Hello Everyone,

Welcome to the ECI Members March Newsletter. This month we have the interesting topic of "Creativity". Without it nothing much transpires, however, it gets lost in the circle of life. It is a skill that can easily be taught but not a lot of time is created to actively learn how to become imaginative, innovative or original.

We hope that this month you spend some quality time getting in touch with your creative side, a trait which everyone has.

This is my final edition as editor of the ECI newsletter. As I commence a heavy study load, I am handing over the reigns to another. I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for this wonderful opportunity and I wish the ECI every success in the future.

We hope that you enjoy this newsletter and look forward to bringing you much more throughout the year.

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What other members offers would you like the ECI to source? Let us know by emailing members-offers@the-eci.org.

As we move into a new age, a new way of thinking, creativity and innovation have become the ‘buzz’ words of the decade. “We are moving from an economy and a society built on the logical, linear, computer like capabilities of the Information Age to an economy and a society built on the inventive, empathic, big-picture capabilities of what’s rising in its place, the Conceptual Age.“1

Creativity means many things to different people and in different contexts. It involves bringing ideas to life, making the imaginative real. It permeates our lives and affects how we live them. Definitions of creativity and creators vary. “Creativity is not just for artists. It is for business people looking for a new way to close a sale; it is for engineers trying to solve a problem; it is for parents who want their children to see the world in more than one way.”2 Creativity is an essential part of being human and something that we all have the capacity to learn, or re-learn. As children creativity is something that comes naturally – just watch any child at play and observe how they engage their imagination – often having this “knocked out” of us as we move through life’s aging stages where greater emphasis is placed upon logic and reason.

In his research during the 1950 and 60s Professor Roger W. Sperry discovered that the brain divides tasks into two main categories within the cerebral cortex hemispheres of the brain. The left hemispheres deals with tasks logically and analytically, deals with language and numbers, reasons sequentially. The right hemispheres reasons holistically, interprets nonverbal expression and emotions, deals with spatial awareness, recognises patterns or whole picture awareness, and imagines and daydreams.3 Creativity stems from right cerebral cortex, the “right brain” activity and in the Conceptual Age the tasks handled by this area of the brain will be valued as never before.

During his research Sperry observed that people trained in skills relying on one side of the brain as opposed to the other, formed dominant habits that favoured activities controlled by the favoured brain side, strengthening these activities and habits over time. However, “When people who are weak in one area were trained in that area by experts, they invariably increased their skills and strength in that given area, and, what’s more, simultaneously strengthened their performance in other areas.”4

In short, thinking from one part of your brain or another is really a function of habit. Like all habits thinking can be expanded to incorporate new experiences and elements, and to increase access to and use of the “other” non-dominant side of your brain.

Try the following activities to stimulate your right brain thinking, break some habits and expand your creativity:

Give yourself permission – first off give yourself permission to “play”, to create, to tap into avenues for self-expression different from what you usually do; and permission to enjoy whatever happens as a result of this “play” time. Not everything has to be about an outcome.

Sharpen your curiosity – take yourself on what Julia Cameron calls The Artist Date, “a block of time, perhaps two hours weekly, especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist.”5 Go off and do what brings you fun, joy and curiosity and take a notebook and pen to record your imaginative thoughts along the way.

Take a week off – from distractions that stop you from being creative. Turn off the television, stop reading the newspaper, leave the computer or the phone off when you are at home and see what happens as your imagination flourishes.

Create a Mind map rather than a list – when faced with tasks/challenges/finding solutions consider doing a mind-map rather than a written list. Draw up a map of all the ingredients and have fun accessing your right brain for ideas.

Daydream or do nothing – both of these activities allow the unconscious to become conscious and the imagination to surface and flourish. To get you started sit back and think about the first time you created something and what that felt like. Let your mind drift from there. If asked to explain what you are up to just quote Steven Spielberg and say ”I dream for a living”.6

Visualise – a very powerful tool to enable you to open up your thinking. “In creative visualisation you use your imagination to create a clear image, idea, or feeling of something you wish to manifest.”7 So take a stack of magazines, choose a central image to represent your goal or theme and then cut out and paste images to support that image onto card. It is fun to do, very relaxing and can yield surprising results.

Whatever you choose to do - enjoy.

References:

1. Pink, Daniel H., 2006, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainer Will Rule the Future, Riverhead Books, New York, p. 2
2. Tharp, Twyla, 2006, The Creative Habit: Learn it and Use it for Life, Simon & Schuster Paperback, New York, p.7
3. For an amazing story about on the difference between right and left brained thinking check out the following site: www.ted.com/index.php/talks/
   jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html
4. Buzan, Tony, 2005, The Ultimate Book of Mind Maps, Thorsons, London, p. 53
5. Cameron, Julia, 1994, The Artist’s Way, Pan Books, London, p.19
6. Baird, David, 2004, A Thousand Paths to Creativity, MQ Publications, London, p. 294
7. Gawain, Shakti, 1995, Creative Visualization: Use the Power of Your Imagination
   to Create What You Want in Your Life, New World Library, California, p.4

Author Profile:
Julie Regan is the Director of Creative Coaching Options, a coaching company specialising in assisting people to achieve their creative and artistic potential, and bring their ideas to life. With over 20 years experience as an arts manager and screen arts consultant in the creative arts in Australia, within both government and non-government organisations, Julie has spent her life working in the creative realm.

Julie Reagan
Creative Coaching Options
julie@creativecoachingoptions.com
www.creativecoachingoptions.com
 

1. Trust that you are naturally creative - everything you experience, feel & do can be creative
2. Don’t force your creativity. Rather, eliminate blocks & obstacles. Let go of expectations & judgments
3. Schedule regular time for creative activities. Discipline & persistence all support inspiration & new ideas
4. Note the times of day when you are most creative & structure your day to maximise this creative energy
5. Exercise your brain. Just like the body, the brain needs consistent exercise for stimulus & motivation
6. Experiment with different creative techniques, tools & methods & use only what works for you
7. Read as much as you can about everything. Books exercise your brain, provide inspiration & fill you with information
8. Introduce the relaxed, clear & concentrated mind with a question, image, concept, sound, taste, touch or movement and allow time for development to occur
9. If you're stuck for an idea, open a dictionary randomly, select a word and then try to formulate ideas
10. Always carry a notebook and pen with you. Ideas & solutions come up at the most unexpected times

Anna Cairo
anna@annacairo.com
www.annacairo.com
 

"An idea every minute and every idea a great idea!" Although this sentiment may not be articulated, many businesses hold to it. CEOs and executive managers understand that today's rapidly-changing global marketplace puts pressure on businesses to become increasingly innovative in order to compete. New products and new ideas are constantly needed to gain that competitive edge.

Organisations need ideas. But who produces those really great ones? Dean Keith Simonton investigated over 2,000 scientists and discovered that the most respected scientists were more productive than those scientists who did not have as high reputations (is that any surprise to any of us?). However, the most respected scientists, while having more good ideas and successful projects, also had more POOR ideas and failures. Michael Michalko, an expert on genius and creativity refers to this in his book, Cracking Creativity, "Geniuses produce. Period." They produce - both good and bad.

An example of an idea generator is Thomas Edison. He was an incredible genius - but he also had a remarkable number of inventive failures. Another person with a lot of successes is William Shakespeare. But while many of his plays and sonnets are masterpieces, many others are studied in school and university as examples of what not to do.

Unfortunately, this message implies that each idea has to be a winner, that each idea has to be fully formed and complete. We all KILL great ideas before they are formed by sending out the message that we are happy only when presented with finished, successful products. We don't mean to but we all, at one time or another, unconsciously send out the message, "If you don't produce, you're fired (or stupid, or inadequate, or uncreative, or a poor performer)!" And that suppresses and ultimately kills creativity as surely as if we had bound the eyes, mouth and hands of every creative person in our workforce.

In order to encourage creativity, we need to systematically create workplaces that make it safe for individuals to come up with "dumb" or "crazy" ideas. And we need to help other individuals build on those crazy ideas. Organisations need to generate a plethora of ideas, then select those that seem most promising, and go forward with them. But they also need to revisit those ideas that were rejected in the past in order to see if new insight is sparked by a forgotten idea. After all, sometimes those rejected ideas are the ones that are most successful - when they are picked up by the competition.

Author profile
Jean V. Dickson is a creative person. She connects ideas and objects that most people would never think to link - and she does it with surprisingly effective results. Jean has experience designing adult education and helping small business owners put ZING in both their business and business communications. Her publications range from scholarly papers on effective performance appraisal and organisational change to e-zine career information articles to poetry

Jean V. Dickson
jeand@jvdcreativity.com
www.jvdcreativity.com 
 

Q. What is creativity?

A: Some words to describe creativity are: originality, expressiveness, imaginative, inventive, artistic.Depending whom you speak to you may have a variety of definitions for creativity. However, it is basically a mental and social process involving an initiation of new ideas, concepts, thoughts and models and then turning them into reality.

Therefore it is a two-process creation – first the thought, then the creation. If you have an idea but don’t act on this and don’t create, then you are imaginative but not creative. So it is the construction, formation or design of an end result.

Creativity and innovation are important keys to success in today's rapidly changing world. Process improvement, problem solving, recruiting, retaining and motivating employees, decision making, dealing with limited resources, satisfying customers, and rapidly changing technology are all examples of business realities that require creative solutions. Yet, innovative thinkers are often tough to find today.

Somewhere along the line, many adults have forgotten how to use their imagination to think and solve problems out of the box. Roger von Oech, in his book A Whack on the Side of the Head, recounts a teacher's exercise in examining creativity. The teacher drew a dot on the chalkboard and asked a class of sophomores to identify it. They responded with the obvious: a chalk dot. She noted that the day before she had asked a group of kindergartners, and they had come up with numerous examples of what it might be: the top of a telephone pole, a squashed bug, an owl's eye, a cigar butt, a rotten egg, and so on. Somewhere between childhood and adulthood many of us lose the ability to be creative and search for more than one right answer.

So how can we as adults regain and maintain our spirit of fun and creativity?

Here are a few tips:

Be Curious
Practice developing your curiosity by asking questions to get a better understanding, or to see things from a different perspective. Some questions you might ask:

1. What are you taking for granted?
2. What are you assuming is impossible?
3. What if ...
4. Why do we ...

Celebrate your Failures
There are many inventions we view as essentials today that exist only because someone recognised their failure as an opportunity. Examine what can be learned from each "failure." It may be an opportunity to create a new product, improve a process, or solve a problem. Look for ways to make this type of evaluation part of your normal practices so the entire workforce is encouraged to think more creatively!

Nurture your Inner Child
Look for ways to become a kid again. Watch children at play and remember what things brought you joy as a kid. Consider what brings you joy today and take time out to explore your playful side. For example, fly a kite, build a model train, gaze at the clouds to identify the shapes you see, go for a walk in the woods and look at the plant and animal life, or simply daydream. Taking time away from the pressures of a tense situation can help free your mind so you're ready to see things more clearly and creatively.

These are just a few of the ways you can learn to be more creative to achieve the success you deserve. Remember, it's never too late to start. Good luck and have fun!

Author Profile:
Kathleen J. Wheelihan is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a firm specializing in custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Kathleen has made presentations ranging from creativity to customer service and leadership to teambuilding for a number of industries, including credit union, education, government, health care, manufacturing, and real estate.

Kathleen J. Wheelihan
info@AchieveMax.com
www.AchieveMax.com
 

The International Coaching Register is for any individual who trades as a coach, who help individuals and/or organisations for example, establish a work life balance, manage stress levels and build communication skills amongst many other specialist areas.

Everyone who has qualified as a coach with a recognised coach training company should now take the opportunity to register. This will dramatically cut down on any misrepresentation that goes on within the industry. Many people have websites and call themselves a
coach but have no actual qualifications. The register will stop these people and raise the profile of genuine coaching and how it can transform people’s lives.

C.E.O. of the ECI Gerard O’Donovan said “the register has been administered by the ECI for the benefit of the world of coaching and coaching clients. It is also a great way for coaches to get business as members of the public can search for registered coaches in their area. It brings coaching transparency at last.”

As a Member of the ECI, Have you published your details on the International Coaching Register, at no charge?
To do so:

Login to the ECI Members Area, and then select the 'ICR Register Edits' menu option on the left hand side of the screen.

Create your entry by selecting:

• Insurance - enter your Professional Indemnity Insurance details here.
  
   
• Training - enter the details of all the training courses you've completed here.
  
   
• Workshops - enter the details of all the workshops you've attended here.
  
   
• Accreditation - your ECI Accreditation details will automatically be included here. You also have the opportunity to enter the details of all the accreditations/credentials you've been awarded, as an independent verification of your coach training and experience.
  
   
• Business Details - select or enter all types of coaching you include in your Coaching Business/Practice.
  
   
• Organisation Membership Details - enter the details of all Business Organisations in which you hold a membership - these could be other Coaching Bodies, Chamber of Commerce, or any type of organisation that is appropriate to your business.
  
   
• Display - don't forget to DISPLAY your details. Selecting 'yes' your details will be displayed on the International Coaching Register. For ECI Accredited Coaches, your details will also be displayed on the ECI's Coaching Referral programme.
  
   

We look forward to seeing you on the International Coaching Register.