Creative Emergence Newsletter
March 2012
In This Issue
Creativity in Work 2012 Program
Evolve Initiative
Recent Blog Posts
WeMeanBiz Interview
CreativiTweet Links
CreativiTweet Musings
Creativity Network
Our Services

Hi! It's been a 4 months since our last newsletter. After our Creativity in Business Conference, I took some focused time to "listen into" and cultivate what's calling to emerge next. As a result, I discovered the title of my first 2 e-books, and have already started working on the first. Also welcomed in a new corporate client and two new non-profit clients - as well as some amazing passion-centered entrepreneurs for coaching - all of which has been keeping me pretty busy...and growing. And just returned from an amazing week in San Francisco in collaborative process with others committed to a creativity-centered work paradigm. Very generative time in a city that exudes creativity! 

I'm very excited to be offering our signature Creativity in Work Immersion Program again this spring - one of my favorites! We go wide and we go deep, and I learn much each time - it's always evolving. Details are below. Also below are links to some interviews - including interviews on We Mean Business! TV and the Evolve 2012 Initiative - articles, new blog posts, tweets, and the Capitol Creativity Network (back in action for 2012!). Hope to see you at an event soon! :-) Warmly, Michelle   

 

"Seek mystery, evoke mystery, plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries bloom." ~ Ken Kesey 

Creativity in Work Program is back! 
4 Fridays this Spring (9am-5pm) over 6 weeks: April 13, April 27, May 11, May 25
 
Earlybird discount ($200 off) thru March 30!

"This program was life changing. I came up with a breakthrough new idea for my business. I found myself easily completing tasks that I had procrastinated about for years. Each workshop was a joy to attend." ~ Michael Smith, CEO of Teratech

 

Use your inspired 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 creative process with a rich integration of design thinking, improv, the arts, intuitive techniques, reflection tools, whole-brain methods, creative thinking, story, and analytical and evaluative approaches to help you create what's next in your work. Whole-brain, whole-person engagement for practical results! 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! You'll also experience a deeper connection with your Creative Self - the place in you that's your unique gift to the world. See your creativity and your work come to life! Space is limited for maximum individualized attention and support. Early registration recommended.

For complete details and registration go to
http://www.creativeemergence.com/cinw.html 

"Working with the Creative Emergence process is a multi-layered gift to be unwrapped slowly. I never imagined starting a business could actually be a "fun" process. I highly recommend this program." ~ Ann Bracken, President of The Possibility Project  
Evolve 2012 Initiative 
Delighted to be one of 27 passion-centered entrepreneurs interviewed for the the  Evolve 2012 Initiative. The initiative seeks to create a multi-dimensional conversation that supports the needs of individuals, small businesses and organizations, as well as the emerging Community of Evolutionary Entrepreneurs and the new social and economic infrastructure that will support our individual and collective growth. The interviews provide inspired perspectives and practical practices to bring forth your unique gifts as you engage your purposeful, creative livelihood. Register for this FREE interview series here. 
The Fertile Unknown - Latest Blog Posts 
There have been a few new blog posts since the last newsletter. Some articles are more inside-out "yin" and others are more outside-in "yang" as creative process contains both :-)

Diffusion of Adoption: Using the Creative Differences (w/graphic) - Everett's Diffusion of Adoption shows the process by which an innovation is communicated over time among the members of a social system. In this article is the adoption bell curve and a chart I compiled showing characteristics of each of the 5 main segments of the population.

Creative Solution Finding: The AIIM Process (w/graphic) - an approach I originally created in 2006 (and have since refined) informed by other models and my own experiences that allows for the natural non-linearity found within the "stages" of the creative process.

Creativity Rocks Opposites (w/graphic) - Creativity comes to life at intersections. It thrives on opposites. This transfers to the design of projects, processes, workshops, teams, organizations, etc. If we design to accommodate opposites we have a more creative system.
Once you connect with your calling, the question isn't IF it can be done - it's an ongoing, "What's mine to do to serve it?" This post includes some ways to cultivate your calling.

Intersection for Inspired Action (w/graphic) - Mapping the intersection of 3 foundational questions to use when feeling the call to "what's next" in your work. Key is to make sure we're are asking the right questions - ones that lead us to more aliveness.

Note to Self from the Creative Source - found a 12-year-old file with a message that I wrote from my "creative source" tony conscious self during a particularly challenging and fear-based time for me in my business. Turned out to be relevant advice.

Creativity in Business Conference Graphic Recordings (w/graphics) - This post contains contains pictures of the graphic recordings - done by Diane Cline of Over the Horizon Consulting, LLC - of the 4 panels and the storytelling plenary session at our Creativity in Business Conference last year.
Interview on We Mean Business! TV 
Enjoyed being interviewed on creativity in business and bringing your whole brain to work by Steve Dorfman and Tony Marciante on We Mean Business! TV. We talked storytelling, improv, somatics, natural resistance, risk-friendly work cultures, discovery sessions, pattern breaking, the power of being present, and more in the 30-minute interview. (Took me a few minutes to get warmed up, but then really had fun as we got into it!) Steve and Tony were awesome hosts! Click here for the interview.

CreativiTweet Links    

Every issue I include some of my recently tweeted links - articles, videos, and other creativity-related links of interest. I hope you find something of value within them. Come join me on Twitter anytime at @CreatvEmergence  


1.
  19 Scientifically Proven Ways to Boost Your Creativity http://bit.ly/xidn83
2.  Emotional Innovation: How to Grow Your Business thru Creativity http://bit.ly/w8lHaN
3.  How to Be Creative by Jonah Lehrer - WSJ http://on.wsj.com/zvUCgJ
4.  Why neuroscience may be the new 'Freakonomics' http://wapo.st/x9Z40R
5.  John Howkins on the Creative Economy and Creative Ecologies http://bit.ly/wvxmwT
6.  How music changes our brains http://shar.es/gCWEr
7.  Cultivating Fractal Knowledge Flows http://shar.es/g5rm0
8.  Building a culture that values intellectual & artistic activity http://bit.ly/zB5S8g
9.  Creativity and Innovation in Business | The Creative Mind http://bit.ly/lePkiw
10. Conscious Creativity (vimeo) with Jason Silva http://vimeo.com/36938974
11. Your Brain Can Feel Metaphors Being Human blog http://bit.ly/wLAjLB
12. This Is Your Brain on Comedy http://j.mp/xQssBU
13. Dolphins Reported Talking Whale in Their Sleep http://abcn.ws/w4DBjW
14. The Evolution of Design to Amplify Flow http://bit.ly/znmMnW
15. How the Mind Creates Ideas | Psychology Today http://bit.ly/w0vibY

CreativiTweet Musings 

Every issue I also include some of my own musings in 140 characters or less. These are some of my recently tweeted thoughts about creativity and emergence:  

 

1. Imagine the creative potential of changing "What do u do?" when  
    meeting someone to "What's most alive for u?"

2. Instead of asking how to make money, passion-centered  

    entrepreneurs ask what's alive in them, then structure an
    income-generating business around THAT.  

3. Convention asks us to know where we're going & stay on a pre-determined path to
    get there. Emergence asks us to discover path along the way.  

4. Note to self: OK, so one thing at a time...breathe...get centered...create...enjoy...

5. In the unknown, there's a diff between blind faith and trust in life-giving patterns  

    of emergence that are just not yet actualized.

6. We can only discover that which we don't already know.
7. Stories give context and texture, create meaning, weave connection and
    generate empathy.
8. Creativity doesn't limit its expression: here for introverts and extroverts; the sole  

    creator and groups; inside out and outside in... 
9. Creativity comes to life at the intersection of knowledge and not knowing - what's
    known and unknown.   

10. Sometimes when you get to the end of what you know, there is no where else
      to turn but to love.   

11. Great thing about creativity: we don't need anyone else's permission. If we want  

      to see something new in the world, we get to create it.
12. What if instead of time time "management" we see it as time engagement - think  

      of the creative potential of we engage the gift of time. 

13. One of the most essential capacities in the 21st century is the capacity to create  

      doors in walls. 

14. You get more creativity out of a team if you use the differences instead of
      expect everyone to create in the same way.

15. Disruptions are invitations to get creative. 

Capitol Creativity Network - Tonight! 
CCN is back for 2012! Last month, I did a session on Turning Boring Meetings into Creative Discovery Sessions. This month Jack Ricchiuto is back in DC to present an all-new program he designed: Incite Your Creativity: Leveraging Happiness Practices for Innovation. It is based on the happiness principles and practices in his latest book, combined with creative process, that applicable for innovation in the workplace. His session at the Creativity in Business conference got such rave reviews we asked him
back to weave more of his magic at CCN.
Join us if you can!

Our Services

The Center for Creative Emergence is a creativity consulting, facilitating 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, and organizations. CEO Michelle James has a mission to engage people into their full humanness via whole-brain (and body) creative process for innovative work, positive social change and consciously creating a generative, life-giving future.

Our Services include creativity and emergence coaching and facilitating, whole-brain corporate and public workshops, conference presentations, creativity events and Quantum Leap Business Improv

Coaching Clients
include Entrepreneurs who want to discover their calling, develop their signature approach, products and services, or create their new future story; Leaders who want to draw out and focus the creativity of their work force; Pioneers who are forging new territory or creating new models; Facilitators who want to create new programs or workshops; Business Partners and Teams who want to co-create or establish a creative work culture. 

Organizational Clients
have included Panasonic, Deloitte, Microsoft, GEICO, RAPP, Kaiser Permanente, Inova Health System, Teach for America, Hands On Network, Cable & Wireless, National Institutes of Health, The World Bank, Invest Northern Ireland, Service Employee International Union, American University, Search for Common Ground, Center for Nonprofit Advancement, Teach for America and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration among others.

Blog: is The Fertile Unknown at www.creativeemergence.typepad.com.
Web:  www.creativeemergence.com  
Conference
: www.creativity-conference.com
Twitter: CreatvEmergence 
Facebook:
Michelle James
Email:
 [email protected] 
Phone:
703-760-9009