In 2000, poet Catherine Graham returned to Canada from living half a
decade in Northern Ireland. She settled in Burlington, Ontario, close to
family and friends. Unexpectedly, a new career opened up to her:
Creativity Consultant. She has since developed three different
workshops, which focus on using the imagination (the right side of the
brain) in the workplace. What follows in an account of her journey and a
report on what she’s learned along the way.
by Catherine Graham
The
Irish poet Patrick Kavanaugh once said, "I dabbled in verse and it
became my life." In my case, I dabbled in creativity facilitation
and it's becoming my way of life.
Looking back, I see the trail. When I returned to Canada in 2000,
after living half a decade in Northern Ireland, I was open to shift –
to new ways of being. At this stage in my life I'd completed an MA in
creative writing from Lancaster University, published the chapbook The
Watch and I was included (under the adopted category) in the
anthology The White Page / An Bhileog Bhan: Twentieth Century Irish
Women Poets.
But my life wasn't overseas anymore.
Burlington seemed a good place to start, close to family and friends;
close to water (for the first six months I'd pretend the lake view
outside my eighth floor apartment window was Belfast Lough). It was also
home to The Burlington Art Centre, host of the ABC (Art, Business &
Creativity) Conference, which happened on an annual basis between
2001-2004. ABC was about bringing innovative ideas to reality; an
opportunity for business people to learn practical ways of applying
creativity in the workplace. In addition to listening to top speakers,
participants engaged in the hands-on making of art - painting, pottery,
drawing - the idea being the enrichment on a personal level would lead
to bottom line benefits for businesses; new ways of succeeding and
growing.
A conference organizer invited me to lead a workshop on writing
poetry. Given the premise of ABC, I thought, yes, I could do that. But I
also wondered if engaging with words and images would have enough impact
on the participants' workday lives? Is there something else I could do
that would benefit the participants in a more direct manner? Perhaps a
tool.
Brainstorming this idea led me to develop my first creativity
workshop, Words@work: Metaphor as Problem Solver, an experiential
workshop that links the left brain (analytical) with the right brain
(imagistic). The intended result? Practical and insightful information,
that emerges organically, from thinking through the box.
The power of imagery helped ABC participants move beyond the confines
of analytical thought, to the place where imagination resides.
I designed the workshop to incorporate group feedback and discussion.
Many participants, upon hearing remarks from the group about their
visualized images, experienced "Aha" moments and said things
like, "I never thought of my problem that way before."
The workshop was a hit. Clearly, something had been unleashed.
Upon reflection, I could see my format had worked. But more
importantly I could see my role in the process. I'd been the catalyst.
Creating a safe place for the imagination to emerge had resulted in an
atmosphere where simmering insights could rise easily to the surface.
Collectively, our spirits had been tapped. New ideas had been set into
motion, ideas with the potential for creating energizing spin-offs for
individual and corporate productivity.
I soon learned I was not the only one moving in this direction. Many
businesses and organizations were seeking ways of using holistic
thinking to become more whole - what I call the "wholistic"
movement. And they needed tools.
News of my workshop spread and invitations followed: Ontario Council
for Lifelong Learning, University of Windsor Summer Institute
Conference, more ABCs. The Director of Human Resources at a large
pharmaceutical company, having experienced my Words@work workshop,
invited me to lead a creativity session offsite for senior management.
This time round I did get the group writing poems and responding to
verses like Elizabeth Bishop's "The Fish." Pleased with the
results, the Director invited me to lead more creativity workshops for
employees. My second workshop, Release Your Inner Writer, was
born.
Reading and discussing poems and pieces of fiction were matched with
theme-related writing activities. Once again, these "outside the
box" creative engagements allowed the imagination to emerge; an
opportunity for people to connect to their inner world and to fellow
employees, all in an atmosphere of respect and trust. Having a common
space to engage one another, outside departmental "silos," a
community formed. Ideas crossbred through interconnections, truly
'creativity at work.'
Sometimes I was unsure as to how my plans would evolve - will this
activity work with the group? But a deep trust had been given to me by
the Director of HR and by the employees. Overcoming doubts and fears,
trusting my intuition, my facilitating abilities strengthened over the
weeks, months and years. Positive feedback proved I was on the right
path, as did the approval of my own inner voice.
Following in the creative footsteps of Metaphor as Problem Solver
and Releasing Inner Writers, the next tool to work its way into
my consultant kit was storytelling. It seemed to me that the elements of
narrative - plot, character, point of view, a good beginning - could be
used to enhance important leadership roles – such as the ability to
inspire & motivate. This led to the development of the workshop, Storytelling
& Leadership: Inspiring Through Authentic Communication.
Once again I was invited to work offsite with senior management from
the pharmaceutical company. Using the narrative template I designed, it
became clear during the workshop that each participant could
"see" the unfolding of their own personal narrative - their
unique voice and leadership style. They also identified new ones. Having
broken down company silos, overall narratives emerged for health care
products. Gaps in a product's storyline became opportunities to fill in
the missing pieces; a way to make the story complete.
The notion that creativity is something mysterious, something only an
artist can do, is dissolving; as is the compartmentalization of the
"work" self and the "home" self. That doesn’t mean
that objectivity and analysis, characteristics of left brain thinking,
are to be negated or ignored. But a mental shift to include the right
side of the brain is happening, and this helps make individuals – and
companies – whole.
Creativity thrives on making connections - that's its energy source.
Dismantling company silos serves as a catalyst to creativity and helps
break down the silos within our "selves." For me, it has been
extremely rewarding to foster such journeys and to be, as one
participant dubbed me, "a wholistic enabler."
An additional bonus to this journey has been the enrichment of my own
writing. It's deepened my understanding of the metaphorical language
behind my poetry; given me more writing tools to access process; relaxed
my attitude with a more playful approach; broadened my conception of
storytelling - even the introverted (myself included) can motivate and
inspire. And it has helped me appreciate the seemingly non-active phase
inherent in the creative process: down time. Time to germinate, take in
new ideas, time to reflect, time to breathe. Output isn't always an
accurate reflection of input or personal contentment for that matter.
But most importantly this journey has helped me dismantle my own
field of internal silos. Six years ago, when I came back to live in
Canada, I only wrote poetry. Now, in addition to working on my next
poetry collection, I find myself dabbling in prose and non-fiction.
Perhaps these dabblings will - like Kavanaugh's dabbling in verse -
become my life too.
For more information about the workshops mentioned in this article,
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