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Creative Emergence Newsletter
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August 2008
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| Greetings!
I hope you are having a wonderful summer! I have been enjoying mine so much, consciously using nature as my "health club" - out for rigorous hikes or exploratory rock climbs 4-5 times a week, and feeling a greater sense of consistent well being as a result. The combination of purposeful exercise, non-linear movement (great for the body and creative thinking), the "fractaled" shapes of nature (proven to relax eyes and de-stress the brain), the fresh air, the spaciousness, natural sounds and the focus on intentional discovery has been amazing. My friend and colleague, Jason (who I meet weekly for 7:00am "edge-of-chaos" outdoor explorations), and I were just talking about the positive impact our active "rock meditations" have had on our work days and our internal states of being.
Other quick updates: (1) I was interviewed by Steve Fisher of Solutions are Power on coaching and creative emergence. You can read the interview at solutionsarepower.com . (2) Our website has a new look (more soft than sleek for our focus on cultivating change from the inside-out). (3) We will be putting on a Creativity in Business Conference in the DC area (it's time!) in 2009. Details will follow soon as soon as we secure the venue.
Have a great rest of summer!
Warmly,
Michelle |
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Creativity-in-Work Program starts September 19th!
4 full-day workshops over 6 weeks: 9/19, 10/3, 10/17 and 10/31 + individual coaching
ONLY 1 SPACE LEFT!
A Professional and Personal Development Program Using Your Creativity for Your Business Bottom Line and new Work Directions, Strategies, Innovations, Projects, Products or Services.
Develop a solid, structured framework of what you offer and your unique "signature". You'll use the Creative Emergence Process with a rich integration of improv, the arts, intuition techniques, reflection tools, whole-brain methods, creative thinking, and analytical and evaluative approaches to help you create what's next in your work. Leave with a self-designed framework, set of strategic goals and an action and marketing plan; and the initial implementation of the plans. And have FUN doing it! For complete details and registration go to http://www.creativeemergence.com/id22.html
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Old/Current Management Paradigm to New Creative Paradigm
Henri Fayol (1841-1925) was a French management theorist whose theories in management and organization of labor were widely influential in the beginning of 20th century. He was known for his 14 Principles of Management and 5 Elements of Action, which are still valued today as "what organizations should strive to be." His definition of management roles and actions includes:
1. To forecast and plan. Examining the future and drawing up a plan of action; strategize.
2. To organize. Build up the structure, both material and human, of the undertaking.
3. To command. Maintain the activity among the personnel.
4. To coordinate. Binding together, unifying and harmonizing all activity and effort.
5. To control. Everything occurs in conformity w/established rule and expressed command.
They represent an paradigm that is still prevalent - yet not effective - in most organizations today. There is little room for creativity, individuality, meaning and purpose amidst these ways of being. In that mechanistic model, the internal state - and creative contribution - of the people in the system can't fully move and flourish. The new, integrative, creative paradigm of management acknowledges and includes these elements AND recognizes them as incredibly incomplete - a useful as part of the whole, but not the driver. I see the new paradigm as the BOTH/AND - it adds balanced counterparts to each one of the elements:
1. To improvise. Planning is balanced with improvising and adapting strategies to real-time
feedback, insights and information as it emerges.
2. To incubate. To organize is balanced with giving time and space for incubation and
inherent self-organization to emerge.
3. To facilitate. To command is balanced with to facilitate and draw forth from employees.
4. To co-create. To coordinate is balanced with to collaborate and co-create.
5. To let go and be present. To control is balanced with letting go, being present, and being
informed by what is happening in the moment.
It's not about getting-rid-of as much as it is about "yes-anding" and integrating. Together, these seemingly contradictory parts establish an environment for positive change and creativity to emerge. The dance of opposites - and what is in between, and emerges from, the polarities - expands the playing field for creative systems to thrive. |
Zentrepreneurism
Zentrepreneurism is part of the emerging paradigm of work which inlcudes purpose, passion, profit, planet, creative expression and positive social impact...Yes-And to all of it! The following is the description from International Network of Social Entrepreneurs founder, Christophe Poizat:
"Zentrepreneurism is surfacing across a wide spectrum of successful, purposeful businesses. Many individuals have tried different things and are looking for meaning in their work: work that has integrity and purpose. Social entrepreneurs are exploding across North America and are looking to solve social problems on a larger scale, giving birth to zentrepreneurs who are aligning their personal values with their professional goals. Allan Holender's new book, Zentrepreneurism: A 21st Century Guide to The New World Of Business provides just that...Zentrepreneurism is about making a fundamental shift in the way the world does business, as well as a swing towards a new era of 'enlightened capitalism', where the chief 'embezzlement' officer is being replaced by the chief "enlightenment" officer..."
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The Creative Source
Inside each of us there is a Creative Source - the source of
our creative flow and our inherent order, emerging structures, the creative
impulse, the inspiration to create and evolve, and the place within us that is life
always seeking more life. I personally believe it is the true "fountain of
youth" - the creative wellspring of total aliveness - ever-fresh, ever-generative, ever-originating and ever-unfolding. It contains within it an embedded
creative intelligence of pure, raw
potential integrated with purpose, motion and trajectory. It is by accessing,
cultivating, forming and shaping this universal - and uniquely personal -
creative resource into being that positive change happens in our selves, our
organizations, our systems and our lives. It is at the core of creative emergence. Like everything, it needs Space, Time, and Attention to grow and become consciously embodied.
I recently read an excerpt of a letter Yasuhiko Genku
Kimura, founder of the Vision-in-Action Leadership Institute, wrote to one of his students. It resonated
so much I'd like to share it: "The satisfaction or the fulfillment of the visionary's
life does not come from public recognition but from the inner joy of
envisioning and creating and from the profound reverent connection to the
Source whence his visions and ideas originate. Ascend therefore within your own
self and reach the inner Source whence all visionaries and creators draw their
inspiration. The purpose of your life is the evolution of your soul, and your
soul evolves through the inspired act of envisioning and creating and by the
spiritual nurture you thus receive from the Source..."
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Understanding Innovation in 5 Minutes
Innovation has become a big buzz word these days, and is often thrown around as a business value or mission without an understanding of what it means. It is also often used interchangeably with the word creativity, a universal process that may or may not lead to innovation. I found this slideshow at www.brokenbulbs.com and thought it was a great, short (albeit incomplete, but hey, it's only about 35 sentences) introduction to innovation: Understand-innovation-in-5-minutes.
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Social Media Landscape
The emerging landscape of social media brings with it exponential creative potential. Fred Cacazza has a wonderful blog, Social Media Landscape,
that spells out what exactly is emerging in the field of social media.
He created an easy-to-read graphic - the most comprehensive I have seen
- that is understandable by people of all levels of tech savvy, or lack
thereof. (A great marketing idea as well - he had so many hits on his
blog that they literally had to shut it down for a while). A picture
really is worth a thousand words (that's why I believe everyone should
have only unlined notepads for all of their business note-taking and
brainstorming - frees the mind to think "outside the lines"). On his site you'll see the
graphic of what compiles the Social Media Landscape. Visit his blog at http://socialmedialandscape.com/cms - a fantastic resource!
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Capitol Creativity Network tonight!
We sponsor CCN, a special interest group that meets monthly in Washington, DC, to explore all facets of creativity - from business to the arts to the scientific. Our next meeting is Wednesday, August 13. I will be leading a fun, high-energy program, Improv for Leaders - using the principles and practices of Improvisational Theater in work environments for positive change. Go to www.capitolcreativitynetwork.com to sign up for our monthly announcements email (with program descriptions), or our Yahoogroups listserve. We also have an online Facebook group for anyone.
Oh, and speaking of the Social Media Landscape, be sure to save December 10th for the CCN Holiday Party. Author of A Whole New Mind, Dan Pink, will be there talking about his new book, The Adventure of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need, followed by a panel of DC's social media pioneer-guru-creators moving and shaking the world of work and social networking with their innovative new technologies and ways of engaging. Got questions on this emerging world that is impacting all of our work and lives? You'll definitely be in the right place to have them answered.
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 Our Services
The Center for Creative Emergence is a
creativity consulting, training and coaching company dedicated to
integrating inspired creativity, meaning, organizational culture and business
for a happier and more productive work life and a richer bottom line. We
cultivate breakthroughs and emergence with entrepreneurs, teams, corporations and non-profits. CEO Michelle James has a mission to
"mainstream" creativity and engage people into their full
humanness for innovative work, positive social change and consciously creating a life-giving future.
We offer a variety of Services which include emergent strategy
consulting, corporate and public workshops, creativity training, Creative
Emergence coaching, ideation facilitation, professional development and
somatic (body-centered) programs, conference presentations, creativity events and Quantum Leap Business Improv.
Our Blog is The Fertile Unknown at www.creativeemergence.typepad.com.
Our Coaching is for Entrepreneurs who want
to develop their signature approach, products and services, or future story;
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; Renaissance types 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
intelligence for new solutions and directions.
Clients have included GEICO, Kaiser Permanente, Inova Health System, Cable & Wireless, National Institutes of Health, World Bank, Invest Northern Ireland, Service Employee International Union, Search for Common Ground, Center for Nonprofit Advancement, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Telos Corporation and the Association of Performing Arts Presenters among others.
Web:
www.creativeemergence.com
Email:
michelle@creativeemergence.com
Phone:
703-760-9009
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Quotes for the road...
"The best in art and life
comes from a centre; something urgent and powerful; an ideal or emotion that
insists on being. From that insistence a shape emerges and creates a structure
out of passion. If you begin with a structure, you have to make up the passion,
and that is very hard to do."
~ Roger Rosenblatt, essayist
"Our individuality is all, all, that we have. There are those who barter
it for security, those who repress it for what they believe is the
betterment of the whole society, but blessed in the twinkle of the
morning star is the one who nurtures and rides it, in grace and love
and wit..."
~ Tom Robbins, author
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