Hi,
I agree with Steve. Places for informal meetings, like pubs and cafés still seem to play an important role in stimulating creativity.
I am just writing an article with my colleague Jennie where we are comparing our empirical data from industry and contemporary dance, looking at the differences and similarities between how workers in manufacturing on one hand and contemporary dancers on the other hand perceive physical spaces that support creativity and innovation. And the only area where their perceptions coincide is that they both find spaces for informal meeting where they can eat, drink, party, socialize, ´switch off´ together and have fun as spaces supportive of creativity and innovation.
The trend that more and more people work as freelancers around cafés only supports the idea. Here in Stockholm we actually have a place called Coffice - that was opened by people running an architect studio who started a café where you can be a member and pay a monthly fee and then use the space to work, but besides the café you also have the necessary office infrastructure available if you need it. The place looks like a normal café, just that people use it for work, at the same time it is also opened as a normal café for people who just want to come for a coffee and chat.
Greets from Stockholm,
Nina
On Fri, May 4, 2012 at 2:24 AM, Stephen Carroll
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Hello,
My immediate reaction to this is - how about the observable fact that simple discourse or great conversations with the right people are so important in stimulating creativity. I was in a psychology PhD program at the University of Minnesota which turned out to be incredibly oppressive in an intellectual sense. All of my fellow PhD students pretty much told the same stories, had the same heroes, and had the same values and attitudes. Statistics and psychometrics reigned supreme. When I first met my artist wife she introduced me to two bars in Minneapolis where TAs from English, Art, Philsophy, and History hung out. What a difference! I was constantly challenged. These different graduate students made me think and challenge my former assumptions. The bars were the Mixers and the East Hennepin in case you know Minneapolis.Does the habit of visiting pubs on a regular basis make the Irish so interesting? ( I have a cousin who owned a pub in Ireland for many years and I spent some time there.) When I lived in Tokyo on sabbaticals I saw how Japanese executives would hit the bars together to solve organizational problems. In my later consulting experiences several companies did create social internal layouts that put different business specialities together instead of occuping distinctive spaces. This created ruitful discussions and much learning of new perspectives. My longtime colleague Judy Olian, now Dean at UCLA, did the same when she helped designed a new business school at Penn State. It seems to me that the usefullness of these arrangements could be studied in an empirical way. Given the importance of creativity in today's world, I would think funding opportunities would be plentiful.
As an early member of AACORN and before that the Fringe Cafe of the Academy of Management ,both devoted to fostering creativity in organizations, I think we should draw upon all the members of AACORN and not just exchange personal e- mails on issues brought up here.
Steve C.
-----"Aesthetics, Creativity, and Organisations Research Network" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: -----
To:
[log in to unmask]From: L Naiman
Sent by: "Aesthetics, Creativity, and Organisations Research Network"
Date: 05/03/2012 06:11PM
Subject: Research project re: mobility patterns that demonstrate a distinctive ‘milieu’ or ‘creative field’
Hello all,
I received a request from Monica Wachowicz a Professor at the
University of New Brunswick working on discovering mobility patterns
from big data for a grant proposal.
She is looking for help with her research project, and I thought
members of AACORN could help.
I am currently preparing a research grant proposal which will further
my research on understanding how lifestyle behaviours are dictated by
social interactions and their digital mobility patterns. I was
wondering if you could help me on identifying some examples of types
of lifestyle behaviours that demonstrate a distinctive ‘milieu’ or
‘creative field’ – places where density, diversity, authenticity and
connectivity converge to generate both the raw material and the
product of creative economy. I need some concrete examples for
improving my proposal.
Please contact Monica Wachowicz directly:
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Phone: (506) 292-0253
Thanks!
Kind regards,
--
Linda Naiman
Corporate Alchemist
Coaching, Consulting, & Training
for Creativity, Innovation and Leadership Development
————————————————————————
Creativity at Work
2181 West 38th Ave, Suite 804
Vancouver BC Canada V6M 1R8
Tel: +1 604.327.1565
www.creativityatwork.com
www.creativityatwork.com/blog
email: [log in to unmask]
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