Dear All,
We had our second Creativity & Culture 2017 follow up session today, discussing our thoughts on articles that we are collaborating on:
The Fruits and Failures of Creativity by Jesvir Mahil and Aryna Ryan
Who is willing to pay the price when risks taken lead to failure instead of success; when employees jump ship and walk away with their best ideas; when the disruption caused by creative employees causes loss of reputation that will take years to rebuild? Do highly creative people need investors rather than employers? How are the skills of persuasion required for attracting investors different to the skills required for gaining employment?
We are always in the right place at the right time to be creative by Jesvir Mahil and Kerri Lake
Although Kerri lake and I have different perspectives on the importance of place in creativity, we accepted that clear shared definitions of creativity are essential in understanding what we are framing, before we explore its positioning and location. For example, is creativity individual or is it collective? Is it ubiquitous or is it a gift that is the privilege of only a few? Until we clarify what specifically we are speaking about, it becomes meaningless to discuss differences in opinion that naturally occur due to different starting points.
Sustaining Creativity through Family Businesses by Jesvir Mahil and Chris Vaughan
Chris Vaughan gave some very interesting examples of creativity, such as a local environmental project that he is involved in, where worms are being cultivated in order to fertilise soil, generate heat and ultimately reduce methane gas from food waste in Birmingham. We ended our discussion contemplating the role of families in small businesses. Although organisations may attempt to simulate strong family relationships, building trust, loyalty and a deep level of goodwill towards all its members, the world of business is full of examples of real families (as opposed to simulated family relationships in organisations), that survive the test of time. Strong supportive families that are resilient to the risk-taking behaviour of some its members; that remain loyal in the face of failure; that are willing to invest in the long-term prosperity of its newest members, create a climate in which creativity can flourish and stand the test of time. We will explore the role of families in sustaining businesses creatively in our next session in January.
***** Our next follow up session is on Saturday 27 January 2018. If you would like to attend, please email me your preferred time between 9am and 9pm London time (GMT+1). We will discuss different themes around creativity and the possibility of collaborating to write more articles.
***** Remember to register for the Creativity & Culture Online Conference (2018) by clicking on this link: https://creativitycultureonlineconference2018.eventbrite.com
Kind regards,
Ms Jesvir Mahil
Director, University for Life
www.universityforlife.com
creativity@universityforlife.com