A newsletter to support High Performance Leadership and Creativity in
Individuals and Organizations™
Vm.
1, No. 1, 2001
By
Jan Hoistad, Ph.D. and Associates
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Many
people do not feel they are creative. They do not claim their own
creativity in any form. They would tell you that someone else is creative,
but they just do their job, or run their home, or accomplish regular
daily tasks. They have been taught that someone else, or some "thing"
else is creative - something like a public work of art, or a performance,
a dance or piece of music, is what is truly "creative". They fail
to see that every action we take has the potential for more or less
conscious creativity - from how we make a meal, to what we choose
to wear and how we dress in the morning, to how we conduct a meeting
or seminar in the work environment, to how we conduct our interpersonal
relationships.
The truth
is, some people have just learned how to harness their creative capabilities.
And they may or may not be conscious of how they do this.
You,
too, can learn how to harness your creativity. It takes a little self-discipline
and skill development. Creativity is magical! It does have its inspirational
moments, but it is also a process. It has steps and stages
which are like learning a technology or a method - when applied to
a desire, situation, question, or problem - this process, method,
or technology can help you accomplish what you envision. When you
- consciously
combine the specific steps for creating with
- your
ability to capture the inspirations, hunches, "answers", then
- add
your capacity to reflect on the information, and
- put
it into action
- Having
some time - time to listen to creative desires, passions, urgings,
hunches, inspirations, the "inner voice"
- An
ability to give full attention to a specific problem or situation
· A capacity for self reflection, practice at doing so, to glean
information from experiences
- The
capacity to set aside self-judgment and criticism
- Curiosity
- about the unknown, the unexpected
(You
might want to assess yourself on these characteristics. On a scale
from 1 - 5, with 1 being low in these skills, and scores between 10-5
being expert in these skills. If you score 20-25 you are ready for
the Creativity Continuum ™ process right now! If you scored between
15-20 you may want to find some guidance in developing the skills
you already have developed. If you scored under 15, I encourage you
to work toward consciously getting control of your life, time, judgment,
and ability to let go and be curious. It may be time you consider
getting some assistance from a resource team which might include a
coach, therapist, art, meditation, yoga, or other teachers.)
- An
ability and willingness to listen to one another, to be present,
without judgment - not critical or negative even when you do not
agree
- A
desire to collaborate and create with others - not knowing the outcome,
learning to trust the process, even if it does not lead to apparent
"success"; A willingness to play with the process, and to play with
one another; to experiment and try new things sometimes inviting
chaos, disruption, or ambiguity for a time
- An
ability to give up control - not always having to be in charge or
having to be "right"
- An
ability to let others to support you and to support others' ideation,
brainstorming, experimentation process, creating an Environment
of YES! ™ (Brave New Workshop)
- A
willingness to play together, to be open to differences, an understanding
that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts - at least often
enough to make collaboration and team work worthwhile
(You
and your team or group might want to discuss how you work, cooperate,
brainstorm, play, make decisions and take action together. Does everyone
in the team feel the same on each of the above qualities of creative
groups? What changes need to happen to make you a fully functioning
and dynamic group with access to the creative juices of all? Think
about how you can make these changes, and don't be hesitant to get
some outside help to increase the learning curve and speed of its
implementation.)
At Big
Picture Associates, we call our ongoing working process, the Creativity
Continuum™. It is tailored and taught, to meet your unique needs.
In general,
The Creativity Continuum™ is a process with seven specific steps,
which if followed consciously in sequence, spiral you into continuous
creativity in any area of your life or the life of your organization.
The steps are taken in sequence and then continuously repeated at
higher levels as your ability to create evolves. As you evolve, you
will breeze through some steps and find yourself luxuriating in others.
The seven
stages of the Creativity Continuum™ include
- Identifying
your values and priorities
-
Creating your greatest vision in any or all areas of your life
or the life of your organization
-
Setting specific and definable goals
-
Looking at the obstacles - be they real or imagined
-
Identifying action steps
-
Taking action steps or experimenting
-
Reevaluating and refining the process
... committing
and recommitting at various steps along the way.
... beginning
again, for creating never ends once you have begun.
This
seems like a simple process, and it is. However, conscious working
of each step is subtle and necessary, at each stage along the way
to creativity. In upcoming issues of Thoughts
on the Big Picture, I will be going more in-depth into
both
- ways
to develop the basic prerequisites for creativity within your
self and your group, and
-
how to access the "juice", the magic, the inspiration of the creative
material that starts to flow, and put it to work for you!
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