The Fertile Unknown

3 Ways to Move Forward in the New Year

The new year can offer a pause point at the intersection of what was, what is, and what's emerging. It's a great time to reflect on what's working  release what no longer serves, and start to generate - or at least be available for - something new. Life is like a play, and sometimes it feels disheveling to be in the in between space - the set change between scenes, when they are dismantling the old set, but the new one is not yet set up and we are in the dark. I call this emergence space because it is the fertile ripe space where the old no longer has hold, and the new one is about to emerge but it is still unclear.

In emergence space, we can align with what's calling to emerge by first acknowledging and accepting the things we can not change so they don't become a creative block. A creative block can show up in sneaky ways: recycling old stories or resentments, waiting for something or someone to be different, needing other's approval for validation, blaming others or outside forces, engaging irrelevant distractions, of focusing mainly on what's not working, among a host of other reasons to not follow what is most generative and alive. Then we are more free to move forward.

3 Ways to Move Forward with Choice in the New Year

1. Become aware of where to put your energy, and what to put it toward. That includes things like becoming conscious of the times you legitimately need others feedback and the times you don't; taking time to discover and follow the energy that really lights you up from within yourself; and releasing what no longer has energy for you. It is a waste of time to try to breathe life into a dead log. There is not enough space to create the new patterns, new visions and new stories if you are spinning old stories that were true at one time, but no longer are relevant or serve you. It is like preforming a scene over and over again instead of moving to the next scene in the play. What can you remove from the stage?

2. Start to create the vision of what forward looks like - what is in your new stage, set, and scene...in other words, What is most alive for you? What is the world you want to build? What calls to you? What do you want instead what was? Who are the characters you want to include? What does the setting look like? What scenes would feel good? You are worth the time and attention this takes. The more types of creativity you use to engage the process (writing, drawing, moving, acting it out, etc.), the more detailed and expansive the emerging vision becomes.

3. Stay in an ongoing dialogue with yourself as you go. As you do this, chances are you'll meet up with certain resistances: fears, energies, feelings, old (comfortable, familiar) habits and stories. These parts of ourselves tend to surface and get the loudest when we are about to break through into something new. Ask yourself questions like, "Do I have influence over this?" If yes, step into an inspired action - whatever you need to do. If no, ask yourself, "What am I being invited to let go of?" and go through what it takes to let it go. Just becoming aware of it may be enough. Or you may need to do a "release ritual" in the moment to let it go. Or, if deeply entrenched, you may need extra external support. This is nonlinear dance that includes stepping up and letting go at different times.

If we can't change something in that process, we can learn to accept it as a creative constraint, and choose to let go of it taking up our mental/emotional bandwidth. We then can use that bandwidth and energy to mobilize our internal and external resources toward what we actually would like to create. Creative empowerment is not about never feeling resistance (which is a natural part of the creative process) to be able to move forward, but acknowledging it, sending if off stage or making it a secondary characters with much less stage time, and moving forward anyway. It's giving your aliveness the lead role.

Claim the director role of your own life play in 2023 - and play with it. Let what is alive be the main character this coming year. Give the expansive emergence more stage time than you give the constraints, and let them slip into the background. We may not be able to choose everything that happens to us, but we can choose which part is given the lead role on your unique stage, no matter what's happening off stage.

The world needs what only you have to offer. Cheers to a peaceful, loving, and generative 2023! May you express more of your amazing uniqueness...and enjoy the journey.

Michelle James ©2023

Moving From What Was into Creating What Can Be

Holding on to a situation, dynamic, belief system, way of thinking/being/interacting, etc. after it served its purpose is like trying to breath life into a dead log or digesting stale food - trying to freeze or cling to something that has past. It's a waste of time and life energy, and is often unhealthy.

Instead, tune into what and who feel vital and aspirational for you now, and what is calling/inspiring you into the future, and breathe and move your life energy into that.

Lighten your load from the past to move into what is calling you in the emerging future. When one door (situation, relational dynamic, idea, project, ideal, etc.) closes, other generative ones open when we are present to it to notice it, and not trying to open old doors that no longer exist.

CREATIVE PRACTICE: Look at all the doorways you are putting your energy into and ask why? What is the purpose? How does it feed you? What/who does it serve? Does this still have energy for you? Use discernment and release the ones that are connected to guilt, habit, nostalgia (or anything else not currently alive or meaningful).

Keep - or transform - the ones that still have energy. And create new ones to follow what is most alive for you now. Weed out what longer serves. Sometimes this may require professional healing or therapy. I am not trying to belittle this letting-go process - it can indeed be challenging (and may need more work to heal and release), so do it in whatever way that works for you. Get support if needed.

Nurture what still does have energy for you. Emerge and unfold anew. Follow your heart, life energy, truth, and calling... You have this one amazing unique life that is un-reproduceable in any way from anyone else...only you can live it. Create, don't imitate. You are way too magical to not engage your own awesome creativity - your own never-before-and-never-again creative expression!

Your inner Creative Self is always there for you when you take the time to engage it. The world needs what only you can create and cultivate. The longer I live, the more I realize - and am tending to - what a gift time is. Life is short - use the gift of your time here as purposefully and enjoyably as you can.

Michelle James ©2022

NEW Workshop: Connecting with Your Creative Source

December 28, 2021 • 1:00-2:30 EST on Zoom
Register at http://www.creativeemergence.com/creativesource

 

Register Here Kick off a creative new start to your new year!   Hi all. I had a client ask me to do a workshop last weekend on Connecting with the Creative Source. It was such a joy, it inspired to offer a 90-minute version of it this month open to the public. I'll eventually turn this into a multi-session workshop but wanted to offer you a dive into it now as a way to start the new year off feeling more connected to this vibrant, generous, and unique part of yourself...and your full-on creative partner in your visions, goals, and whatever it is you feel called to create.   Over the past 20+ years I've centered my coaching around the Creative Source in our sessions as part of creating what's next - from ways of being and embodying to creating products, services, and workshops to whatever is calling to emerge. I would like to offer this part now to the public, and offering it a discounted introductory rate.    Once we have a trusting relationship with our creative source, we see options and choices we wouldn't have previously imagined; we see more openings when some doors close; we're more resilient in the face of adversity; we find inspiration and motivation more easily; and we can access creative flow states more often.   Working consciously with your inner creative source helps with: vision creating, problem solving, discerning, decision making, ideation, resolving seeming opposites, moving through resistances, expanding thinking and constructs, understanding others views...and feeling more alive, fertile, trusting, lightened up, and more empowered and confident in our own creativity, intuition, and sense of purpose. And, it's FUN!   Hope you can join us for this juicy dive into our creative selves on the 28th!    With love and hope, Michelle Register Here www.creativeemergence.com •  creativeemergencecoaching.com michelle@creativeemergence.com • 434-995-5077

FREE Somatic Expeditions virual event with 25 Somatic Practitioners - Oct. 6-10

I'm delighted to have been invited to be one of the guests in this Somatic Experience Event online. During this FREE five-day virtual event, I will join host Ahni Bonner and 24 others to delve into exciting and innovative applications centered in body-based awareness. The work is inspiring, purposeful, and fun and I’m excited to be part of it. Th world is changing, and more people are valuing and (re)connecting with their body's innate intelligence. What does that mean, and how does that look? Join this event to discover many ways people are embodying the answers those questions.

 

Somatic Expeditions is a series of conversations and practices with 25 somatic-awareness practitioners of various types. Journey through the body into expanded awareness to connect with what’s alive and create new possibilities! Connect to your body/mind for clarity that is vital, energizing, and transformative. October 6th-10th.

 

Click this link register for FREE:

Somatic Expeditions

Creating from Uncertainty: 11 Reminders

The more uncertain the outside world,
or my own  world, the more I attempt to
lean into certain ways of being and
working to help get me through. I'll
share some here as reminders, in case
they can be helpful to anyone
having a hard time with ongoing

uncertainty. Not all things work
for all people or situations, so take
whatever is useful and leave the rest.

1. Remain directed, present to your larger purpose (your own Why), even if it has to be expressed differently than it has been in the past. A strong Why is like a tree trunk - the center - and the branches are the various forms of its expression. Some will bear fruit.
2. Create from what's in front you right now, adapting as you go (like in an improv), allowing that you don't have all of the picture. When in doubt, do what is just in front of you, one step at a time until more clarity or information emerges.
3. Say ‘yes’ to, and act on, what feels most alive and vital day by day - and say ‘no’ to what does not - as you can - claiming your own healthy boundaries.
4. Pay attention to emerging patterns in your field, as well as outside of it, and adapt what you do to new information and advances as they emerge.
5. Accept the changes - constraints - that may not be so welcome, and don't spend a lot of time begrudging them. Instead, do what you can to create from within those constraints. Much novel creativity has emerged form unwelcome constraints.
6. Engage supportive people on or offline. Being able to share your creative ideas with a trusted friend or colleague reduces stress and enhances creativity. Having trusted people with whom to bounce ideas around can keep you going at times of self doubt. Or work with therapists, healers, coaches, bodyworkers, fitness trainers - whatever you need for your mental and physical well-being. You don't have to go it alone.
7. Practice the art of Reframing. Reframing how you perceive something, and how you hold it conceptually and energetically in your mind and body, can make a huge difference in how you move through it. I.e., Instead of seeing a constraint as a block, you can see it is an invitation to discover something new - that can reduce judgement and open new possibilities. Instead of seeing a situation as an either/or, you can hold it as a both/and - that can open new ways of engaging it. Instead of thinking there's the one right way or solution, you can assume there are multiple paths that work - and that can change how you approach it.
8. Use the time to get clarity about what you can get clear on and influence, and focus on working and designing more from there. It helps you feel more empowered when you have a sense of what you can influence in your world, and act on it.
9. Let the process be messy. Creativity is messy. Exploring and experimenting can be messy - ask any artist or scientist. Allowing time in the messiness of divergent space, indulging in the exploration time, can be a juicy time of discovery if you let it. Give yourself time and space to play with things that might not work out exactly as hoped, and play some more until you start to see new patterns emerging.
10. Create mini-aspirational stories to live into. It's helpful when we have a motivational story to aspire to. They serve as beacons to keep us in the direction of our passions, structured and expressed. In times of immense rapid change that story is likely to need edits. We can create smaller mini-stories, editing them in real time as we go to get more insights and ideas. Create the next chapter of your vision as you go, instead of going for the whole book.
11. Get in your body. I do this every day for my own sanity. Try adding body-centered practices that ground and energize you to your daily practices. When we are more fully in our bodies, and more flexible, we're more present and resourceful. For an abundance of ideas on that, check out the free online Somatic Expeditions event stating later this week - chock-ful of somatic practices to help you stay centered, vibrant, and creative in this wild world.

 

In times like these, I think in terms of “entry points” – what I know now and what is next. And then let that "next" inform the following "next." Emergence works uncertainty: we can know the direction, but not all of the details. They shift and change over time. The unexpected happens. Evolving technologies and social systems, and our own internal drives, inform and expand our vision along the way. There are ways of doing and being that can support that process to make it more live-able and generative for us.

 

The 11 ideas are what came to mind today as I wrote this. What other mindsets, reframes, and practices would be helpful to you? Start mindmapping them, or writing them out in your journal - whatever works for you - and see what else emerges.

 

Creative energy is the most transformative energy there is – it has the power to change all situations - history has shown us that. It's not always easy, but it is always possible. Your infinitely creative, resourceful Self has got this!

Michelle James©2021

Image credit: Dave Bayliss

Synchro-tunity: A Creative Inflection Point

Synchro-tunity is where synchronicity (unpredictable events that are somehow seemingly connected) meets opportunity (new possibilities opening up.) This inflection point is a place from which we can create what’s next. When we pay attention to what’s emerging, and we’ve prepared ourselves for the current moment, then we can recognize and step into new possibilities that were previously unavailable for us.

It's about setting intention, preparing ourselves, paying attention to signals from a variety of places and sources,and taking ripe (timely) actions on those. #applieddiscovery

2 FREE Juicy Creative Aspirational Online Events in September!

Creativity, Frameworks, and New Possibilities: Two FREE Online Aspirational Events this Month Exploring a Generative "What's Next"

I'm delighted to be one of the speakers in both these online events focused on a more hopeful, positive, creative future! With the world as it is, we can all use some inspiration, hope, support, and aspirational explorations and visions of what can be possible - along with applicable practices you can start right away. We all contain the seeds of creative change we've been looking for to birth healthier new foundations...and we all need each other.   The Magnificent New Normal Speaker Series September 14 - October 24   How do we want to respond to the calling of our collective future? This series is an exploration in making generative, impactful choices for yourself and others.   With one interview/day for 40 days, this series offers daily infusions of hope, wisdom & opportunity to inspire transformation and propel civilization forward in this new, emerging reality. Forced out of familiar patterns, we have the chance to make creative new choices for moving forward. This series engages creative visions, principles, and hand-on practices for a generative, creative, hopeful post-pandemic civilization.   A diverse array of other speakers include Dr. Bruce Lipton, Matthew Fox, Lynne McTaggert, the singer Jewel, Lynne Twist, Alberto Villodo and many others, each coming from a different lens and framework. Magnificent New Normal FREE Registration     Creativity and Culture Online Conference September 19   This conference is designed to provide a creative space for stimulating conversations between academics, educators and entrepreneurs with a deep interest in developing a creative economy, and more creative, generative, prosperous future. This year's themes are Presence, Emergence and Impact.   Following the conference, there will be an opportunity to remain in contact with the speakers and other conference attendees through monthly online follow up sessions to continue creative conversations which may lead to collaborative projects and creative business opportunities.   An international group of other speakers include Frijof Capra, Terry Tillman, Talmud Bah, Susan Sharp, Paul Z Jackson, Siddarth Agarwal, and Linda Naiman among many others. Creative Culture FREE Registration

NEW Program! Creating with Purpose: New Foundations for Creating and Producing What's Next in an Uncertain World

9-week Immersion Program! 

CREATING WITH PURPOSE:
New Foundations for

Creating and Producing
What's Next in an

Uncertain World Using

Whole-Brain,
Whole-Self Creativity

9-Week Immersion Deep-dive into Creating from the Inside-Out With Meaning, Purpose, and Heart for Tangible, Applicable Outcomes to Meet the Needs of Today's World - and Your Own!

Discover, Design, and Develop What’s Next in Your Work or Life 

Where Purpose, Creativity, Your Uniqueness, and Tangible Outcomes Meet

People with a strong sense of purpose find opportunities others miss. The internal sense of purpose and meaning anchors and grounds us to better weather the external storms. When we discover and feel connected to what is ours to do - what we are uniquely designed to offer - it acts like a compass in a volatile storm or uncertain fog. It then becomes not certainty that gives us security, but meaning. In these times, many people are feeling called to take positive action. This program focuses on strengthening your inner compass, being intentionally directed, and producing something tangible from it (even if you have no idea what that will be when we start).

New Foundations: Using Transformational Creative Principles, Frameworks, and Practices

In this workshop, we will explore and experience some of the foundations - constructs, frameworks, ways of being, and principles - that establish the conditions for purposeful creativity to emerge. We'll use creative whole-brain, whole-being-engagement approaches, and actualize our unique Inner Creator, to craft and carry out what we're called to create and contribute. This is not about just knowing it cognitively, but embodying the ways of thinking and being to draw it out into the world.

 

Use the Creative Resources within you to Create New Directions,
Offerings, Projects, Products, Services, Workshops, Programs,
or Thought Leadership in your Work, Cause, or Mission

Who is this for?

Entrepreneurs, leaders, educators, coaches, consultants, change-makers, healers, creators, pioneers, social transformers, and anyone who wants to contribute and create a more life-giving what's next for themselves and others. This is an intensive immersion program. It is for those who are truly committed to themselves and their process, and to showing up for each other in a safe, supportive space.

 

Why?

•  You want to purposefully create what's next in your work/mission
•  You were clear before, but now feel a little like a deer in the headlights
•  You have a sense about what you'd like to do, but need it further fleshed out

•  You want to do something that matters to you and serves others

•  You know what you want to do, but feel inner "blocks" or fears around it
•  You want to develop your signature process and offerings
•  You have a sense of purpose, but not sure how to move forward with it
•  You want to carry out your work/mission in a way that fits who YOU are

•  You want to bring more of your hopeful energy amidst the chaos
•  You want to actualize your unique creativity in your work/calling/mission
•  You want to find a peaceful inner creative sanctuary within you
•  You want to move beyond self-imposed limitations about what’s possible
•  You're seeking what is yours to do here, now, and in what's next
•  You want to move forward authentically and with confidence
•  You want to cultivate and apply your gifts, skills, talents and experiences toward something purposeful

How? The Exploration and Experience

It's so important to take care of and ground yourself - taking "your own oxygen" as you discover your ways to support and contribute to others to come from a centered place. This deep-dive program focuses on both your inner landscape (being) and your external expression (doing). It contains a balance of left and right brain activities, crafting and emerging, thinking and being, reflection and action, and structure and flow, and mind/body/heart/soul creativity. We’ll use the Creative Emergence Process with an integration of storytelling, improv, the arts, imagination, movement, body-centered practices, reflection tools, ritual, depth psychology/archetypes/mythology, systems thinking, and structured creative solution finding approaches. By working on releasing what no longer serves, creating new foundations, and expanding what is most generative, the external expression of our work changes.

Leave with:

The next evolution of your work or personal project, approach, product, service, process, offering, program, concept, or model; a sense of purposefulness and meaningful contribution; a self-designed structure for applying your unique gifts, skills, experiences and talents toward something that inspires you; and practices to use beyond the workshop setting to stay in your creative flow.

 

Includes:

• Five 3-hour virtual interactive workshops with the group, each building on the one before.
  (there are super engaging, creative, and interactive - not lecture format - we will take 2 short breaks)
• One 90-minute personal Creative Emergence coaching session
• A course materials and resources list (for various creative projects we'll do)

• Engaging whole-brain and somatic assignments and practices to do in between workshops
• Ongoing support throughout the program

• Bonus 2-hour Follow-up Integration Session

Schedule

When: 5 Fridays, over the course of 9 weeks – 1:00pm to 4:00pm EDT (10:00-1:00 PST). 8/28, 9/11, 10/2, 10/16, 10/30. Individual coaching sessions will be done in the break between the 2nd and 3rd workshops  If you have to miss a workshop, we'll do a personal Zoom call to catch you up. Bonus 2-hour Follow-up Integration session 3 weeks after the course is completed to further integrate the learnings. 

For the Program Structure, Registration, and more information go to:

http://www.creativeemergence.com/creatingwithpurpose.html

Thoughts on Creating What's Next while in the Unknown

I run a group on Facebook Applied Creativity Network (open to anyone if you'd like to join) where someone asked, "What's next? How is the world going to be with this coronavirus? How are the remaining people going to relate to each other...social life?"

Kay Ross, a member of that group wrote: "I don't know how it will be. The question is: How do we WANT it to be? What kind of world/life/society do we want to design and create?"

I really resonated with her answer, and "yes-anded" it with some thoughts of my own. Because they're directly related with the work I do with my clients, I thought I would share them here:

Also don't know how it will be. I don't think anyone can know at this time, but we can make choices about what's ours to do now, even in this big unknown. We can discover where what we are inspired to do meets what is needed now, even without knowing the whole picture.

We do have agency and, like Kay Ross said, can ask what we want, and what we can design and create. Our feeling of creative empowerment comes from looking at what we CAN do in any given situation...what calls to us, what inspires us, what we want to do, what needs we can meet, what can we create, and how we can serve the situation, etc.

As far as relating, while challenging now, I imagine people will adapt as they always have to find ways of connecting - or create them - even within these unprecedented constraints. I don't think we can know what the will look like...so that means being OK (or at least accepting) being in the unknown for a while - without knowing how it will look - and creating that as we go, like in an improv. And not needing or expecting it to look exactly like it was in the past. It won't be the same. If we can accept that, and not fight it, we're more empowered to create what's next.

I have faith in the creative life force in each of us, and the universal creative life force that animate all of life (why I created my business around that)...so I have faith in humans capacity to find or create ways of staying connected until we can gather again in person, and faith in those who feel called to create new ways of connecting we don't even know of yet. We're seeing that already. That doesn't mean it’s not hard to be these isolated now (or that there is not real suffering, fear, pain, and deep loss in the world right now - there is!), but it is just about switching our focus to what we CAN do within the constraints - looking beyond what is to what we imagine can be, and discovering what is ours to do in the process. That is an emergence process. If everyone did that, I think we’d see a modern creative renaissance during and after this situation.

Sometimes our deepest fears about what will be lost (as well as the reality of what IS being lost) can lead us to create something new to meet those needs. Historically, people have always used their creativity to move beyond even the most challenging situations. That's where I put my trust when in the unknown...in the creative alive spirit in each of us that is infinitely rich with alive potential for creating new ways of engaging. So, while we can’t know what’s next, we can meet the moment and ask what we are called to do or create, and help create what's next.

Michelle James ©2020

The Energized Facilitator: Getting the Most out of Creative Process Facilitation

image from fitnessandwellnessnews.com

As a facilitator of creative process, your energy has an impact of those in the room. It’s an often overlooked part of facilitating creativity, yet it's the most immediate, primal, and direct way of connecting in ways words and actions alone can not (like when someone walks in a room and you get a feel about them before they even say anything). Most people feel energy immediately and instinctively, before the analytical brain gets on board to think about it. Your energetic state can help draw out or hinder the creativity of others, as well as your own.

While most facilitators of creative process already have Energizer activities for participants, not all take time to prepare their own energetic field before the workshop. The energy you enter a space with, and cultivate as the day goes on, adds to or takes from participant experience. Actors, improvisers, athletes all warm-up before they preform. They don’t just show up and start performing. Similarly, warming yourself up with pre-workshop “energizer rituals” helps you not only get present, but also energized and enlivened. If you find ways of energizing yourself before entering the room - “prep rituals” you do alone before the workshop starts - that begins to create an energized container for participants as they enter. Because energy is something felt, and not thought, it is immediate, and has an impact on the nervous system of participants, non-verbally - not just their minds.

There's no limit to the ways you can generate energy for yourself before a workshop or meeting. Over the past 14 years facilitating Creative Facilitation workshops, I’ve heard countless ways facilitators get energized. I play around with different ones myself to keep it fresh in me, and to stay on my own creative edges, mostly improvising as I go with the goal of trying something new. The times I did not warm up, I noticed a difference in the group’s creative energy, cohesiveness, and output, and how I was holding their energy. I learned the hard way how important it is for me to do my own energy prep work. Some people naturally have a full-on energizing presence any time of day, and in almost any circumstance…and others of us can cultivate it consciously.

You can try it playing around with Brain Gym (Google it), dancing wildly, moving non-habitually, brain teasers, tongue twisters, acting things out, meditation and other centering practices, yoga, marshal arts, and other body-centered practices, solo improv games, etc. If you do something more meditative, try also adding in something that expands and heightens your energy, so you can hold an expanded energetic space for a group - a big part of generating risk taking and creative novelty form a group. And, if you try something that pushes your own envelop - breaking your pattern with something you normally do not do - which also engages your own creative edges, the brain research repeatably shows that enhances presence, creativity, and adaptability.

If you already have awesome activities and content to share, and they are interactive and highly participatory, you can take it to a new level if you take some time to generate your own energy before showing up. Preparing yourself energetically is like starching out like a rubber band when you are by yourself, so when you get with a group, you are energetically flexible enough to expand out to whatever emerges in the group. Research had also shown that most people in groups will either consciously or subconsciously not feel psychologically safe to out-energize a facilitator, and that can impact what and how they create. A facilitator who shows up as flexible, energized, and ready for anything makes it safer for participants to engage more enthusiastically and energetically in interactive activities, and explore their own creativity in a group and each other’s creativity as a group.

If you try something new that works well for you, or if you want to chat about some ideas for your next facilitation, please drop me a line. :-) 

©Michelle James 2018

Creative Emergence Word Cloud

New Work Paradigm: Holistic Generativity

One of the things I've been most passionate about on my own work for many years is focusing my energy toward the emerging paradigm of work, one where financial generatively (making money) is only part of the whole and not, as in the conventional paradigm, the central bottom line...or even the only driving bottom line. The new paradigm has multiple bottom lines; multiple ways of creating and engaging; and includes new ways of being and interacting as well as doing and acting. It requires an entirely new foundations, not just new ways to "succeed" in the old foundational landscape.

There is a larger movement of integration underfoot, and more and more people are committed to helping bring this new life-giving work paradigm forward. It is already happening. We can focus on creating/unfolding a better future - leaving that which no longer serves, "yes-anding" what does - or we can carry the baggage of the past and be limited by what worked then. We get to choose where we put our intention, attention, creativity and action. In the new work paradigm, we can bring more of who we are into the structuring of our work, our collaborative partnerships, our companies and our service in the world. We don't have to silo oursevles or our company missions.

We can create work, businesses and organizations that are alive, creative, adaptive, resilient and holistically generative by establishing new foundations; integrating the isolated parts of ourselves and our lives; questioning the assumptions underneath our current beliefs and our value systems (including our current relationship with money and set of accompanying beliefs); engaging the creative unknown to go beyond what we currently hold as "the way it is"; forming life-giving collaborations based on resonance and aliveness; giving conscious space, time and attention to our creative imaginations; developing generative practices and rituals to help us "live into" our visions and embody new ways of being; listening to what calls to us from within; and expanding the conventional bottom line to include more of our creativity, humanness, connection and deeper contribution..

Related post:  27 Elements fo the New Work Paradigm  - shifting our ways of working to ways that are expanding the notion of what work and business is and can be.

 

CCN 2/8: Turn Boring Meetings into Fun Discovery Sessions

After taking a haitus for the Creativity in Business conference last year, the Capitol Creativity Network is back in action with regular monthly meetings in 2012!

If you are, or will be, in the DC metro area this coming Wednesday night, feel free to join us from from 7:00-9:30pm at the Ceveland Park Club House. I'll be facilating a whole-brain session on turning mind-numbing meetings into mind-expanding creative discovery sessions. Hope to see you there! :-)

Here's the write up:

People can say, "I had better things to do. Same old, same old. I couldn't wait to get out of there" or they can say "Wow - that was awesome! We actually got A LOT done - and had fun doing it. I didn't even realize I had all those creative ideas." after leaving one of your meetings. They can feel anywhere from drained to motivated, mind-numbed to mind-expanded, detached to engaged. The good news is it's your choice. If you'd prefer the latter, come join us in the dynamic, fun, NEW session on creating and facilitating vibrant, generative, productive meetings - ones where people get things done, ENJOY the meeting, and leave feeling motivated.

Meetings come to life when you engage the whole brain and participants get to discover something new in real time. There is ALIVENESS in discovery. Come explore and experience divergent and convergent creativity principles and practices - including improv, storytelling, embodiment among others - that are easy to learn and apply for any meeting you facilitate. Learn how to structure meetings that bring out more creativity, discovery and motivation from the participants to better meet your business goals. Leave with practices you can apply right away; a set of guiding principles; greater understanding of how to integrate both divergence and convergence into a meeting of any length; and increased self awareness. And we'll have FUN in the process! :-)

Info and Directions: http://www.capitolcreativitynetwork.com/

Creativity in Business Conference Re-cap

It took me a few weeks to get to this post, after integrating what unfolded at and after our Creativity in Business Conference a few weeks ago. On October 23, we produced a (sold-out - yay!) conference in Washington, DC with the help of many amazing, generous souls. It was gratifying that people seemed to get a lot out of it - I think the feedback reflects a juicy and alive day. Everyone really stepped up, took risks, pushed their edges, had fun and engaged fully. Photographer, Alexander Morozov of Photography by Alexander, captured the energy of the day with these pictures.

It Started with Principles of Creative Engagement

The day kicked off with introducing the 160 participants to the Principles of Creative Engagement for the conference: Yes-And, Make everyone else look good (both from improv theater), Creativity in Messy and Have fun! Participants were invited to leave with more questions than answers, and use the day to intentionally explore their passion, aliveness and curiosity with the applicability of what they learn/think/create into their work and business.

Lots of Options

 

At any given time, participants had 4 options - a choice between 1 of 3 breakout sessions or a panel - for that time period of 75 minutes. The 12 breakout sessions were designed to be rich in both innovative content and creative experience. They each engaged different aspects of whole brain integration, including storytelling, improv, embodiment or visual thinking.

Engaged Immersion 

Tweeting was not encouraged during the breakout sessions, nor was having laptops, so participants could be immersed in the full-on experience of the session. The intention was that these were not sessions for sitting back, taking notes and reporting out. Each session was about discovery by undistracted engagement in real time, trying new things, engaging the whole brain - and the body in many cases. Low on observing and recording; high on awareness, presence, creating, engaging...then integrating.

Experiential Breakout Sessions

 

The morning began with breakout sessions from Corey
Michael Blake on Breathing Life into

Improvisational Storyteller session

Your Story, Kat Koppett on The Improvisational Storyteller and Bill Smith, PhD on Your Creative Power followed by Gregg Fraley on Holistic Innovation, James Jorasch on Hacking the Hippocampus and Cathy Salit on Performance of a Lifetime. The afternoon included sessions by Dr. Win Wenger on Creative Solution Finding, Carol Sanford on Whole Systems Creative Change and Jack Ricchiuto on The Power of Narrative followed by Sean Kelly on Visual Brainstorming, Leilani Henry on Movement Anthropology, and Michael Margolis on Reinventing Your Bio as a Story. (More on the presenters here and the sessions here).

Heart-Centered Service at the Core

While each of the presenters and panelists has been a keynoter at events, there were no keynoters or "speakers" at this event. There were experiential facilitated sessions and participatory panels, a storytelling plenary and an audience-interactive Imagination Festival. This event was designed to have the central focus be the creativity of who was in the room, not on one of the many luminaries who were there. While each presenter and panelist is a clear creative leader in their own right - a credible expert and pioneering creator - they also are deeply heart-centered in service of that creativity for the greater good. The balance of head (knowledge, experience and ingenuity) and heart (service, kindness), is what I believe makes them so awesome...and made the conference work. Low on ego; high on meaning and service.

Interactive Panels captured by Graphic Recording

The 4 panels were thought-provoking (thanks to the wisdom and kindness of the amazing panelists) and audience-interactive. There was no distancing 4th wall between expert and participants - anyone could contribute. Graphic Recorder, Diane Cline of Over the Horizon Consulting, captured the juicy content from the 4 panels.

Click on the panel links for the graphic of that panel. The Creative Leadership Panel included John Hagel, Robert Richman, Annalie Killian and Rita King. The Creative Work Cultures Panel included Carol Sanford, Steve Dahlberg, Kristi Faulkner and John Hagel. The Social Media & Creativity Panel included DC-based 'tech titans' Jesse Thomas, Peter LaMotte, Shashi Bellamkonda, Maxine Teller and Jen Consalvo. And the Emergence & CoCreation Panel - which I had fun moderating - included Peggy Holman, George Por, Bill Smith and Jack Ricchiuto.

Pioneers who Lead by Example

One thing that I loved that each presenter and each panelist had in common is that they were pioneers in some way...each had created their own approach, structure, services or products. Each had something original they have developed as part of their business offering. It was significant to the design of the event that every one of the presenters and panelists was offering something new and original to participants - thereby modeling applied creativity in business. This "ownership of personal experience" also gave them the real-time flexibility in thinking that allowed them to be present to addressing what was really showing up, without having to rely solely on third party knowledge. And it allowed for the real-time discovery that comes from being in the moment.

Themes Extracted from Stories

The Storytelling Plenary Session had compelling stories from leaders who are bringing creativity in business into the corporate world - with transformative results: John Hagel, James Jorasch, Rita King and Annalie Killian, each of whom shared their personal creativity in business journeys - which made them meaningful and accessible. The themes that emerged from their stories captured in Diane's graphic recording are here.

Nonverbal Creativity to Deepen the Learning

In keeping with the whole-brain engagement and pattern breaking themes of the day, I facilitated the Nonverbal Creativity Closing Session accompanied by musician extraordinaire, Anthony Hyatt of Moving Beauty, who masterfully put to music participants non-verbal expressions of the day. Each group of 8 produced a moving sculpture that was captivating to behold - both visually and energetically. The music fed off of them and they fed off the music in a feedback loop.

Improvisation-Imagination Festival

The day ended with an incredibly fun and frolicky Improvisation-Imagination Festival led by Kat Koppett and Cathy Salit, premiere improvisers from New York. Imagination, Play, and Improvisation were the main themes of the Festival. Not just watching from the sidelines, participants were the creative action. It was a great time!


Thankfulfor and More

The Thankfulfor display - created and curated by Jen Consalvo (pictured right) of Tech Cocktail - invited participants to post what they were thankful for at any given moment throughout the day. With 160 people in "gratitude energy" a palpable appreciative field was created. I think every event needs a gratitude wall. :-)

After the Festival, there was time for connect-working over hors d'oeuvres, catered by Leigh DuWolf, followed by dinner at a local Georgetown restaurant. DJ Rasul Sha'ir, President of Cnvrgnc, kept the music flowing throughout the day to add to the creative atmosphere, and the Conference Team, led by the amazing Tya Bolton, kept the flow going and the contianer strong.

Post-Conference Presenter Retreat
 
After the conference, several of the presenters enjoyed some down time at Kayser Ridge, located on 20 acres of wilderness in the stunningly beautiful Shenandoah Mountains in West Virginia. We were fortunate to be there during the breathtaking peak foliage week. It also so happened that were there to behold the fluke occurence of the Northern Lights in the night sky - which "never" happens this far south - a perfect way to cap off a time full of pattern breaking, good juju and emergent surprises.

Conference Links

•  Conference Pictures
•  Blog Posts by Corey Blake, Melanie Sklarz, Patrick Ross, Shashi Bellamkonda and Annalie Killian
•  Conference Facebook Page

I really feel grateful for the co-creation at every level of this event, the learnings I had, and new and/or deepened connections I made. Putting on this second conference was passion-in-action for me - in service of the emerging creativity-centered work paradigm. I look forward to whatever unfolds next.

Co-creative Global Citizens

I am in a Facebook group and someone posted the question asking what
capacities are needed for Global Citizenship and how might they be developed. I just wrote the following stream of consciousness as a wall post there and thought I would share it here as well since it's connected to my own purpose, work with creative process and vision of an ever-evolving, more generative world - one that is co-created by each of us from the inside-out.

Some of the capacities that come to mind are creativity and imagination; holding paradox and uncertainty; consciously engaging the unknown; yes-anding, improvisation, adaptiveness; getting into the body (many cultures are much more embodied than we are) - using our somatic intelligence as a resource; re-wakening the senses; using more right-brain ways of engaging and communicating integrated with the left-brain; weaving in more aspects of the Feminine archetypal qualities in with the Masculine; empathic communication, intuition, holistic (not binary) listening - with co-discovery in mind.

Also, cultivating the inherent exuberance, aliveness, and joy in our children and reclaiming it in ourselves; expanding our capacities by breaking old patterns and intentionallly engaging practices that invite us in to more of our hearts, bodies, and and whole brains; incorporating purpose and relevance in everything we engage, among other aspects of our potential; expanding upon our existing models, theories and approaches to allow for ongoing modification and constantly inventing new ones we creating conditions for new, liberating structures to emerge; creating conditions for those in their organization/culture/system to unfold their "what's next" from within; new ways of being in addition to thinking...

By developing these and all kinds of other capacities within ourselves, I believe we can begin to transcend the edginess of the differences and can meet more as global humans. That creates the space to hear, connect and co-create what's next as global citizens using the gifts of our unique cultural differences.

Creativity for your Calling: Engaging Your Aliveness

I have create a new summer program - a week-long immersion into the Creative Self:

Creativity for your Calling: Engaging Your Aliveness

Do you feel you have a calling - a purpose - but are not quite sure what it is? Do you yearn to connect with and express that juicy creative wellspring you know is in you? Do you desire to move beyond the voices of fear, resistance and judgment into the voices of aliveness, meaning and passion? And do you want to have fun doing it? Then come play with us as you become more of YOU!

Your calling is unique to you and you are the only one who can bring it out into the world. A purpose, a path, an invitation, vocation, contribution, passion and/or a business, it’s your most significant "mission" in life - the call you know is deep inside of yourself just waiting to be expressed out into the world. It can be challenging to clearly hear that inner voice in the midst of everyday distractions. The good news is that your Creative Self knows how to carry it out

In this fun, soulful and wildly creative program, you will use your whole-brain and your body to answer the call. You will immerse yourself in arts-based activities, improvisation, body-centered practices, storytelling, intuitive reflection tools and other forms of creative process to hear your calling, draw it forth, and discover ways of making it real in the world. You already have your unique “signature” set of gifts, skills, experiences, and talents. This retreat will give you the chance to indulge and cultivate them. This program contains a balance reflection and action, receptivity and generativity, heart and mind; body and soul; and lighthearted play and diving deep.

By combining your unique creativity with focused intention you can: 
•   access and use your rich inner guidance
•   awaken deep layers of your creative potential
•   understand your big picture patterns and archetypal drives
•   discover delicious new possibilities and directions
•   connect with your "creative source" to move toward inspired expressions
     and outcomes
•   channel anxiety and overwhelm into productive creativity
•   feel more engaged and alive in your every day life

You are vaster and more creative than you can imagine. This program is designed to have you experience the full-on aliveness of your Creative Self as you unfold, shape and form your distinctive “Calling Card” - an Action and Reflection Plan to continue the journey beyond the retreat setting. You’ll also leave with approaches you can practice at home, and ways of navigating the resistances that can show up. Creativity materials provided - just bring an open mind and heart!  

Check my the Workshop page on my website for the next one

15 Foundations for Facilitating Creativity at Work

The following are lessons learned and insights gleaned from the trial and error of facilitating creative process with hundreds of individuals and organizations over the past 12 years. It requires a different focus, skill set, way of being and "container creation" than facilitating analytical processes. Below are some of the many principles and practices I've learned or discovered. Take what resonates and leave the rest :-)

Dynamic Balance and Facilitating Creativity in the Workplace 

1. Set intention and embody purpose. Get clear on your intention - not only from a business perspective, (i.e., leave with a Strategic Plan), but also from the human element. Creative process in human beings is organic, and contains emotional energy. In fact, the more passion and inspiration, the deeper and more coherent the creativity that emerges. If you intend to support the growth, creativity and awareness of those you serve, you facilitate from a more meaningful place than if focused only on the business goal. If you take time, both in the program design and in the room when facilitating, to think about what is the service you are providing - the gift you are offering - it frees up your own creativity more to support that in your facilitation. Focusing solely on the task limits the creative potential. By genuinely focusing on what is yours to GIVE, (not how you come across doing it), participants pick that up – either consciously or unconsciously - and are more receptive to trying new things with you. Creative Facilitation adds some new “yes-ands” to what already works.

2. Focus on awareness in addition to what happens. Focusing on the awareness aspect allows it to be transformative. In all facilitation, the debrief can be one of the most powerful parts. It integrates the learnings and serves as a bridge to what’s next. In debriefing creative process, focus on what was going on INSIDE of the participants as well as what actually was created OUTSIDE in the room. This leads to self-awareness, which increases the chances of continued creativity and co-creativity after the workshop, program, or process is over. The more aware participants become of what emerges within themselves as they create - both what was most alive as well as what was most challenging - the easier it is to continue to navigate and cultivate their creativity beyond the workshop setting.

3. Understand the normal resistance that occurs with navigating the unfamiliar. Resistance is a healthy, natural part of the creative process. It only becomes unhealthy when it is allowed to block the process (by overemphasizing it and spending too much time engaging it, or by not acknowledging it all and trying to barrel past it). Be prepared for resistance to show up. It's usually a result of fear of entering the new territory, and it can show up in a myriad of forms - deflection, sarcasm, distraction, disengagement or, most often and most subtly, talking about what is already known. It's not something to be pushed down or avoided, but rather something to be acknowledged and moved through if it shows up. Acknowledgment ahead of time gives it permission to follow it natural course when and if it emerges. It is the natural “contraction” to balance the creative expansion. You find this in all of nature’s creativity. The flower feels the resistance of the bud most just before it blossoms.

4. “Fail” gracefully - be comfortable with messing up. This is a great lesson from improv theater. Improvisers do not see mistakes as static failures. Instead, we see them as dynamic invitations to learn in real time and an opportunity to create something new. To authentically learn how to deepen your experience in facilitating a transformational creative process requires you to be the explorer as well. Unlike facilitation that relies on what is known, creativity depends elements of the unknown. You can better facilitate that which you're willing to experience for yourself. Applied creativity has vulnerability attached to it as being experimental means being vulnerable. And, that means something you try may not work, or may work differently than you had anticipated. Go with it. USE that information as feedback to either refine for the future, or, in that moment, to take the group to another place. The facilitator’s discomfort with the challenges of creativity can inhibit the group's craetive process. (If you can take an improv class, do it…it's the quickest way I know to free yourself of the “the fear of failure” and develop a comfort with thinking on your feet.)

5. Adapt in real time. There's always a dynamic balance between creating enough structure and releasing. If you as a facilitator need to control the process, do whatever you can on your free time to get comfortable with letting go, shifting gears, and modifying the agenda in real time. Use the real-time feedback loop: engage, get feedback, modify; engage, get feedback, modify, etc. It’s an ongoing process, and like with all things, takes practice to embody. Do this enough and it becomes comfortable and easy…and alive! In fact, you will get to a point where it takes more energy to try to stick to the exact plans than to follow the creative aliveness of what is trying to emerge in the room. Be ready to adjust your "agenda" at any time for what is REALLY going in the room. Otherwise, you can get engagement, and even expanded perspectives, but generally no real novelty. Novelty contains an unpredictability within it, and to facilitate creative process means adapting to that unpredictability in real time. May as well have fun with it :-)

6. Work from your own Creative Edges, not your comfort zone. This creates a palpable dynamic aliveness in the room. You are all in it together. This may seem antithetical to our "expertise" culture. The paradox is that you must still deeply know and understand what you are doing before you enter the room, but then once in the room, hold it loosely and respond in real time. Be in your own unknown - a co-discoverer instead of the expert on their creativity. Allow yourself to be surprised. Don't limit them, or yourself, by your creativity experience or pre-existing assumptions. While you are the one creating the container and holding the space, this role is balanced with your own openness to what emerges. Creative facilitation is an open system.

7. Respect creative style diversity. To further expound on #6, one size, approach, method, technique, or even paradigm does not fit all. One creativity model definitely does not fit all. Understand that each person in that room is at a different comfort level, and will have a unique relationship with the creative process. Each carries unique and different stories of creativity in his or her consciousness. You give them tools and techniques as entry points, but be ready to let their creativity show you ways of creating that you can’t imagine. This expands your own Creative Practices repertoire.

8. Understand patterns found in the creative process. This allows you to facilitate during times of resistance. Another paradox: while each person has different creating styles and approaches that work for them, there are also re-occurring universal patterns that tend to emerge in a creative process. The deepest understanding comes from your OWN experimentation and learning, and will most likely be refined over time. Start with what you know, and open up to being "yes-anded" all the time. Look for patterns, not just techniques. Techniques only get you so far…patterns and principles allow you to create new techniques on and ongoing basis. Start where you are, be gentle with yourself as you learn, and learn from direct experience. Insights that emerge from experience and observation are give you a real-time agility that book learning alone cannot offer.

9. Embrace dynamic balance. Divergence AND convergence. Left AND right brain. Structure AND flow. Reflection AND action. That is one of the re-occurring themes in this post because it permeates all of creative process...and the complexity of being human. Creativity is filled with paradox. Setting up conditions for creativity is as well. Like with all natural systems, every situation, project, and group has a dynamic balance that will allow the most amount of creativity to emerge in that situation. Too rigid keeps the creativity bound; too loose, it gets unfocused. There is a balance between structure and flow. This is why whole brain practices are needed...the right brain to access NEW levels of ideas and information, and the left to discern and organize it.

10. Allow for self-organization when facilitating a group project. Inherent in the creative process is a self-organization found in all of nature. You see this all the time in improvised jazz or improv theater...something larger than the sum of the parts emerges and it is a coherent whole and unexpected. It is similar to the experience you have in those moments when everything just seems to effortlessly come together in a brilliant, yet totally unexpected, way. This possibility always exists in any group. One key is to not over-control the experience and allow enough space for the next level of creativity to emerge in the room. This takes some trust in the creative process itself...and practices recognizing, like in an improv performance, when you need to step up and lead, or step back and follow. Without question, groups have the capacity to self-organize around a creative task - a collective creative intelligence can take over that is larger than any one person's idea. You have nature on your side. We are natural meaning-makers, and creativity is naturally self-organizing. By balancing both directing and following in real time, you can more naturally moving to higher levels of coherence, meaning, and sense. (All “Aha’s” are deeply grounded in common sense at their new level). We have simply been socialized, educated, and trained to over-plan. Instead, we can learn how to work WITH the natural creative process.

11. Seek to make it safe, not comfortable.  
Safety will allow people to open up and move into
unknown territory without the fear of criticism, failure. Too much stability, and nothing new emerges. Asking people to share what they already know is different than guiding them into their unknown. On the other side, without doing the “container creating” to make it safe, taking people in too deep too soon can throw them into chaos and they will shut down – and they lose trust in you. In either case, nothing new emerges. Find the balance of the Creative Zone - the place of creative potential between stability and chaos. Create a safe space AND guide your participants into new territory, which can be uncomfortable. Discomfort is a normal part of the creative process. In fact, if everyone is the room is entirely comfortable the whole time, chances are you did more
of an information gathering process than a creative one.

12. Fun is functional. There is more research emerging all the time that shows how fun, play, and “lightening up” have a serious role to play in increasing creative thinking and establishing creative work culture - not just as an outlet to do on your free time, but as a driver to navigating change and working on serious challenges in work and life. It frees the brain to think more creativity, and frees the energy in the room for more effective and safe collaboration. In fact, I have not come across any research anywhere that points to not having fun and not being playful as a more effective way of living and creating. To facilitate creativity requires accessing and being comfortable with having fun yourself. And, knowing how to bring it in purposefully, and in a way it can be accepted (and not shut people down). It's different for every group and every culture. Once you access your own "deep fun" self, you have more choice on what methods to use and how. As with all facilitation, know your audience.

13. Your inner stories directly impact the container you create for others. Check out all the stories you carry around creativity, fun and play. Do you hold them as separate from a business bottom line? Most of us grew up with the programming that creativity is something you do on your free time after the “real work” is done. Facilitating Applied Creativity carries a new story – that it is an essential part of the real work. It is more than something fun to open up a group, but actually something to help transform individuals, groups, teams and organizations; create a thrivable work culture, and feed the bottom line. Do you carry a story that creativity is for the domain of the arts...or do you know it to be present, in infinite abundance, for every person, group and system? What stories do you carry about yourself as a Creator? In knowing yourself as a Creator, and knowing that you are walking into a room filled with other Creators (whether they are aware of it or not) allows you to help facilitate a new story for those in the room.

14. Diverge...and Converge with discernment. 
Facilitating transformational creativity requires your presence, adaptability, agile thinking…AND
discernment. Discernment keeps whatever
emerges in the room focused on the objectives, relevant, and purposeful…not just random creative expression (unless that is your goal). This means having processes for Convergence as well as Divergence. Divergence explores, discovers, yes-ands, and accepts to expand the playing field – the increase the field of potential from which to draw. Convergence discerns, focuses, fleshes out, uses what is relevant and leaves the rest. For a visual with more on Divergence and Convergence click here. As with each of these points, the dynamic balance is the key: expand, contract; explore, refine; value logic and intuition; planning and spontaneity. Most people naturally gravitate to more comfort with diverging or converging…find out which is your preference and practice giving more time and attention to the other. 



15. Prepare yourself with pre-workshop creativity rituals. Creativity, by its nature, contains a lot of energy and newness. Facilitating novelty is not "business as usual." It's about leading a group into the non-habitual. It requires being resilient, agile, compassionate and an "expedition guide." Taking some time to do whatever you need to enter your own non-habitual state first can makes a significant difference. One of the best ways to do that is by taking some alone time before the facilitation, to do pattern-breaking exercises to increase your own energy and become present, alert, and responsive. The more of the whole-brain - and whole-body! - you bring in, the better. Like an athlete who warms up by stretching muscles, you’re a creativity facilitator who warms up by stretching beyond your familiar patterns. Try different things, like moving in non-habitual ways around your living room before you leave your house. You'll be alone, so the more “out there” you can be in the privacy of your own space, the better. Surprise yourself at how “out there” you can get! It will also help you be more comfortable when something “out there” emerges from a participant. Do it until you transform any negative self-judgment or evaluation you have into the joy of exploration. It will increase your energy and aliveness, and help you be more attentive and at ease with what shows up in the room. Creativity is messy. Non-judgment of self and others during the process is essential!

I am so passionate about this topic that I could go on ad infinitum :-) I have covered some of the basics here. It's challenging to use words-only to describe a fullness of whole-brain experience. This is not about one right way - it's a loose guide and exploration. My hopes is that something in here gives you food for thought, inspiration or validation. 

~ Michelle James ©2010

Go to http://www.creativeemergence.com/wbfacilitation.html  for more on our next Creative Facilitation Workshop. Offerred once or twice a year since 2005 in the Washington, DC area. 

Presented at TEDxCreativeCoast

I had the great pleasure of presenting at TEDxCreativeCoast in Savannah on Friday. The theme was "Designing Creativity." I did my presentation on what I called the Improvidigm - a paradigm of sustainable creativity informed by the generative principles and practices of improvisational theater. Some of the patterns that emerged throughout all of the presentations included convergence, hybrids/integration, trans- and meta-, the human touch, passion, using creativity for social good/serving a larger mission, working with nature/living systems, connection, presence/mindfulness, new structure creating, transforming challenges into opportunities, and the unwavering commitment to making a positive change in the world.

TedxCreativeCoast - Savannah, GA - June 18, 2010

Foundational Creativity: New Creative Output Emerges from New Foundations

I am writing a book on Foundational Creativity - the creation of new, generative, fertile ground from which new levels of holistically generative creativity (creativity that is generative for the self, others and the whole) can emerge. Foundations inform the shape, texture and scope of our creative output. This is a diagram for both personal and social/societal foundations, as our individual foundations are inextricably linked with and informed by our social foundations.

The following is an initial sketch of a partial list of elements that will be included, i.e., consciousness, among other aspects, will be included but is not in this particular diagram. It is an iterative process :-) I am heading out today to give an interactive presentation on this at the Project Renaissance Learning and Creativity Doublefest. We'll use multiple dimensions of creative process to explore past/current and emerging/future informing foundations.

 

Emergence Focus

Our "Dialogue with Dan Pink" event is tomorrow in DC!

Join us on Thursday, March 11 for an interactive dialogue with NYT best selling author of A Whole New Mind and Free Agent Nation, Dan Pink, on his new book, DRiVE: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, which uses behavioral science to overturn the conventional wisdom about human motivation and offers a more effective path to high performance.

This is a content-rich and audience-participatory - and fun! - event. Hear about what motivates us; learn techniques for action; and engage in dialogue with Dan about autonomy, mastery, purpose, creativity, performance and more. The afternoon's format is designed to offer maximum real-time participant engagement with Dan, one of the most prolific voices of our time on the changing world of work.

Hosted by Michelle James, CEO of The Center for Creative Emergence and founder of the Capitol Creativity Network in Washington, DC.

Date & Time: Thursday, March 11, 3:00-5:30pm
Address: CDIA - Center for Digital Imaging Arts 1055 Thomas Jefferson St., NW, Washington, DC 20007 Register online at http://dialoguewithdan.eventbrite.com  

Improv Theater and Complex Adaptive Systems

I am in an improvisational theater performing group. We improvise full-length plays with nothing planned in advance. No structure. No outline. No character or plot development. Nothing, except for 2 locations we get from the audience at the beginning of the play. The play is then titled, "The Space Station and the Bathroom" or whatever locations we get from the audience. Two of us then run on stage and start interacting, and thus the play begins.

When the play goes well, the audience says, "That HAD to be scripted. At least some part of it had to be scripted. It looked too easy." It was easy. When the performance does not go so well, the audience says, "That looked hard." It was hard.

I became fascinated by what makes it work. What creates peak level creativity in our group? What allows a complex, coherent, sense-making structure to emerge from nothing but a simple location? What is the "magic formula" that allows a fully formed, organized play - with believable characters and plot - to emerge before the audience’s (and our own) eyes? And what gets in the way? Why does it work seamlessly sometimes and not so well other times? I became a serious student of improv theory - reading the seminal books in the field and observing the patterns in my group and other groups.

I soon recognized the connections between adhering to the principles of improvisational theater in a performance and being able to adapt, create and improvise effectively in the work place – and in any social system. The same principles that allow a performing group to improvise a 90-minute play out of nothing but a location are the same principles that allow groups, teams, and organizations to solve problems in new ways and reach peak levels of creativity and innovative thinking. The principles form the “container” that allows the group to self-organize to emerge what’s next.

Around that same time, I began exploring complexity sciences theory in creativity and couldn't help but recognize the stark similarities between improvisation and complex adaptive systems such as emergence, self-organization, interdependence, pattern making, increasing complexity, dense local connectivity, coherence emerging out of disorder. Both are open, inclusive, non-linear, dynamic systems that use interactive agents, feedback loops and multiple variables. Both require resilience, collaboration, structure and flow, spontaneity, and engaging the unknown. Both result in a surprising emergence.

In our troupe, we don’t go on stage with a pre-formed notion of our characters, plot, conflict, challenge or situation. We just let them emerge based on our interactions, actions and reactions. The "magic formula" is the adherence to the basic improv principles. When we adhere to the principles of improvisation, something emerges that is more intelligent and creative - and intelligently organized - than any one of us could have planned. As with any good emergence, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. By adhering to the principles, a play unfolds that is so original and unpredictable, that you have a sense of being entirely in flow - getting to fully experience the adventure as you create it.

The principles that allow this to happen are simple, yet profound. They seem easy, but in practice, they are almost the exactly opposite of the ways in which we navigate our everyday work lives. They take re-learning. I say that because we were born natural improvisers and then got "educated" and "civilized" out of the playful aspects of our own improvisational creativity.

The following are 7 basic improv principles – all of which I believe tie in to complexity theory. There are others, but I have found these to be essential:

1. Yes and. Fully accepting the reality that is presenting, and the adding a NEW piece of information - that is what allows it to be adaptive, move forward and stay generative. Each performer (agent) interacts with what is offered and offers a unique contribution.

2. Make everyone else look good. That means you do not have to be defending or justifying yourself or your position - others who will do that for you and you do that for others. Without the burden of defensiveness or competition, everyone is free to create. Complex characters can form that enable unpredictable complex actions and directions to emerge.

3. Be changed by what is said and what happens. At each moment, new information in an invitation for you to have a new reaction, or for your character to experience a new aspect of them. Change inspires new ideas, and that naturally unfolds what's next. You adapt as one structure dissipates and re-organizes into a new structure that expands, yet includes, what was before.

4. Co-create a shared "agenda." This principle involves the recognition that even the best-laid plans are abandoned in the moment, and to serve the reality of what is right there in front of you. You are co-creating the agenda in real-time. In order to keep the play going, you respond to the moment and an "agenda" co-emerges that is more inclusive than anything that could have been planned. It is not consensus, which reduces. It is co-creation, which expands.

5. Mistakes are invitations. In improv, mistakes are embraced – they are the stimulating anomalies that invite the performers into a new level of creativity. By using improv techniques such as justifying any mistake can be transformed into surprising plot point or dialogue that never would have happened in following a conventional pattern. In improv, justifying creates order out of chaos. Mistakes break patterns and allow new ones to emerge.

6. Keep the energy going. No matter what is given, or what happens, you accept it and keep the energy gong. Unlike in everyday life, where people stop to analyze, criticize or negate, in improv you keep moving. A mistake happens - let it go move on. The unexpected emerges - use it to move on. Someone forgot something important - justify it and move on. You’re lost or confused – make something up and trust the process. Just keep moving. The system is not static – it is alive and dynamic.

7. Serve the good of the whole. Always carry the question, "How can I best serve this situation?" and then you have a better sense of when to run in and when to stay back, when to take focus and when to give it, how to best support your fellow performers and how to best support the scene. By focusing away from how you will look into serving the larger good – the aliveness of the system - you have more creative impulses and resources available to you at any moment. And the choices you make are more in alignment with the higher levels of creative integration that form a coherent play.

So, what make it "look hard" when it is not working so well? Simple: any violation of the principles. If one of us tries to orchestrate, or worse impose, our own agenda or plot on the piece. If one of us tries to be the "star" and take too much focus. If even one of us is not present to what is unfolding, moment-by-moment. If one of us worries about the plot, and starts to figure out how to "save" it. If we expect that someone should respond in a certain way. In short, anything that gets us out of the moment and what is emerging - and into our controlling heads.

The rules are simple – the application can be challenging, requiring conscious effort. One of the paradoxes of improv is that you practice being spontaneous until it comes naturally. By staying present to each moment, getting out of thinking and planning and into being, you have a wellspring options and choices in each moment that you otherwise would miss. With positive intention, active engagement, presence and yes-anding, you can't do anything but be co-generative!

The truth is, in each performance we have some magic moments and some more effortful ones - some that work and others that fall flat. But by adhering to the improv principles we significantly increase the magic and decrease the efforting. A creative - and surprisingly logical - play can then emerge through that fresh and alive energy. We, and the audience, then get to experience the real-time excitement of riding the flow of a creative emergence. 



I first put my Improvisation and Complexity Matrix into action at the Plexus Institute DC Fractal a few years ago. Participants were led through a series of improv activities that we then tied in to complexity science principles and discussed how they played out in organizations and other complex adaptive systems. Everyone agreed that, although framed differently, the small number of laws that can generate complex systems are embedded in the small number of laws that can generate full-length improvised plays.

Improv takes you to the edge of chaos – the inflection point – filled with fertile creative potential. We are natural meaning makers, and left to our own devices, our brains naturally seek to evolve order, coherence and meaning. Once you allow yourself the freedom to explore and play; set the initial conditions; and then get out of the way, creativity can develop and unify all kinds of things that otherwise would seem impossible.

The principles of improvisation serve a much larger purpose than performance - they have the ability to create the life-giving container for cognitive, personal, organizational, social, political, and spiritual transformation. I see them as rules of engagement for a more peaceful, co-generative, co-creative, sustainable world. ~ By Michelle James

Michelle James, CEO of The Center for Creative Emergence, founded Quantum Leap Business Theater 10 years ago where she has lead improv-based programs for organizations such as Microsoft, The World Bank and Kaiser Permanente among others. She also offers public workshops such as Improv for Leaders, Creative Facilitation using Improv and Improvisational Thinking to name a few.

Pictures are from one of our performances - Precipice Improv

 

 

The Time is Ripe for Creativity in Business!

Creativity is no longer on the sidelines of the workplace or for the select few - it's front and center,  increasingly acknowledged as the key business factor for economic growth in the new economy. It is not just for the creatives - each of us has to "step up our creative game" to thrive in the emerging paradigm of work.

With challenging social, economic and environmental conditions, we are also being called to look beyond business as usual into what really matters and how can we serve - and still make a profitable living. It's time to focus on integrating for-profit business, purpose, creativity and serving a greater good. Passion alone is not enough to break old thinking and working patterns that fracture and segment, and move into creating new "whole-systems" patterns. NEW and different ways of thinking and being - consciously applied - are needed to create a sustainable, alive and thriving future. Creativity is the driving force to navigate this shift.

Just google "Creativity in Business" and you will see an ever-expanding lists of courses, books, articles, and programs on the topic. It has hit the mainstream which is gratifying for those of us who have been passionate about this integration! Many MBA programs now include creativity and/or social responsibility as part of the curriculum. The new paradigm is about converging worlds: commerce and service, left and right brain, thinking and being, creativity and practicality, mind and heart...and what is simultaneously good for self, others and the whole.

I am very excited to explore - and experience - these concepts further at our Creativity in Business Conference in DC October 4th!

Our Creativity in Business Conference ~ October 4 in DC

http://www.creativity-conference.com

Join applied-creativity thought leaders, pioneering entrepreneurs and business innovators from around the country - in the fields of creativity and innovation, organizational change, social media and transformational leadership - for a full-day event focused on:

* Harnessing and focusing individual, group & organizational creativity
* Organizational structures/business models conducive for creativity & innovation
* The integration of creativity, purpose, business & serving the greater good

New ideas, new innovations, new systems and new structures depend on accessing new levels of creativity. At this event, we will explore different facets of creativity as the key driver in navigating and thriving in the new work paradigm.

Conference: 9:00-5:30 Festival: 5:30-7:30

CONFERENCE:  - Lively, Content-rich, Experiential Break-out Sessions each with a different focus related to the theme of Applied Creativity in Business  - Engaging Thought Leader Panels explore the creativity-centered work paradigm through the lens' of leadership, social media and creative thinking

FESTIVAL:  Comedy, Live Music, Networking, Book Signings, Give-Aways and hors d'oeuvres from award-winning Mie N Yu restaurant

ALSO INCLUDED:  Arts and Business Services Silent Auction - all proceeds from the auction go to ProjectCreateDC. For more info on how to donate a work of art or a business service, email info@creativeemergence.com.

REGISTRATION:  Earlybird discount through August 21: $149 ~ Regular rate after August 21: $197 ~ Sponsorship: $500. Seating is limited - early registration is recommended. http://www.creativity-conference.com

SPONSORS: - The Center for Creative Emergence (Conference Producer) - Capitol Creativity Network - Center for Digital Imaging Arts - Teratech - Timothy Flatt Studios - Mie N Yu - Over The Horizon Consulting, LLC - Associated Producers - Brandwithin - Integral Company - Thoughtlead -Photograhy by Alexander

ALL THE DETAILS:  http://www.creativity-conference.com

Hope you can join us! :-)

Art of Change Inaugural Celebration with DC's Creative Communities

Our Capitol Creativity Network is one of the sponsors for this exciting creative event this evening:

The Art of Change is an inaugural event created by and for the nation's art communities. We intend to create a unique celebration to mark the beginning of President-elect Barack Obama's administration and the positive changes we believe it will bring to our nation.

To create this event, volunteers have come together from all over Washington, DC's creative communities to collaborate in an event that will meld together art, music, and performance to show the District of Columbia the most original and creative inaugural event ever held.

The Art of Change planning committee is an all-volunteer group of movers and shakers from the Washington, DC creative community. All planning committee members are affiliated with one or more of our sponsor or partner organizations and have put in countless hours of personal time creating this event.

> Artists devoted to exploring the world of human aesthetic to bring us closer to a greater understanding of the world around us, our fellow human beings, and the deepest recesses of the psyche
> Performers adept at coaxing the highest elation and depths of despair from our audiences with the power of word, body, sound, and movement
> Event planners tried and tested in our talents for bringing together group energies and art to move beyond the intentions of individuals to a powerful new collective potential
> A collaborative powerhouse of creative energy devoted to expressing our hopes for the future of America and the entire world in the wake of the most important presidential election in any of our lifetimes through our own unique celebration

Go to artists-ball.org for details.

Mentioned as Visionary Leader in Fast Company Blog

I am totally surprised - and completely honored! - to be named one of the Visionary Leaders in the Fast Company Blog, Leading Change  Truly honored to be in such inspiring company:

http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/seth-kahan/leading-change/visionary-leadership  

Obama's Seven Lessons for Radical Innovators

Innovative organizations live by new rules. The Obama campaign played by the new rules. Harvard Business Publishing's Edge Economy, featured an article by Umair Haque, Director of Havas Media Lab entitled Obama's Seven Lessons for Radical Innovators. Here are some excerpts:

Barack Obama is one of the most radical management innovators in the world today. Obama's team built something truly world-changing: a new kind  of political organization for the 21st century...Obama's presidential bid succeeded...through the power of new DNA: new rules for new kinds of institutions...

Seven rules for tomorrow's radical innovators:

1. Have a self-organization design. Obama's organization...was able to combine the virtues of both tall and flat organizations. How? By tapping the game-changing power of self-organization. Obama's organization was less tall or flat than spherical—a tightly controlled core, surrounded by self-organizing cells of volunteers, donors, contributors, and other participants at the fuzzy edges....McCain's organization was left trapped by a stifling command-and-control paradigm.

2. Seek elasticity of resilience. Obama's 21st century organization was built for a 21st century goal—not to maximize outputs, or minimize inputs, but to, as Gary Hamel has discussed, remain resilient to turbulence. When McCain attacked Obama with negative ads...Obama's organization responded with record-breaking fundraising. That's resilience: reflexively bouncing back to an existential threat by growing, augmenting, or strengthening resources.

3. Minimize strategy. Obama's campaign dispensed almost entirely with strategy in its most naïve sense: strategy as gamesmanship or positioning.  They didn't waste resources trying to dominate the news cycle, game the system, strong-arm the party, or out-triangulate competitors' positions. Rather, Obama's campaign took a scalpel to strategy—because they realized that strategy, too often, kills a deeply-lived sense of purpose, destroys credibility, and corrupts meaning.

4. Maximize purpose...Obama's goal wasn't simply to win an election...It was larger and more urgent: to change the world...yesterday, we built huge corporations to do tiny, incremental things—tomorrow, we must build  small organizations that can do tremendously massive things. And to do that, you must strive to change the world radically for the better—and always  believe that yes, you can. You must maximize, stretch, and utterly explode your sense of purpose.

5. Broaden unity. What do marketers traditionally do? Segment and target, slice and dice...Yet Obama succeeded not through division, but through unification...Obama intuitively understands a larger truth of next-generation economics. Unified markets are what a world driven to collapse by hyperconsumption is desperately going to need.

6. Thicken power. The power many corporations wield is thin power: the power to instill fear and inculcate greed. True power is what Obama has learned wield: the power to inspire, lead, and engender belief. You can beat people into subjugation—but you can never command their loyalty,
creativity, or passion. Thick power is true power: it's radically more durable, less costly, and more intense.

7. Remember that there is nothing more asymmetrical than an ideal. Obama ended his last speech before the election by saying: "let's go change the world." Why are those words important? Because the world needs changing...In the 21st century, there is nothing more asymmetrical—more disruptive, more revolutionary, or more innovative—than the world-changing power of an ideal...

The seventh lesson is the starting point for tomorrow's radical innovators—because it's the thread that knits the others together. And it's where you should start if you want to use these seven rules to start building 21st century institutions—whether businesses, non-profits, social enterprises, or political campaigns.

For the full article go to http://discussionleader.hbsp.com/haque/

I've recently become a big fan of Umair's. He write on juicy topics such as strategic imagination, radical management innovation, the new DNA, corporate revolutionaries and overinnovation.

Top 10 Creative Freelance Careers

According to About.com's article, Following Your Artistic Passion to Find Business Success, the top 10 Creative Freelance Careers are:

1. Scrapbook Design Consultant
Companies, like Creative Memories and Stampn' Up, offer home-based consultant programs....receive a starter kit and then resell the supplies, and other related products, through home party demonstrations.. provide scrapbooking services to others...use your talent to create gift cards and other custom products to sell direct.
2. Speciality Freelance Writer
...time to think beyond the standard freelancing notion of writing copy for brochures, white papers and magazine articles - and get creative...copy for online greeting cards...custom party invitations, thank you notes or love letters....professional complaint letters to send to offending corporations.
3. Color Consultant
Color consultants are companions to the interior design business...boosting the need for color consultants in both homes and businesses is the Feng Shui movement and the recognition of the effects of color on mood.
4. Waterscapes Design Consultant
...focusing on outdoor living spaces and custom-designed gardens....help home owners and businesses utilize water elements in their outdoor spaces.
5. Real Estate Marketing Consultant
As a home staging professional you are paid to declutter, rearrange and organize a home so that it looks its best for showing to prospective buyers...create an attention-getting Open House...
6. Social Media Consultant
A growing trend is the use of social networking sites, such as FaceBook, MySpace and Second Life to market a traditional business...advise companies on issues such as, the most appropriate, and cost-effective means of advertising on these and other social networking sites; creating viral videos; and even on implementing and maintaining a corporate blog.
7. Event Coordinator
Stop thinking in terms of wedding planning and boring, corporate functions...coordinating lavish Sweet 16 parties for teens, or the Spanish equivelant of the Quinceanera party...create intimate, romantic dinner parties for two and to organize unique and over-the-top memorial and funeral services for the ultimate going-away party.
8. Jewelry Designer and Buying Consultant
Using precious gems or intricate beadwork to design jewelry is a wonderful way to evoke your creative muse...consider designing custom necklaces, or jeweled collars, for pampered dogs and cats....design custom pieces to add to cell phones, digital cameras and MP3 players.
9. Graphic Artist
...specialize in online graphics. For example, you could use your artful imagination to design Avatars, or graphical representations of people for use online. Similarly, you could put web-based artwork to use in video games, Flash ads, and online videos.
10. Play Consultant
Companies once paid big money for employees to attend team-building programs, and now that same concept has been reinvented as a play therapist...consult companies on how to use play and creative thinking in brainstorming events to engage employees and solicit better ideas...advise on how to use fun as a way to de-stress overworked, burned-out employees...or provide weekly exercise programs or creative play sessions for their students.

For the full article, go to
http://consulting.about.com/od/gettingstarted/tp/CF_10CreativeCareers1007.htm 

Peace Through Commerce Conference in DC ~ Nov 13-15

I am excited to be involved with the upcoming Peace Through Commerce conference!

"Representatives from academia, civil society, and public policy think tanks will convene with business and political leaders at George Washington University for this event, designed to illuminate and celebrate the powerful role ethical commerce plays in promoting peace, and to expand an emerging multi-sector alliance to advance the theory and practice of Peace Through Commerce. Increased economic freedom enhances the climate for business, leading to opportunities for local entrepreneurs, higher rates of job creation, and greater prosperity....Research has proven peace is good for business, thus promoting a virtuous cycle of investment and enterprise advancing peace, and peace advancing investment and enterprise."

Come connect with innovative thought leaders in various fields; learn more about the framework and pioneering practices and that are changing the business landscape to one that serves people, profit and planet; and stimulate creative ideas for your own work or business; and explore collaboration. Leave inspired and part of something larger than yourself - generative and gaining momentum!

For more information go to http://www.peacethroughcommerce.com
To register go to http://peacethroughcommerce.eventbrite.com

Hope to see you there!

The Big Glow

From Brian Peirgrossi's book, The Big Glow: Insights, Inspirations, Peace and Passion
(Thanks, Kate Jones, for sending it over!):

On the surface of the world right now there is war and violence
and things seem dark
But calmly and quietly, at the same time,
something else is happening underground
An inner revolution is taking place
and certain individuals are being called to a higher light
It is a silent revolution From the inside out
From the ground up

Most of us work anonymously
We are quietly working behind the scenes
in every country and culture of the world
Cities big and small, mountains and valleys,
in farms and villages, tribes and remote islands

Occasionally we spot each other in the street
We give a quiet nod and continue on our way so no one will notice
During the day many of us pretend we have normal jobs
But behind the false storefront at night is where the real work takes a place

Some call us the 'Conscious Army'
We are slowly creating a new world with the power of our minds and hearts
We follow, with passion and joy
Our orders from the Central Command
The Spiritual Intelligence Agency

We are dropping soft, secret love bombs when no one is looking
Poems
Hugs
Music
Photography
Movies
Kind words
Smiles
Meditation and prayer
Dance
Social activism
Websites
Blogs
Random acts of kindness

We each express ourselves in our own unique ways with our own unique gifts and talents

'Be the change you want to see in the world'
That is the motto that fills our hearts
We know it is the only way real transformation takes place
We know that quietly and humbly we have the power of all the oceans combined

Our work is slow and meticulous
Like the formation of mountains
It is not even visible at first glance
And yet with it entire tectonic plates shall be moved in the centuries to come

Love is the new religion of the 21st century
You don't have to be a highly educated person
Or have any exceptional knowledge to understand it
It comes from the intelligence of the heart
Embedded in the timeless evolutionary pulse of all human beings

Be the change you want to see in the world
Nobody else can do it for you
We are now recruiting
Perhaps you will join us
Or already have....
All are welcome...
The door is open

~  Brian Piergrossi, from his book, The Big Glow