Creativity, by its nature, births into the world something new. It is a naturally transformative force. A process that has the potential to unleash real creativity into a system, which results in real change, will likely meet up with natural resistance somewhere along the way. There is something organic happening that goes beyond "fear of risk taking." That's why simply talking about risk taking doesn't make people risk-takers. There is a ready-ing process - a preparing of a system - for change that helps it go more smoothly.

Natural resistance is so named because it is an organic force found throughout nature’s own creative process. It serves as the organism's protection until the critical moment it outgrows its purpose. The bud’s resistance to the bloom is felt most profoundly at the critical point just before the flower is about to blossom – that’s when the bloom feels the most resistance of the bud up against it. The resistance of the shell to the chick is felt more profoundly as the chick is about to hatch – the chick has to break through the resistance of the shell to be born into the world.

In nature, there is an embedded dynamic trajectory, or life energy, that helps the process. At the moment of birth, the chick’s momentum to be born is stronger than the shell’s programming to protect. Resistance becomes no match for the life that is bursting forth.

A similar resistance shows up in individuals, groups and organizational systems as they seek to birth a new vision, product, strategy, service or working paradigm. The following are three of the many ways to and navigate the terrain of natural resistance - preparing the system for change:

1. Discover the dynamic trajectory - the passion, mission, purpose, intention, enthusiasm, life energy, motivating directive - that is strong enough to move through the accompanying resistance...and work from that dynamic momentum. Every person, team and organization has an embedded collective intelligence that forms its co-creative potential. Putting that into motion is a powerful, generative force that enables change.

2. Learn to recognize and acknowledge natural resistance as it shows up. Just as the bud is pliable and the egg is breakthrough-able, natural resistance is ultimately maneuverable. It has a quality of mutability no matter how much push-back it wields at first. By acknowledging resistance as a part of the process, without judgement, people feel safer and less guarded, and it loses much of its power.

3. Practice the non-habitual...habitually. By consistently applying innovative techniques that challenge people to think and act in unfamiliar ways as part of the cultural norm, natural resistance to change measurably reduces over time.

Dr. Win Wenger, Founder of Project Renaissance and author of The Einstein Factor and 30 other creative thinking books, and I are co-creating a one-day workshop in July on "Creative Thinking and Perception." We're working out the logistics and will send them out in the next newsletter.

Creative Emergence weaves multiple creativity methods, the natural process of emergence, and intentional purpose together to design what is next - whether is is a new business model, strategy, method, system, workshop, product, way of interacting, or working paradigm. The creative emergence process is paradoxical. It brings together perceptions, approaches, and ways of thinking that are not normally found together to set the stage for new insights and solutions to emerge. It includes:

• Unconventional methods to achieve practical solutions
• Multiple dimensions of activity to achieve focused results
• Methodically practicing spontaneous creativity
• Going into the unfamiliar to better understand the familiar

Creative Emergence Coaching is a whole-systems process that integrates the right and left brain, reflection and action, being and doing, knowledge and discovery, analysis and expression, intuition and logic, and strategy with improvisation.

Who is this for? Entrepreneurs who want to develop their signature approach, products and services; Leaders who want to draw out and focus the creativity and innovation of their work force; Pioneers who are forging new territory and breaking new ground in their field; Aspiring Integrators who have several seemingly unrelated aspects of their work and talents and seek to unify them into a coherent whole; and Teams who want to optimize their collective creative intelligence for new solutions and directions.

For a free 30-minute consultation to see if this approach is right for you, call 703-760-9009.