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At Thompson Dunn we're getting excited and very positive about the growth of our 'Open Space'. We have had an amazing response to our cry of 'send us your creativity' and would like to give a huge thank you to all of the contributors. Some of you sent us articles on our newsletter of 'Change' and now have sent us a poem, photographs or your insights into the creative process and its relevance to business.
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Sometimes I find it hard to convince business leaders that creativity counts. A busy life can lead to dismissing the fun aspects of a creative life as a 'waste of time'. In her book "Creativity Works' Anneke Elwes interviews a cross section of the most powerful leaders in business today. The consensus reached was that a good leader needs to inspire and challenge. That innovation, risk taking and "shaking things up" are an essential part of the job.
Entrepreneurs tend to feel more comfortable with the creative label than professional business managers. However, creating a spirit of enterprise within a large organisation is essential if people are to be enabled to 'get things done' in their own way. Perhaps in recognising that it is not necessary to re-invent the wheel, but rather 'the imaginative application of new solutions to new and old problems is the way forward for the future of the global economy" (Gordon Brown, U.K. Chancellor). Enjoy your creativity and thank you again for your support and interest.
Pat
Creativity is something I have often struggled with particularly in its nature, encouragement and application in a business context. I have similar difficulties with emotional intelligence, which I believe is related and equally esoteric. That being said, I think it of paramount importance. It is a process that allows western businesses to reinvent themselves and their products or services in such a way as to be able to create perceived value in the face of increasingly extreme and de-positioning competition from the likes of China and India.
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Storytelling is a form of creativity. Our own stories inform the way we work. They provide the lenses through which we see the world. This is part of my story, with which many of you may not be familiar.
Creativity offers the element of surprise - the chance to do something different, or out of the ordinary. It asks us to challenge our patterns of behaviour and question. There need not be clear answers.
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My gut feeling says that, taking it to extremes, it is the ability to make others believe in somebody, in something said, done, designed, discovered, composed or produced…it does not really matter in what form/shape creativity appears. It is not even necessary that everybody defines it as creative. Creativity might be - from a different perspective - the ability to make others 'feel the difference', to reveal what has always existed but was not yet recognized.
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How can we transform our businesses, careers and lives by creativity?
Maintaining that spark of creativity, innovation and determination to succeed in today's world. To find out how we can start to do this read on.
The greatest moment of wonder at the creativity process came to me in the Louvre in Paris, stood for the first time in front of Theodore Gericault's "Raft of the Medusa'. I had seen reproductions of the picture many times on slides and in textbooks, and its content and construction had fascinated me. But no reproduction could prepare me for the experience of seeing the real thing.
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'The show, the whole experience was so surreal and that windmill was so out of place yet seemed very fitting at the same time. A Parisian cabaret show is a must for everyone at least once'.
Jennifer Pakradooni
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In the tradition of classical yoga originating from India, lies a pathway of self-enlightenment, growth and inner peace. Within this pathway are tools to enhance our concentration, contemplation and creativity. Welcome to the world of Creative Visualisation, Yantra Yoga and Mandalas.
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MeToo the cat had a brilliant idea. With a little persistance and hard work he got the full benefit of a little creative thinking. To find out more about MeToo read on.
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The creative urge may be the desire to do something different, make something out of nothing, change an environment, cook an interesting meal or even make a baby.
To dispel some of the myths of the creative process please read on.
Imagine the billions of different animals on earth: How creative was our Lord, if he really exists, when creating those billions of differences? How can it be that no human being on earth is like the other? Imagine the billions of different characters. No one is like the other.
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What is creativity?
Making something
Makes me something
Makes me think of something
Something I find exciting
Something others find exciting
For the full poem click here
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The art of creation, whether poetry, writing, music or painting, is a process that is fun, therapeutic and communicative. It demands questions of us and gives a fresh, framed perspective with which to examine our world and ourselves. It provides grounding and truth for us. To explore the concept and benefits of creativity please read on.
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Creative thinking is the challenge for an evolving company! Over the last few years, there can be few of us that have not noticed the struggles being faced by business as it reviews its principles, opportunities, goals and values.
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'The Creative Bladder', a technique that has been tried and tested over a period of 20 years in a high-pressure corporate culture and found to deliver good-quality solutions to critical corporate needs. Find out more about this effective (yet natural) method for creating innovative ideas.
For the full article click here
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 Creativity Books
Thompson Dunn work with a number of Creativity texts as part of our individual and group development work. These titles we recommend for further investigation and support in this area:
"Creativity"
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
"Flow"
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
(ISBN 0-06-092043-2)
"Drawing with the right side of the brain"
Betty Edwards
"The Artist's Way"
Julia Cameron
(ISBN 0-330-34358-0)
"The Whole Brained Business Book"
Ned Herrmann
(ISBN 0-07-028462-8)
"Synchronicity"
Joseph Jaworski
(ISBN 1-57675-031-0)
"Creativity Works"
Anneke Elwes
(ISBN 1-86197-279-2)
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