Comments on: Innovating Through Artistry http://blog.entrepreneurthearts.com Innovating Through Artistry Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:46:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: A Case Study:The Story of Blue Man Group | Entrepreneur the Arts http://blog.entrepreneurthearts.com/entrepreneur-the-arts/innovating-through-artistry/#comment-7899 A Case Study:The Story of Blue Man Group | Entrepreneur the Arts Sat, 24 Sep 2011 09:56:09 +0000 http://blog.entrepreneurthearts.com/?page_id=7238#comment-7899 [...] Innovating Through Artistry [...] [...] Innovating Through Artistry [...]

]]> By: ETA Top 25 Most Read Posts in 2010 | Entrepreneur the Arts http://blog.entrepreneurthearts.com/entrepreneur-the-arts/innovating-through-artistry/#comment-7629 ETA Top 25 Most Read Posts in 2010 | Entrepreneur the Arts Fri, 24 Jun 2011 12:07:57 +0000 http://blog.entrepreneurthearts.com/?page_id=7238#comment-7629 [...] Innovating Through Artistry [...] [...] Innovating Through Artistry [...]

]]> By: John Cimino http://blog.entrepreneurthearts.com/entrepreneur-the-arts/innovating-through-artistry/#comment-684 John Cimino Tue, 04 Aug 2009 23:20:57 +0000 http://blog.entrepreneurthearts.com/?page_id=7238#comment-684 My hat's off to Lisa for pulling together some of the very best arguments in support of an authentic collaboration between the business sector and the creative sector -- represented largely by the arts and its champions. It's simply a matter of enlightened self-interest for business to import and thoroughly assimilate every bit of the best thinking available, regardless of source. And as Dan Pink has persuasively chronicled, much of that best thinking is to be found these days among inventors, designers, artists, storytellers, big picture thinkers and those well attuned to the emotional and intuitive channels of our human natures. As Lisa has pointed out, a number of major corporations are on to this "arts advantage" (as Dick Deasy once called it). IBM, GE, Pfizer, Starbucks, Citibank, McDonnell Douglas,
Johnson’s Wax and The World Bank have all been our clients here at Creative Leaps International. These were thrilling relationships and we all learned from one another. But the stakes today continue to rise and the need among companies large and small has only become more acute. That first very welcome wave of early adoptors validated our worth and our approach, but it must now be followed by a broad and deliberate groundswell of experimentation with all the many possibilities of creative collaboration across sectors. As events of this last year made clear, the "ingenuity gap" declaimed by Thomas Homer Dixon, though massive and debilitating to our society, is not our only shortfall. We have witnessed astonishing gaps in integrity, perspective and behavior which have compounded our failures of imagination. Yet it is my belief that imagination can lift our gaze to higher ground, that the arts and artists can summon our best selves into common reflection, dialogue and concerted action. The work of art, after all, is inner work, precisely the sort of calling into question of the status quo and pondering of what else might be possible that we need most. I agree with Lisa that it is time to speak from the heart, as art does so unfailingly. I agree as well with the business proposition brave thinkers like Lisa are calling the new ROI, the "Return on Imagination". This is a moment in time rife with challenges for all of us. We are all on notice that change is happening fast and we have yet to find the steering mechanisms to hold sway. Artists, educators, business leaders (everyone who is reading this blog): it is our show and our time to act. We must summon our courage, humility and shared wisdom. To be creative, we must learn to reach out, not just for what we think are the best ideas, but to one another as fellow human beings. We need to feel one another - our disperate hopes and dreams, fears and sorrows. Our great champion of the arts and education, philosopher Maxine Greene, has said that "Imagination makes empathy possible". I pray we find that most beautiful of all creativities in our search for solutions. Thank you, Lisa, for your inspiration! So glad we're in this together. John Cimino Creative Leaps International jcimino@creativeleaps.org My hat’s off to Lisa for pulling together some of the very best arguments in support of an authentic collaboration between the business sector and the creative sector — represented largely by the arts and its champions. It’s simply a matter of enlightened self-interest for business to import and thoroughly assimilate every bit of the best thinking available, regardless of source. And as Dan Pink has persuasively chronicled, much of that best thinking is to be found these days among inventors, designers, artists, storytellers, big picture thinkers and those well attuned to the emotional and intuitive channels of our human natures.

As Lisa has pointed out, a number of major corporations are on to this “arts advantage” (as Dick Deasy once called it). IBM, GE, Pfizer, Starbucks, Citibank, McDonnell Douglas,
Johnson’s Wax and The World Bank have all been our clients here at Creative Leaps International. These were thrilling relationships and we all learned from one another. But the stakes today continue to rise and the need among companies large and small has only become more acute. That first very welcome wave of early adoptors validated our worth and our approach, but it must now be followed by a broad and deliberate groundswell of experimentation with all the many possibilities of creative collaboration across sectors.

As events of this last year made clear, the “ingenuity gap” declaimed by Thomas Homer Dixon, though massive and debilitating to our society, is not our only shortfall. We have witnessed astonishing gaps in integrity, perspective and behavior which have compounded our failures of imagination. Yet it is my belief that imagination can lift our gaze to higher ground, that the arts and artists can summon our best selves into common reflection, dialogue and concerted action. The work of art, after all, is inner work, precisely the sort of calling into question of the status quo and pondering of what else might be possible that we need most.

I agree with Lisa that it is time to speak from the heart, as art does so unfailingly. I agree as well with the business proposition brave thinkers like Lisa are calling the new ROI, the “Return on Imagination”. This is a moment in time rife with challenges for all of us. We are all on notice that change is happening fast and we have yet to find the steering mechanisms to hold sway.

Artists, educators, business leaders (everyone who is reading this blog): it is our show and our time to act. We must summon our courage, humility and shared wisdom. To be creative, we must learn to reach out, not just for what we think are the best ideas, but to one another as fellow human beings. We need to feel one another – our disperate hopes and dreams, fears and sorrows. Our great champion of the arts and education, philosopher Maxine Greene, has said that “Imagination makes empathy possible”. I pray we find that most beautiful of all creativities in our search for solutions.

Thank you, Lisa, for your inspiration! So glad we’re in this together.

John Cimino
Creative Leaps International
jcimino@creativeleaps.org

]]> By: Michael Gold http://blog.entrepreneurthearts.com/entrepreneur-the-arts/innovating-through-artistry/#comment-685 Michael Gold Sun, 02 Aug 2009 15:25:47 +0000 http://blog.entrepreneurthearts.com/?page_id=7238#comment-685 Lisa states the case in plain language with great passion. Hits it right on the head when she states “ whole brain thinking-especially emotional intelligence . . . when synthesized can create authenticity in product development and branding, vibrant internal communication styles creating stronger bonds and better teams, a delivery vehicle for embedding key messaging as well as offering an opportunity to set the mind on fire with fresh perspectives and ideas– all essential and underutilized skills for 21st Century growth that once developed, can significantly impact the bottom line.” She isn’t suggesting instituting some new way of thinking and interacting. She’s talking about embracing what is already happening and opening it up to reveal the true potential of the way we are relating. To that point her quote about IBM- “After interviewing 765 CEO’s around the world, IBM asserted that the CEO’s view of innovation is evolving beyond the traditional focus on pure invention and new product or process development, and that they are placing increasing emphasis on differentiation through innovation in the basics of their business model.” I personally worked with 36 of their global leaders at the HQ in Armonk two years ago. They truly appreciated the need to bring the artist’s dimension to the way they perceived the processes that they dealt with every day at all levels. My program Jazz Impact evoked fascinating questions that we as artist found relevant to our process as well- proof that they were thinking beyond the artificial boundaries that separate the disciplines of arts and business. It’s a hard sell to business though- especially to the areas that need it the most. Lisa has the vision and communication skills to play an important roll in this broad transformation that needs to happen now. Thank you Lisa, Michael Gold,PhD Jazz Impact www.jazz-impact.com Lisa states the case in plain language with great passion. Hits it right on the head when she states “ whole brain thinking-especially emotional intelligence . . . when synthesized can create authenticity in product development and branding, vibrant internal communication styles creating stronger bonds and better teams, a delivery vehicle for embedding key messaging as well as offering an opportunity to set the mind on fire with fresh perspectives and ideas– all essential and underutilized skills for 21st Century growth that once developed, can significantly impact the bottom line.”

She isn’t suggesting instituting some new way of thinking and interacting. She’s talking about embracing what is already happening and opening it up to reveal the true potential of the way we are relating.

To that point her quote about IBM-
“After interviewing 765 CEO’s around the world, IBM asserted that the CEO’s view of innovation is evolving beyond the traditional focus on pure invention and new product or process development, and that they are placing increasing emphasis on differentiation through innovation in the basics of their business model.”

I personally worked with 36 of their global leaders at the HQ in Armonk two years ago. They truly appreciated the need to bring the artist’s dimension to the way they perceived the processes that they dealt with every day at all levels. My program Jazz Impact evoked fascinating questions that we as artist found relevant to our process as well- proof that they were thinking beyond the artificial boundaries that separate the disciplines of arts and business.

It’s a hard sell to business though- especially to the areas that need it the most. Lisa has the vision and communication skills to play an important roll in this broad transformation that needs to happen now.

Thank you Lisa,

Michael Gold,PhD
Jazz Impact
http://www.jazz-impact.com

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