Fresh Eyes

Creativity, in spite of, because of

When we're working our way, collectively, through challenging times, does it seem to you as if creativity is a luxury, something that has to go, carved away, unceremoniously, as "non-essential"?

In a word, the answer to that idea is "NO."

At times like this, creativity can be your saving grace, THE way to make a way that's better now, and for the long run, too.

And creativity can be at its highest when resources are challenged, limited, constrained.

Here's what others have had to say about the subject of creativity in the midst of constraint:

Every man takes the limits of his field of vision for the limits of the world.
Arthur Schopenhauer

Know your limits. Also know how to break them.
Geraint Straker

Man built most nobly when limitations were at their greatest.
Frank Lloyd Wright

In art, truth and reality begin when one no longer understands what one is doing or what one knows, and when there remains an energy that is all the stronger for being constrained, controlled and compressed.
Henri Matisse

Our firmest convictions are apt to be the most suspect, they mark our limitations and our bounds. Life is a petty thing unless it is moved by the indomitable urge to extend its boundaries.
José Ortega Y Gasset

What is not constrained is not creative.
Philip Johnson-Laird

All I have to do is to write down as much as I can see through a one-inch picture frame. This is all I have to bite off for the time being.
Anne Lamott, about the 1" picture frame she keeps on her desk as a reminder about how to start getting unstuck when she feels stuck

Suspended in midair

Suspended in midair, originally uploaded by jcgr.

Sometimes open eyes lead to an unexpected prize:

Nature's simple, sometimes stark beauty.

Accompanied by delight, and insight.

It only takes a moment, if the moment is right.

The power, beauty of exuberance

Watching a news clip about the passing today of a superb American writer, John Updike, I was struck by his quiet exuberance for his work, and his love of books, themselves.

He positively glowed as he talked.

I love seeing people who love what they do, and what they've accomplished through good, solid work which they feel privileged to have, whatever it is.

Zest, enthusiasm for one's work, often leads to enthusiasm among those for whom one does that work. And it often leads to excellence.

I always pointed out such circumstances to our kids as they were growing up. In a retail store, for example, a clerk who loved what she or he did - one who did it very well - always deserved a mention.

"YOU just witnessed RETAIL EXCELLENCE!" I would say to the kids, with sincere enthusiasm and respect for what we had just experienced.

When did you last observe someone who clearly loved what she or he did for a living - not the rewards of money and what it buys - but the work, itself?

How could you tell that they loved their work? What did you observe or experience?

How did that make you feel, as a customer?

How can you bring that type of enthusiasm for what you do into your work?

Would it make a difference in your experience of that job?

Would it change the results you produce? 

How different would it make your customers' experience?

How could that change, or improve your business?

Letting go

In a dream the other night I was standing on a tall, TALL stack of something that continued to grow and push me ever higher into the air (the stack...books, I suspect...I'll never finish all the ones I want to read).

In my hand was something that I was protecting, holding onto for dear life, almost at the expense of my own safety, as the stack continued to grow.

At some point, as my balance became quite precarious and I concentrated on something new, almost imperceptibly, the thing in my hand fell and suddenly, was gone.

I watched it drop into a space so deep I would not hear it hit the ground when it landed. I could not go after it. I had to let it go, to be OK with the change as it happened.

And at that point, I realized I almost could not remember what it was that I had been holding onto so tightly, and for so long.

Is there something that you are hanging onto, almost for dear life, that...if you let it go...you might find you could not remember why you clung onto it so long?

And...if you let it go...you might find that you were quite ready for the change, after all?

It's just a thought.

Monuments and rituals

Monuments, originally uploaded by jcgr.

One of my favorite things in Inauguration 2009, as it was for many others, this year, especially, after several contentious years of campaigning?

Witnessing once again the peaceful transfer of power in the US.

The inauguration, the regularly scheduled handoff in the presidential relay race through history, really is an amazing national ritual to witness.

Vibrancy

Haiku 20/52, originally uploaded by jcgr.

Vibrant blue skies herald the changing of the seasons, the changing of the guard.

What are you looking forward to the most as new leadership is ushered in today in the US?

The months and even the years ahead may not be easy (or maybe, miraculously, they will).

Yet that's not all bad.

Very challenging times, well-met, can yield great memories and great strengths, too.

Tests, sources of strength are many

Our tests are plentiful, yet our individual and collective sources of strength are plentiful, too.

Hopefully, our new leaders in the US will lead well, setting positive examples as we move through the things we now must move through.

Here are a few thoughts on leadership strength from people who knew how to use their own strengths well:

Some people think it's holding on that makes one strong - sometimes it's letting go.
Unknown

Don't wish me happiness. I don't expect to be happy - it's gotten beyond that, somehow. Wish me courage and strength and a sense of humor. I will need them all.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Concentration is the secret of strength.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

There are two ways of exerting one's strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.
Booker T. Washington

Perhaps I am stronger than I think.
Thomas Merton

Freedom is actually a bigger game than power. Power is about what you can control. Freedom is about what you can unleash.
Harriet Rubin

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.
Abraham Lincoln

And for another point of view, there's this type of strength:

Strength is the ability to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands - and then eat just one of those pieces
Judith Viorst

Not missing a beat

We're walking, walking, walking, originally uploaded by jcgr.

Big changes are afoot at Apple, Yahoo, and many other companies, as well. In each case, leadership changes are being made while the organizations keep moving on.

In the midst of change, they must try to continue to move without missing a beat.

Even as they travel into territory that's unknown.

Even as they leave behind things they must grow beyond.

The transitions these companies (and the nation, as well) are making are not minor. Far from it.

But moving, moving, moving, armed with a crisp plan, clear communication and positive, focused action can serve them well.

No freezing in place in fear and dread.

We're moving, moving, moving, making good things happen now, and for many days ahead.

What's the best leadership style? It depends...

Leaders have different styles, and ways to lead.

Which style is best?

It all depends.

Leadership, to be great, must be right for the time, the goals, the resources, the followers - and the leader, him or herself.

Sometimes a forceful, directive leadership style works best.

Sometimes a calming presence is the strongest way to lead a team or organization, especially one that's under great duress.

At other times, a coaching style, or a collaborative style is most right for the times an organization is moving through to something better than the times they're in.

Think back on your own leadership experiences:

- When have you been most effective as a leader?
- What leadership style did you use at that time, in that place, with that group?
- What made your style effective, in that case?
- Is the leadership style you used the style you planned to use, or did something in that experience force you to change your style in order for you to be successful leading that team?
- What did you learn from that experience?
- How did you use what you learned to improve your leadership in future circumstances?

Nothing like a green light to keep traffic moving

Nothing like a green light to keep traffic moving, eh?, originally uploaded by jcgr.

Just because you create a rule, or a process, does not mean everyone will follow it.

You have to design for the way the process will really work, in all circumstances, with all users.

Like at Christmas, for example.

Here the red light directing turning lane traffic to stop - well, it had no real impact at all. Too many people were laser-focused on getting a parking spot at the mall.

If you're responsible for designing and implementing flows of information, decisions and action (or traffic) how can you best create a system that works for stressful times as well as for the daily flow?