Have you noticed the subtle creativity squelchers at work?

Here are some of the symptoms of an unhealthy culture:

• There is a general attitude of secrecy: Of information, of events, of updates. Someone has the info and their guarding it with their lives.
• There’s general fear of loosing jobs to new technology or way of work. Normally people resist change because of its discomfort. But here they might resist it because of fear that this technology or tool will make them redundant and they don’t want to find or use any of their other talents.
• There is a level of unhealthy envy and conflict that focuses on people rather than ideas. People talk about and worry about other people and the focus is on who did what.
• A strong desire to protect the status quo. Those who have it welcome “change” and “innovation” at the surface level only. Just the naming will do. But they will not allow it to enter their door.
• There’s an attitude that creative types don’t work in this department or this organization. To them, this is a waste of time and energy and they need to stay productive and efficient. Creativity can go somewhere else.  

There are many others, but for now, look out for those deadly ones.

Happy new year everyone.

Cheers to an amazing start 2022!  

Would you describe your work environment as a place that focuses on collaboration or competition?

Either of those scenarios on its own can be a barrier to creativeness.

If high cooperation is the case, then a person might have to conform or please others in order to “fit in”. This means they might have to tone down their creative ideas. Ask yourself: are you driving away the talented employees?  

On the other hand, if competitiveness is overemphasized then people might consider “beating somebody else to it” rather than finding good creative solutions. Ask yourself: Does the lone inventor even exist in this universe? Can we ever find unique and un-thought-of idea?  

In the Arabic culture we emphasize the saying: “The best options are on the middle path” (loosely translated ofcourse). And here is no exception. Find your place on the continuum and continue to connect the others to share ideas and compete to benefit the group as a whole.

The office is sometimes a silly place – at least it should be. A group that jokes around occasionally and do unharmful pranks from time to time tends to be one that is positive, results-oriented and successful. You already work 50 to 60 hours a week, mostly in the office or in uncomfortable setting, and sometimes you need a little laughter to break up the day and recharge from all the time spent focusing on the serious stuff. Ideas of placing a mannequin in your seat, wrapping someone’s car with sticky notes, or covering their desk area with real green grass are just a sample of how a few minutes of planning for fun can fill your brain with the happiness hormone.

And if you needed a reason for doing this, consider a 2012 meta-review of studies on humor in the workplace found that it is linked with strong employee performance, effective stress-coping mechanisms and strong group cohesiveness. Those jokes and pranks can serve as signs of a healthy workplace, and provide ways to foster trust and good communication among staff.

Just pay attention that jokes are not signaling someone out or being considered as bullying, under the title “I was joking”. As any comedian will tell you, attempts at humor sometimes can fall flat or even backfire. Get to know your colleagues well before you start joking around, enlist other accomplices, and have fun.

Lately I’ve been thinking about retirement.
It’s funny to have these thoughts now considering that I have at least 20 more years, as per the professional standards. Knowing me, I don’t do retirement.

Yet the thought opened up new ways of making decisions today. What type of work will I be doing 20 years from now? What jobs will I leave behind? Where will I live? Am I a step closer to that destination and way of living?
A decade ago, I did a little exercise that had me writing my life in the past tense. I was to be 90 years old, and I was hand-writing a letter to someone interested to know what I had accomplished in my life. I wrote all my dreams in the past tense. I talked about my 3 kids, teaching at the university, traveling more, opening a creativity center, etc. I did lots of things on that paper. Once done, I folded and archived it.

3 years after I wrote that letter I did a major house clean in my new home (new continent) and this paper showed up. I read it and I couldn’t believe it.
85% of the things I said I will do in my lifetime I had either already accomplished or on my way to do so. At the time of writing it, I didn’t have 3 kids nor did I teach at a university level and I wasn’t traveling as much or doing my creativity consultations. Imagine that!

Time to write another 90-year-old letter.
Will you do it with me?

I want to share with you a story and ask a question.

This story I learned during my years as a storyteller in Montreal in the early 2000s. I gathered a plethora of folktales from 22 Arabic countries for “My Arabic Story”, a nonprofit powerhouse that gathered and told Arabic fables to Canadians worldwide.

The woodcutter without a brain. A story from Morocco (retold by Inea Bushnaq)

Two woodcutters were walking in a thicket when they saw lion footprint on the road. “This is the mark of a lion,” said one. “What shall we do?” “Let us go on our way and do what we have to do,” said his friend. So they continued along the path and each collected a load of firewood. When it was time for them to return, the first man said, “Let us take another way home”. “No, this path is shorter,” said his friend. The first man said, “I’m not walking in the same path as the lion.” And he took a rocky path higher up the mountain.

The second woodcutter returned the way they had come. When he reached the place where they had noticed traces of a lion, he found the lion himself sitting in the middle of the road. “Peace be upon you O lion.” Said the man. “Peace, O son of Adam,” said the lion. “What are you doing here?” asked the man. “I am sick,” replied the lion, “and I need the brain from the head of a man to cure me. God in His mercy has led you to me and is offering me your brain, praise be to Him.”

“Listen, O lion,” said the man, “for what I am about to tell you is the truth. I am a brainless fellow. Had I the least bit of brain I should not have returned this way. The one with the brain is up there beyond the rocks!”

“God grant you happiness.” said the lion and began climbing up the mountain.

—————-

My two questions:

What type of brainless fellows are you surrounded with that might serve you on a plate to the lion?

How would you protect yourself, brain, and ideas from such experience while you continue collecting your wood and making sound decisions?

What if you could go back to being your 15-year-old self again?

What lessons, life experiences, and ambitions did you have that you can learn from?

Going back in time is used for nostalgic reasons or reflective actions. Mostly when we miss our old life (or are worried of it coming back to bite us) or when we want to send an emotion or advice that we’ve made it and that we didn’t need to be so hard on ourselves.  It’s rarely used to seek advice from.

But what if you’re looking back for the sole purpose of learning what to do next? What if your older wisdom knows exactly how to face a similar challenge to the one you’re facing now, albite it looks different on the surface?

This is what the immortal jellyfish does when faced with a stressful environment or physical damage. It reverses its life cycle back to an infant stage, settles at the bottom of the sea, and re-grows cells into a new polyp structure. It survives and lives a new life.

What can we do to be more like that jellyfish? Think of all the unique things your younger self knew that you no longer do (intuition power anyone?)

Excited to share with you the Biomimicry workshop. Next cohort starts October 15. Join with friends to grow your ecosystem and learn from nature, rather than about nature.