My two cents would
be that I hope as we are able to intervene in organizations, we are costing
the benefits for our clients. If we expect to sit at the table with
CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, etc, then we need to be able to speak their language now
more than ever and thats numbers.
I believe that the
arts are a necessity in all the arenas of our life, as they open and build
cognitive paths for new ideas. (I have evidence to back this up, but
not going down the grounded theory route here). That said, we still
need to be able to speak the language of the culture in which we are
working. Speaking the language provides credibility as well as
allowing our audience to hear us.
FYI: a good
book to start with if you havent done this sort of thing
is:
Costing Human
Resources: The Financial Impact of Behavior in
Organizations
By Wayne
Cascio
(1982) Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
We have long
secluded the arts from the other areas of our societys functioning rather
than embracing it as an integral part of our operation as humans. Now
more than ever, we need to use the benefits of a creative process to break
through the reified barriers that are holding this culture hostage. I
see this time as the supreme opportunity in our lifetime much like our
parents grappled with WWII and the
Depression.
As a new member to
AACORN myself, I find this discussion stimulating and exciting. Yes,
as one member stated previously, through debate and conversation, we are
engaging and finding our process, too. Im honored to be a part of so
many thoughtful and practical (at the same time!)
colleagues!
Ok, this ended up
being more than two cents
leslie
Leslie
Stager Jacques, PhD
Lecturer
Department of Management
& International Business
Massey University, Albany Campus
Private Bag 102 904, North Shore MSC
Auckland
New
Zealand
Email [log in to unmask]
Phone + 64 9 414 0800 Ext.
9420
Hi
Sue,
With all
due respects, let's leave the rhetoric out about opportunities at the
moment.I get emails from the erudite through to spam daily exhorting me to
adopt new thinking, new design processes and thinking, creativity and
innovation programmes, arts based processes etc that will
lead me out of this mess.
After
two weeks of interviewing CEO's in middle to large corporations in Australia around leadership, creativity and
innovation, I can categorically state where business is
focused.
Back to
basic business fundamentals particularly revenues that are dropping
rapidly in every industry regardless; prices, costs and head counts and
the cutting of all surplus expenditure especially those to do with
what are perceived as non essential services such as training, O&D,
HR where outcomes cannot be calculated and expressed in hard and fast
monetary terms.
I found
that as opposed to 12 months ago, at least the CEO's are now prepared
to listen. They acknowledge they don't know where things are going. They
want creative conversations. However, in all the discussions without
exception they ask to be shown the tangible outcomes art based processes
and creativity and innovation programmes etc will have on their
bottom line in order to help them make their figures so their
people can retain their jobs!! It's that
focused!
Senior
management is not interested in theorising, they are seeking
practical financial outcomes..NOW..it is a matter of survival. So here
is the challenge for all of us as I see it involved in this
field.
How does
one respond to that from an aesthetic, creativity and organisations
research perspective?
Ralph
ralph
kerle
chairman
the creative
leadership forum
http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com
p 612 9403 5327 m
0412 559 603
I agree with
these sentiments - that there is an opportunity for the arts to have a
positive affect on the current economic
situation.
I hear time
and time again from people in business that there is a need to be 'creative'
in order to survive. I hear that as both an inward (how we work) and outward
(products and services) statement. My interest is in the extent to
which the arts can create paradigm shifts in
business, because that is what I believe is needed in order to
take business minds into new ways of thinking. To achieve that at
a cognitive-thinking level invites the old paradigm to keep it's bag of
tricks active, making change difficult. In my view the arts can offer
incredibly effective ways to create sustainable paradigm shifts in the way
that people engage in leadership, management and business practice (in both
the HOW and the WHAT) stepping around old established patterns
which no longer work.
Is it the case
that there is a window of opportunity open right now that will close soon?
If so what does it mean to build on the opportunity that is open to
us?
Interested in
your thoughts on this.
Bringing
imagination to life and
work
'Education
and Imagination' Edited by Raya Jones, Austin Clarkson, Sue Congram, Nick
Stratton, published by Routledge
On 31 Mar 2009,
at 17:43, Taylor, Steven S.
wrote:
I'm with John in
that I think the financial crisis is an opportunity for
arts-based
thinking/work. As we start to move beyond the initial
panic
responses and start to look for new practices that may be better
suited to
working with the complexities of the world the arts offers a
lot.
- Steve
On 3/31/09 9:51 AM, "John Cimino" <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
Jόgen,
Thanks for
reviving your timely question. There are probably many
unique
responses to
the economic crisis from within our profession. Many of
my
American
colleagues are impacted by their major clients' withdrawal into
a
reactive state
of innovation dormancy and short-term thinking. We
believe
this
protective mode will soon produce its own problems.
Creativity,
innovation and
artful thinking are needed now more than ever. Some of
us
practitioners
are endeavoring to position ourselves in anticipation of
this
second
realization, that creativity holds at least some of the keys to
working
ourselves out
of the mire of the present economy. I also find more and
more
pracitioners
turning to one another in what feels like a very
healthy
dialogue,
establishing bonds of friendship and a level of sharing more rare
in
prosperous
times. I experience this as a silver lining to the present
crisis,
something from
which much good may come.
Secondly, I
also perceive at least some of our arts/aesthetics
dialogue
merging with
the dialogue around "design thinking" which may result in
some
healthy
cross-fertilization and a strenghtening of the cases for both in
the
wider world.
I look forward
to your comments and others as well. Our own community
might
well be
strengthened by this dialogue.
Best.
John
John J.
Cimino, Jr.
President
& CEO
Creative Leaps
International
845-469-7254
(office) 845-216-0607
(cell)
Steven
S. Taylor, PhD
Associate Professor
Worcester Polytechnic
Institute
Department of Management
100 Institute Rd
Worcester, MA 01609
USA
+1
508-831-5557
[log in to unmask]