Ken Robinson and the Need for Passion

I recently finished reading Ken Robinsons book titled Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative and this is an interesting book about how undervalued creativity is in our society. His point of the book, I believe, is that in a rapidly changing and evolving world, creativity should be valued more than ever in order to move innovation forward.

In this book he gives a great deal of insight on where we have come from, where we are, and his thoughts on where we are headed. There is so much in this book that it was hard to journal just bits and pieces without having to rewrite the majority of the book! But there was one very small section that really caught my attention. His section entitled In the flow, Robinson says

"The term 'flow' has been used to describe peak creative performances. These are times when we are immersed in something that completely engages our creative capabilities and draws equally from our knowledge, feelings, and intuitive passions. These peak performances typically occur when someone is working in their element at the peak of their performance. In this respect, creativity involves particular attitudes and being able to access deep personal resources. There is a further factor, which is difficult to describe. Perhaps the best word for this is passion. People who have achieved great things in a given field are often driven by a love for it, a passion for the nature of the process involved."

My question to you is this- Are you passionate about what you are doing? Do you wake up every morning excited to go to your job and excited to work with the people you are working with? If not, Why? What are you going to do about it? It will be impossible for you to reach the height of your performance abilities if you never feel a passion for what it is you are doing. If this is the case not only will you never reach your peak performance, you will hinder your groups attempt to reach their peak performance as well. Look around. If you are working with a group that is stuck in a rut, figure out if you are part of the problem or part of the solution and get to work on finding passion. Not just for you, but for your team.

Are you in a Collaborative Group?

A lot of us would say that we are working within a group in some capacity. But how can we tell if this group is considered collaborative? In a collaborative group everyone feels free to express themselves without concern of judgment. These groups also have the freedom to grow and develop the focus of the group by utilizing the individual talents of everyone involved, rather than focusing on the weaknesses of the individuals.

According to Warren Bennis and Patricia Ward Biederman in their book Organizing Genius, they state "A great group is more than a collection of first-rate minds. Its a miracle." By creating a common purpose, filled with a spirit of optimism, a collaborative group is more willing to be open, honest, and focused on working together to achieve their goal. They realize that no one person is smarter than the whole of everyone and are willing to lay it all out in the open to make sure that no stone is unturned, while at the same feeling immersed in a rich, engaging, and socially rewarding experience.

Even if for only a short time, when we are involved in a group like this, that is in tune and on the same page, it is invigorating and inspiring. When information is allowed to flow and dialogue is rich, no matter how stressful the situation is a collaborative group will work to flourish in spite of seemingly impossible odds. Failure is never an option and success is the only choice. Yes, a group of great people can achieve a goal, but at what price to the group? A collaborative group will achieve great things while also growing the intellect of the group. A great group will achieve a greater goal, while at the same time developing greater people.

Speak Up!

A woman checked into a hospital to get her left knee cap replaced; however once in the operating room the doctor performed the surgery on her right knee! How could this happen? There were seven other people in the operating room wondering why the doctor was working on the right knee, but said nothing!

Time after time errors are allowed to happen because people are afraid to speak up in the midst of a heated or stressful situation. In multiple instances where a boss is perceived as smart, highly paid, and very confident; people tend to hold back their positions rather than risk angering someone in power. Every time we find ourselves fighting, arguing, or storming away, it is a good chance we don't know how to speak up and share our concerns.

On the other hand, when people feel comfortable speaking up and meaning is allowed to be transparent within a conversation the shared pool of information can dramatically increase the groups ability to make better decisions. Not only does the shared information help bring stronger meaning to all individuals within the group, but when there is a sense of shared decision making people are willing to take responsibility to act on the groups decision. When people are involved in helping come up with the final decision, the buy-in on the front end helps create a stronger understanding for everyone. This understanding and buy-in increases the commitment to the shared solution.

Speaking up in order to bring more meaning to a groups situation can be scary, but remember this. The time you spend upfront helping create a shared purpose based on the best decisions is more than paid for by faster more committed action later on. Allow everyone to speak up in the beginning of a process, or realize you are setting up a group for hidden agendas until the process fails.

Collaboration through Transparency.

Transparency implies openness, communication, and accountability. In the science world, a "transparent" object is one which allows light to shine in on its internal characteristics. A lot of people fear transparency because of this ability to see the reasoning within. I believe an activity gains the ability to become a greater product when all of the information about it is open and freely available.

Think about it. If someone produces something that is openly available to be seen from all angles, yes it is also open to criticism. But aren't these criticisms actually, for the most part, designed to shed more light on the weakness of the initial product? Yes. And if these are accepted by the producer at face value rather than something to defend the eventual outcome is a greater product.

By removing the fear of criticism with the acceptance and invitation of it, the eventual outcomes have the possibility of greater benifit. Why wouldnt we want to be more transparent?