Creative Edge Focusing E-Newsletter

 

Instant "Ahah!"s #6:  EMPOWERMENT ORGANIZATION 

TOPPLING THE PYRAMID = JOY AT WORK .
 
CHANGE = INTUITIVE FOCUSING AT THE CREATIVE  EDGE                                                              

Dr. Kathy McGuire, Director                                Week Four
TOPPLING THE PYRAMID = INCREASING INNOVATION

 

Of course, the idea of motivation, creativity, and innovation all being rooted in the "grass roots," the bottom-up level of organizations and corporations is not new to Creative Edge Focusing ™. What is new is providing Intuitive Focusing, paired with Focused Listening, as an actual easy-to-learn self-help method for actually connecting with, and articulating, the Creative Edge of right-brain problem solving at every level of organization.

 

Even when I was in graduate school in the 1970's, the prevailing wisdom was that the Japanese model of small groups/teams creating innovative ideas from "the bottom up" led to superior creativity and success in some areas.

 

In their 1994 book, Toppling The Pyramid, business gurus Gerald Ross and Michael Kay, forecast "that global businesses are heading for a once-in-200-year revolutionary change." Tracing this transformation in six major global corporations, they "introduce the molecular management structure - a new kind of organization that is positioned to meet the challenges of business today":

 

"The old hierarchical pyramid structure no longer allows companies to respond quickly enough to a rapidly changing marketplace in which customer wants and needs must be met instantaneously. Those who get ahead of these changes will be the business leaders of tomorrow --- Packed with examples, Toppling The Pyramid answers the question, "How do you change?" ---This book is a must-read for anyone seeking to motivate their organization to change to the flatter, more empowered, more molecular environment critical to economic survival in the twenty-first century." (book jacket)

 

EMPOWERMENT ORGANIZATION = JOY AT WORK

 

Being encouraged to contribute from one's individual Creative Edge of intuitive problem solving is also central to enjoyment in the workplace. Here's the jacket statement from Dennis W. Bakke's Joy At Work, 2005:

 

"Imagine a company where people love coming to work and are highly productive on a daily basis. Imagine a company whose top executives, in a quest to create the most 'fun' workplace ever, obliterate labor-management divisions and push decision-making responsibility down to the plant floor --- (Bakke tells the true story of AES) "a worldwide energy giant with 40,000 employees in 31 countries and revenues of $8.6 billion ---

 

Bakke sought not the empty 'fun' of the Friday beer blast but the joy of a workplace where every person, from custodian to CEO, has the power to use his or her God-given talents free of needless corporate bureaucracy. In Joy of Work, Bakke tells how he helped create a company where every decision made at the top was lamented as a lost chance to delegate responsibility - and where all employees were encouraged to take the 'game-winning shot,' even when it wasn't a slam-dunk."

 

FOCUSING = THE CRUX OF CHANGE

 

Eugene Gendlin took the question, "How does change come about?" as his central one when he studied personality change. His research led to the definition of Focusing as the crux skill for bringing about personality change, with Empathic Listening as the crux skill facilitating this change.

 

Change did not come about unless the client in therapy was using Focusing to create words and images freshly from the immediacy of present, "felt experiencing," the "intuitive feel" of problems and situations. Gendlin's  early research also showed the relationship between Focusing and Creativity.

 

Gendlin's latest creation, Thinking At The Edge (TAE),  provides concrete steps for turning one's "intuitive feel" into one's own unique, generalizable theory about some universal aspect of reality. See Nada Lou's Grass Roots Introduction To TAE for a user-friendly workbook.

 

CREATIVE EDGE FOCUSING = INDIVIDUAL ALIVENESS AT EVERY LEVEL

 

Creative Edge Focusing ™ is a concrete package of skills and methods for keeping every individual, group/team, and meeting at The Creative Edge of intuitive problem solving.

 

The goal, with the One Small Thing and Touchstone Mission Focusing exercises as examples,  is to give a concrete method, Intuitive Focusing and Focused Listening, for keeping people, in families, communities,  organizations, and corporations, connected to this grass roots, individual level of new ideas and creative problem solving.

 

The Creative Edge Pyramid provides methods for applying the basic Listening/Focusing skills at all levels in a Creative Edge Organization:  Focusing Alone (including Focusing Coaching), Focusing Partnerships, Focusing Groups/Teams, Interpersonal Focusing, Focusing-Oriented meetings, Focusing Communities, Creative Edge Organization.

 

INTUITIVE FOCUSING EXERCISE: "WHAT IS THE ONE SMALL THING I CAN DO TO CAPTURE MY ALIVENESS, MY CREATIVE EDGE IN MY WORK RIGHT NOW?"

 

So, for the last time as this cycle ends, please spend some time with the Focusing exercise, "One Small Thing", but this time looking for "the one small thing," some small step you can take to make your work and work place more motivating, more Creative Edge for you :

 
So, let's use the Intuitive Focusing skill to find the "one small thing" to engage and motivate YOURSELF in terms of your work. 

Focusing Instructions

Close your eyes and get comfortable --- let your "focus" turn inward, your attention toward the "intuitive feel" that is more than words ---
(one minute or more)

Just notice your breathing going in --- and out --- in --- and out --- in --- and out --- don't try to change it. Just notice your breathing as a way of coming inside, more in tune with your intuitive-knowing ---
(one minute or more)

Spend a moment "clearing a space" if you need to, acknowledging and setting aside any issues that arise ---
(one minute or more)

Now, in that "cleared space" inside, ask yourself, "What is The Creative Edge of my own work, the spark of motivation right now?"and just sit quietly, bringing the whole concern into the center of your attention, setting aside the already known, and letting an "intuitive feel" for "the whole thing" arise ---
(one minute)

Find some words or an image or make a drawing --- try to capture the "intuitive feel" ---
Don't worry if you don't get a clear answer --- you are drawing closer to an "intuitive feel" for the whole situation --- If you want to write anything down, using Mind Mapping or any other method, take a few moments to do so ---
(one minute or more)

Continue to "sit with" this sense of your Creative Edge ---  using Focusing to go back-and-forth between words and images and the "intuitive feel of the "whole thing, until you find symbolizations that exactly capture that "intuitive feel" --- "Ahah! It's this!!!"
(one minute or more)
 

Now, ask yourself, "Is there anything in the way of my being at The Creative Edge at work? Anything specific, or perhaps something more general, like a 'background feeling,' getting in the way of my creativity, aliveness at work?"---
(one minute)

Don't get into thinking the "already-known" --- set aside what you already know and just pay attention to the "intuitive feel" of the whole thing that is more than you are already thinking --- don't try to do anything --- just notice the "unclear feel" that comes up of " anything getting in the way of my Creative Edge aliveness at work?" ---

(one minute or more)

And find some words or an image that can capture that "intuitive feel" ---if you want to write anything down, feel free ---
(one minute or more)

Now, ask yourself, "What would be one small step I could take right now to bring that aliveness, that Creative Edge, into my present work or to clear away obstacles in the way?", and again use Focusing, going back and forth between symbols and "felt sensing," until you find a small step that feels just right, feels "doable." ---

(one minute or more)
 
Go back-and-forth, internally, trying out an idea in your mind, sensing into how people might react, imagining how it might work, sensing what might get in the way--- go back and forth between trying out possibilities and checking with the "intuitive feel": "Would that work? --- How would that be?--- "
 
(one minute or more)
 
And, when you feel that you have a clear sense of "one small step" you could take, or one small obstacle you could remove, then come slowly back into the room. Take notes as needed or desired ---
 
If you have a Focusing Partnership, you could continue exploring this issue with the company of Focused Listening. If you use Focusing as part of a Focusing Group/Team, you could use a Round-Robin sharing, an short uninterrupted turn for each person, to say what came up for them and do some group problem solving about bringing all of these individual Creative Edges into the work project. 
 
Being At The Creative Edge Also = Innovative Thinking
 
For a complete explanation of the theory behind access to The Creative Edge and innovative decision making, you can download Dr. McGuire's comprehensive article, "Collaborative Edge Decision Making Method, " . As a bonus, the Appendix of this article includes Handouts you can use at actual meetings, one for each role in Shared Leadership.
 

Please email Dr. McGuire with your questions or answers about the groups you belong to, the meetings you attend

 

Think about whether there are any small groups, sub-groups or teams, committees where you would feel safe enough, and empowered enough, to explain to coworkers about empowerment from the Creative Edge, the "felt sensing" of each individual. Or try out the "One Small Thing" exercise on your own with organizational or social issues that matter to you.

QUICK LINKS TO E-SUPPORT, CLASSES, BLOG, ARTICLES, ETC.
 
Two Yahoo E-Groups, Creative Edge Practice and Creative Edge Collaboration, for Ongoing Support and Learning
 
 
Self-Help Package, CDs, DVD, manual English and espanol
 
Experiential Focusing Therapy manual
 
Certification Programs: Consultant/Helping Professional : Now with option of Structured Level 1-4 Listening/Focusing Training With Ruth Hirsch followed by 10 supervision sessions with Dr. McGuire. Contact Dr. McGuire for information on this NEW option
 
About Creative Edge Focusing (TM) 
 
Mission: bring Core Skills of Intuitive Focusing and Focused Listening, and The Creative Edge Pyramid of applications from individual to interpersonal to organizational, to all audiences throughout the world.
 
Dr. Kathy McGuire, Director
Location: Beaver Lake in Rogers, AR
These materials are offered purely as self-help skills. In providing them, Dr. McGuire is not engaged in rendering psychological, financial, legal, or other professional services. If expert assistance or counseling is needed, the services of a competent professional should be sought.
Creative Edge Focusing (TM)
Dr. Kathy McGuire
Director
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