Our team is undergoing a process of re-articulating its guiding principles, and this is a process we would like to engage in through conversation with our whole team. Shaya, Jason and I will each be initiating a conversation in this blog about one of the principles we came up with in an initial conversation. Please comment, or start a new post to share your own thoughts, respond to what you’ve seen others say, or just reflect. We will read what you write, and the eventual statements of our principles will grow from the conversation we have here.
Creativity
I’ve been proud to be a part of the graduate team for more than a few years now. There are many things I really enjoy about being on the team, and one of the biggest is the opportunity to be immersed in so much creativity. We have a consistently creative team, both among the facilitators, as well as the development team. This is creativity in the familiar sense – the way “creative” can sometimes be used interchangeably with “artistic” but it is also creativity in a wider and more exciting sense. To me, this wider creativity is a kind of playful restlessness and an alertness to the world. It is the joy and ease that I hear people say “why don’t we try something new?” and dive into an act of co-creation with whoever they are working with. And it is equally the attitude of receptivity we have to that creation, the open air between the logs that lets the flames of imagination breathe. It shows in the work we do, in the seemingly inexhaustible innovation I’ve witnessed in workshops. From small tweaks, to totally new ideas. It’s the ethos of creating and re-creating, that shared lesson plans have a lineage that reaches back years, but which changes every time it is used.
What does creativity mean to you? What are some moments that you can remember where you felt especially creative on our team?