Creating with Others
By Shaun McNiff
Do you believe that life within an organization means death to the creative process? That creativity is the exclusive province of "artistic types"? Wrong! Shaun McNiff shows how we can all cultivate the special kind of creative energy that is generated by people working together in groups, whether in the workplace or other cooperative communities—wherever individuals come together to pursue a common goal through dialogue, interaction, and teamwork.
Creating with Others is designed to address group creativity in both theory and practice. McNiff draws examples from the creative arts as well as from organizational life and everyday work situations. He shows how leaders can be facilitators of creative teamwork, and how artists and other creative people can collaborate fruitfully with others. The book includes exercises and questions that can be used in courses, informal discussion groups, and interactive e-groups. It will also help individual readers—ranging from beginners to artists seeking inspiration—to reflect upon their personal relationship with creativity. Readers will find that they are never alone in the creative process. Creativity is the basic interplay of life, and we establish a vital link to its power through engagements with others.
"A passport into creating with others. . . . McNiff is not only a master of theory but a gifted practitioner filled with exercises to help launch your creative activities with others." —Spirituality & Health
"In this book a master teacher provides important lessons for enhancing individual and group creativity." —Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Management, University of Southern California, author of Geeks and Geezers and On Becoming a Leader
"Expert advice, both in theory and practice, on creating settings that nurture creative thinking, sincere expression of ideas and feelings, and an individual and communal sense of enthusiasm and purpose. This is a book that could transform the workplace into the effective, creative, even joyful place we all would love to work-and live-in." —Peter London, author of No More Secondhand Art and Drawing Closer to Nature
"Shaun McNiff's innovative methods unleash the powerful potential inherent in teamwork—in sports, just as in any situation where people strive together to achieve a common goal. The wisdom in this book will be as useful to any coach in any sport as it will be to anyone in any kind of business or organization." —Ben Smith, Head Coach, U.S. Women's Olympic and National Ice Hockey Teams
"Shaun McNiff envisions an inspiring community of possibility where creativity is the key to discovering that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Keep this book on your desk, by your computer, in your briefcase, or at your easel whenever you need a source of inspiration and challenge to create outside the box, in both the workplace and in life." —Cathy A. Malchiodi, author of The Soul's Palette: Drawing on Art's Transformative Powers for Heath and Well-Being