getting creative.

I find that if you say, "What if you are not allowed to say the word Innovation, then what are you saying?" it opens up a whole different level of dialogue about what really matters - what is real, not the cliche word. And sometimes it is not really anything to do with innovation at all. Then you then have a solid foundation, not a cliche, from which to really create something new.

A recent client  had been saying "innovation" becuase that was in their mission statement. When we went underneath the word, a new story emerged...what they really wanted/needed first was a culture where everyone felt like they had something to contribute. Out of that came a new way of interacting a new story, and co-creating together as a team...and then "innovation" had a solid foundation from which to be engaged. Their newly agreed-upon definition of what innovation looked like for their group fit who THEY were within the larger mission, not some abstract random concept each had initially carried into the process.

77 Awesome Creativity Books

The following are some of the books (both the classics
and some newer ones) that have informed, inspired and/or resonated with me along my journey over the years. I've chosen each based on philosophy, context, concepts, principles, practices, or applicability. Some are more reflective and other more active. Since most would fit into more than one catagory it felt too reductive to break them down that way. I'm just listing them in no particular order for you to explore whichever calls to you.

I am stopping at 77 becuase I like that number, and...have to put a cap on this post. There are lots of other really fantastic ones to add another time. Next time I'll specifcially focus on some of the awesome Creativity in Business books I've read (there are a few on this list).

1. Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind: How Intelligence Increases When You Think Less by Guy Claxton
2. Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
3. Higher Creativity: Liberating the Unconscious for Breakthrough Insights by Willis Harmon
4. The Act of Creation by Arthur Koestler
5. The Einstein Factor by Dr. Win Wenger
6. The Creative Power by Bill Smith
7. Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility by James Carse
8. Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul by Stuart Brown
9. Applied Imagination: Principles and Procedures of Creative Problem-Solving by Alex Osborn
10. The Courage to Create by Rollo May
11. Handbook of Creativity by Robert J. Sternberg
12. Creativity for Life: Practical Advice on the Artist's Personality, and Career by Eric Maisel
13. Zen of Creativity: Cultivating Your Artistic Life by John Daido Loori
14. The Artful Universe; The Cosmic Source of Human Creativity by John D. Barrow
15. Aesthetic Intelligence: Reclaim the Power of Your Senses by Rochelle Mucha
16. The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron
    
17. How to Think Like Leonardo DaVinci by Michael Gelb
18. Creativity: Unleashing the Forces Within by Osho
19. Ways of Seeing by John Berger
20. Action Theater: The Improvisation of Presence by Ruth Zaporah
21. Lateral Thinking by Edward DeBono
22. The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life by Twyla Tharp
23. Discovering the Obvious by Dr. Win Wenger
    
24. Creativity in Business by Michael Ray and Rochelle Myers
25. Science, Order and Creativity by David Bohm and David Peat
26. The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO by Tom Kelley
27. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards
28. Cracking Creativity: The Secrets of Creative Genius by Michael Michalko
29. Creating Minds by Howard Gardner
    
30. Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity by Hugh MacLoud
31. The Gifted Adult: A Revolutionary Guide for Liberating Everyday Genius by Mary-Elaine Jacobson
32. The Mind Map Book: How to Use Radiant Thinking to Maximize Your Brain's Untapped Potential by Tony Buzan
33. Intutive Imagery: A Resource at Work by John B. Pehrson and Susna E. Mehrtens
34. The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield
35. Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative Thinking Techniques by Michael Michalko
36. Orchestrating Collaboration at Work: Using music, improv, storytelling and other arts to improve teamwork by Arthur VamGundy and Linda Naiman
37. The Eureka Principle by Colin Turner
38. The Creators: A History of Heroes of the Imagination by Daniel J. Boorstin
39. The Compassionate Brain: How Empathy Creates Intelligence by Gerald Huther
40. The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America by David Whyte
41. Appreciate Intelligence: Discover the Ability Behind Creativity, Leadership and Success by Tojo Thatchenkery andCarol Metzker
    
42. Mental Jogging: 365 Games to Stimulate the Imagination by Reid Daitzman
    
43. Games for Actors and Non-actors by Augusto Boal
44. The Way We Think: Conceptual Blending and the Mind's Hidden Complexities by Gilles Fauconnier
    
45. Quantum Creativity by Pamela Meyer
46. Jump Start Your Brain by Doug Hall
47. Creating: A Guide to the Creative Process by Robert Fritz
48. Orbiting the Giant Hairball by Gorden MacKenzie
49. Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration by Keith Sawyer
50. Think Better: An Innovator's Guide by Tim Hurson
51. Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art by Steven Nachmanovitch
52. A Simpler Way by Margaret Wheatley
    
53. Impro for Storytellers by Keith Johnstone
54. Awareness Through Movement by Mosha Feldenkrais
55. A Whole New Mind by Dan Pink
    
56. Believe Me: A Storytelling Manifesto for Change-Makers and Innovators by Michael Margolis
57. The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Thinks Differently...and Why by Richard  Nisbett
58. Chaos, Creativity, and Cosmic Consciousness by Rupert Sheldrake, Terence McKenna, Ralph Abraham and Jean Houston
59. The Red Book: A Deliciously Unorthodox Approach to Igniting your Divine Spark by Sera Beak
    
60. A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander
61. Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation by Steven Johnson
62. The Metaphoric Body by Keah Bartal and Nira Ne'eman
63. Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences by Nancy Duarte
    
64. A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman
65. The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam
66. Broken Crayons: Break your Crayons and Draw Outside the Lines by Robert Alan Black
67. Training to Imagine: Imprivisational Theater Techniques to Enhance Creativity, Teamwork, Leadership and Learning by Kat Koppett
68. Jack's Notebook by Gregg Fraley
69. The Artist Within: A Guide to Becoming Creatively Fit by Whitney Ferre
70. Your Creative Brain: Seven Steps to Maximize Imagination, Productivity, and Innovation in Your Life by Shelley Carson
71. At a Journal Workshop: Writing to Access the Power of the Unconscious and Invoke Creative Ability by Ira Progroff 
    
72. A Whack on the Side of the Head: How Your Can Be More Creative by Roger Van Oech
73. Creative Stress by James O'dea
74. The Mythic Imagination by Stephen Larsen, PhD
75. Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming by Stephen Laberge
    
76. The Innovator's Way: Essential Practices for Successful Innovation by Peter J. Denning and Robert Dunham
    
    And my all-time awesomest book on creative thinking:
    
77. On Beyond Zebra by Dr. Suess
    
    
    For more rich content and whole-brain, embodied experiences come to our applied
    creativity conference on October 23, 2011 in DC. Hope to see you there! ~ Michelle