Another Nod of Excellence
02/04/2011Being a Part of History
08/03/2011Again – it’s one of those delayed posts, where have I been? It’s been an exciting time in the life of ImageWerks. Back in April, I finished my certification as a Creatively Fit coach. I decided to obtain this certification after many years of hearing friends, colleagues, aquaintances telling over & over—
“I’m not creative. I’m not an artist! Oh, I can’t draw – you’re the one that’s talented…”
So, after hearing these statements & my comments back…
“Can write your name?… (yup). “Okay, can you scribble? (sure)… Even better…” Think about it, if you can write your name & you can scribble, then you have the ability—you are creative & you can draw!”
It was this simple conversation that drew me to becoming a Creatively Fit coach. I want to help people realize that they are inherently creative and to awaken and appreciate that part of who they are.
So, it was early March that I was invited to conduct a creative coaching session at the International Program for Development Evaluation Training (http://www.ipdet.org/) course in Ottawa, CA. The participants in this program are individuals, businesses, & educators that evaluate programs in disciplines such as public health, democracy & governance, education, or humanitarian assistance. The premise of my session was to help them to understand that creativity is a critical part of who we are and what our business’ need to survive these days. The monitoring & evaluation community is very analytical and very structured – very left brained. When approached to conduct a session on creativity, I saw a challenge – how do I reach these people who embrace the left mode of thinking? To my surprise & delight, I had 70 international development evaluators attend my Creatively Fit session!
Using concrete examples of design principles and how they relate to them and their work – I also demonstrated to them, other conceptual principles: design, empathy, story, play, meaning, and synthesis. The attendees participated in two art exercises: a community drawing with the vision, “we work as individuals & live as a community” and a “black board scribble.” I knew I helped them reach their right brain when the chatter in the room went like this:
“I can’t draw, silence, giggling, & then… humming a tune!” One of the reviews from a participant said it all, “I would recommend conducting such sessions quarterly so as staff to reflect on their empathy for the communities we serve.”
I look forward to working with corporate teams & educators… reaching the out to help them to see the big picture and get creative for both themselves, their business, schools or community. Creatively speaking & thinking, I think we’ll all be living in a much better world.
Contact me at https://imagewerks.net/ to learn more about ImageWerks. Or ask me how you can have a session created especially for you or your business.
