Creativity Connection :: Powering Corporate Performance Through Arts-Based Learning
by Juanita Berge, 1 Aug 2007
MetLife Foundation's National Arts Forum Series is sponsoring Powering Corporate Performance Through Arts-Based
Learning in 20 cities this summer. Creativity Connection, is a program of the Arts & Business Council and
Americans for the Arts and is the provider of the Arts-Based Learning series. It is the Creativity Connection which
brought the team from 2nd City here to Philadelphia as part of its' program of arts-based learning.
Learn more about the Arts & Business Council and
the
Creativity Connection.
Business Creativity, Innovation, Art-Based Learning, Design Thinking, Innovative Technology, Strategic Development,
Industry Psychology, Organizational Development
Today in the business world, the art-based learning trend has as many techniques for development as it does names. None
quite so enthusiastically, perhaps, as the folks at Creativity Connection. The Creativity Connection
ran an interactive workshop here in Philadelphia on Thursday, July 17th at the Moore College of Art. Director of
Creativity Connection and discussion-leader Harvey Seifter claims arts-based learning can help you think more quickly
under pressure, improve your communication and presentation skills, and surface creativity and innovation in the
workplace.
Organizational development programs are becoming a dime a dozen. What makes the 2nd City team so different? What makes
arts-based learning any more effective than any other corporate learning program? It's because there is a growing
realization that new workplace skills are imperative in our changing, global economy; that creative thinking, not
technical skills, will save US jobs. (Philadelphia Business Journal, June 1, 2007,
"When the Arts
Spur Business.") To foster innovation in corporate America 2nd City takes us through a series of exercises that
are a sushi version of what they do on assignment in the field. Tossing about an invisible ball, trying to hold
conversations with the preface 'yes, but', trying to tell a story one word at a time... these are all improvisational
techniques used by 2nd City in their comedy performances. Yet they are the same skills that can help people succeed at
their jobs.
Arts-based learning represents a major shift in the way corporate America is responding to our country's lack of
economic growth. Our economy's foundation has been based on achievements in science and technology for more than 300
years. But many claim that continuing to focus on these old stand-bys is waging last century's battle. They hold
"that the very basis of value creation is shifting from the disciplines of logic and linear thinking to the
intuitive, nonlinear processes of creativity and imagination." (CNNMoney.com, July 5, 2006,
"The
Imagination Economy.") Technological advances developed by the U.S. will no longer bestow the competitive
advantage they once did as they encircle the globe instantaneously. How does the U.S. hope to regain its traditional
blinding lead in the world economy? Some claim it will be an obsession with consumers' unmet needs that will drive the
western economy of the future. But as more and more businesses are turning to India and China to provide low-cost,
high-quality goods and services, companies will have to focus on innovation to be competitive. One strategy sees
America's managers hiring thousands of new people who can think and act more creatively – all in an effort to make
their business culture more innovative. But Seifter quotes a study that says 80% of U.S. college grads had only a
mediocre level of the 3 primary skills (critical thinking, problem-solving skills, a strong collaborative sensibility)
that are the hallmark of innovation. Companies realize this and see it as a shortage of skills. "Desperate to
innovate, they are turning to design schools for nimble, creative thinkers." (Business Week, October 9,
2006, "The
Talent Hunt.") Universities call this new approach 'design thinking' and it's aimed at promoting innovation and
opening up business opportunities. Engineering, business, design and social science schools are creating
multidisciplinary programs that produce a hybridized graduate who is capable of bringing the basic tenets of business
school training to bear with a strong underpinning in creative thinking. As stated above, creative thinking, not
technical skills, will save US jobs.
Design schools are just beginning to turn out graduates. And while we wait for a generation of professionally trained
innovators to be graduated into the field, the Creativity Connection offers a variety of custom consulting services that
all promise to "unleash the creative potential of your employees and power your corporate performance in innovation
and execution." They have a wide range of capabilities. They can help your team:
- Develop problem-solving skills
- bond remote team members together
- develop, change of identity/corporate culture
- communicate more effectively
- think critically
- develop leader(s)(ship)
- manage change
- collaboration
- conflict resolution
- change management
- intercultural communication
- presentation skills
- increase creativity
As the self-proclaimed "best improvisers in the world," they develop learning programs that help businesses
create, innovate and adapt. Tom Yorton, president of Second City Communications points out, the lesson is to embrace the
inevitability of change and be willing to change your organization from within before forces from the outside change it
for you.
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