Coaching Creativity

Transforming your practice

Jen Gash

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781138960800
• eBook ISBN: 9781317336280
• Topic: Psicologia
• Subtopic: Psicologia in industrie e organizzazioni

Creativity and coaching are two of the buzzwords of the twenty-first century and yet little is known about how to coach creativity. In business, education, health and many other fields there is an increasing acknowledgement of the importance of innovation and recognition of what is lost when creativity is lacking.

In Coaching Creativity, Jen Gash explores the history, science and practice of "creativity" by artists, makers and creators, translating this into practical advice for coaches. The book investigates the concept of creativity and examines the theories surrounding it from psychological, neurological and biological perspectives. It then takes a more practical look at the "doing" of creativity and explores the use of creativity in therapeutic settings. A model of coaching creativity is presented which acknowledges its diverse and individual nature. The book also includes are tools, case studies and ideas for coaching creativity including contributions from a wide range of coaches.

Coaching Creativity will be inspiring reading for coaches of all backgrounds, including business and organisational coaches, those in training, and others in the helping professions looking to enhance their practice. It is essential reading for all coaches who aim to support clients' creative goals and use creativity in their own practice. It fills important gaps in current coach education and practice.

Part I

This crazy thing called creativity

The planet does not need more successful people. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of all kinds.

Dalai Lama

Chapter 1

Buzzwords and sexy shortcuts

‘Coaching’ – such a fashionable word, so twenty-first century

In the last twenty years or so, the ‘coaching’ world has expanded. Hundreds of coaching schools and programmes have sprung up all around the world and there has been a proliferation of coaches; life coaches, business coaches, wellbeing coaches, executive coaches and so on. The term ‘coach’ is, however, unprotected, meaning that anyone can call themselves a coach.

Slowly, in the same way that other new professions have evolved, the coaching profession has itself grown up. Whilst some may see it as becoming too institutionalised, systems of training and accreditation have developed, alongside clear standards of practice and an ethical framework.

However, this thing we call ‘coaching’ isn’t confined to those accredited coaches operating within a professional body such as the ICF (International Coach Federation) or the EMCC (European Mentoring and Coaching Council). People who use a ‘coach approach’ to their work are also carrying out great work. These include therapists, mentors, teachers and educationalists, as well as facilitators of all sorts.

Throughout this book, the term coach will be used in such a way to be inclusive to everyone using coaching in their work and perhaps other areas of life too.

‘Creativity’ – such a sexy word isn’t it?

The word ‘creativity’, like ‘coaching’ is also a great buzzword and used these days almost as much as lovely words such as ‘empowerment’, ‘potential’ and ‘authenticity’. These words are beautiful language shortcuts—ways of helping us to communicate large complex topics succinctly—but as we discuss ‘creativity’ further, a vast array of differing meaning, definition, opinion and understanding will be unearthed.

Creativity, and what it means to people, is as broad as you can imagine. Complexity deepens further if we start to look at the ways in which creativity is discussed in different settings.

In organisations the word innovation is often used interchangeably with creativity and is usually the preferred term. Perhaps creativity is seen as too fluffy and not business like. It’s difficult to evaluate and is often relegated to ‘team bonding days’, where the use of coloured post-it notes is encouraged, to tick the box labelled ‘do something creative’. However, innovation just cannot take place without creativity.

Thirty years ago, if someone said they worked in a creative business, you could reasonably assume that person was an artist, musician or writer. However, these days the term is also used to describe people and businesses in print media, television, software, app development and other online media. I often wonder if messy, mucky and quirky activities have been completely hijacked by technology firms who seem to want to claim ‘creativity’ as their own concept, as if it’s something new!

When talking about creativity in education, it used to mean ensuring a goodly amount of painting, drawing, collage and model making. Now it often means teaching kids thinking skills, rather than allowing them to experiment, take risks, get messy and make mistakes!

At home and in our leisure time, creativity can have all sorts of meanings. With increasing amounts of free time (yes I know it doesn’t feel like it), recent years have seen a growing interest in crafts, such as card making, creative baking, knitting and sewing, jewellery making and all sorts of other activities.

So creativity and what it means to us as individuals, groups and organisations is hugely complex. In the last fifty years, creativity as a concept has started to be explored, researched and categorised, but before we start looking at some of those theories and definitions, please take some time to explore what you think, understand and believe about this thing called creativity.

As coaches we know how important self-awareness is and that how we think and feel about certain topics and issues affects our stance as a coach (however much we would like to think it doesn’t). Surfacing and acknowledging these personal beliefs and values around creativity is crucial, so please take some time to reflect on these questions:

What does ‘creativity’ mean to you?

Where does ‘creativity’ come from?

Do you believe you are ‘creative’? What do you feel has helped shape that belief?

When someone says they are a ‘creative’ person, what do you immediately think?

What assumptions do you make if people say they would like to be more ‘creative’?

If you spent time considering those questions, I imagine the concept of creativity started to unravel. Perhaps it became complex and included types of ‘thinking’, ‘doing’ and ‘being’. Many deeply held images and beliefs about creativity probably started to arise.

As the journey through this book progresses, we will explore various aspects of creativity, but it’s always helpful to start somewhere, perhaps with a definition or two. One of the best discussions regarding a definition of creativity can be found in James Kaufman’s 101 Creativity. It’s a brilliant resource and very readable.

Creativity research is much more than a basic definition and the concept of divergent thinking. When I talk about creativity, am I talking about a beautiful piece of art or an ingenious computer program? How about the sensation of the ‘a-ha’ process when I suddenly understand what I need to do next? Maybe, instead, I’m talking about how a creative person behaves. Or maybe it’s the synergy that happens when many different people share and exchange ideas together. Throwing all of these things together and labelling them as ‘creativity’ is not much different than using the word ‘love’ to mean your feelings for your mom, your best friend, your significant other, and spicy calamari. It may be technically correct, but it’s not terribly useful.

(Kaufman 2009, p. 21)

A shorter definition could go something like this:

creativity = bringing something new into being

It is generally agreed by many researchers, that creativity manifests in the following three arenas:

− Hands-On Creativity (art, crafts and bodily/physical creativity).

− Mathematical/Scientific Creativity.

− Creativity in Empathy/Communication (creativity in the areas of interpersonal relationships, communication, solving personal problems and writing).

(Kaufman and Baer 2004)

Before we hold on too tightly to this definition of ‘creativity’ and those three arenas, we should consider creativity’s history. Until the 1950s the term creativity didn’t exist. The desire to study this thing we now call creativity meant that psychologists effectively had to invent it. This happened mostly through the work of American psychologists Guilford, Osborn and Torrance in the 1950s and 1960s, who we will meet later.

Today, many would argue that creativity is a highly problematic concept. As Readman notes:

What is really intriguing about creativity as a concept . . . is that it is able to attach itself to different interests with a high degree of promiscuity; it is simultaneously bereft of and rich in meaning, and has a polymorphous quality which makes it impossible to pin down . . . Yet, despite its instability there are many documents and practices which claim to have secured the term for the purposes of, promoting, implementing, or assessing it.

(Readman 2010, p. 14)

Yes, as we will see, there are many, many ways the phrase creativity is used nowadays. There are multiple meanings and, as we will see, creativity certainly is a concept with a deeply cultural and sociological history. However, a debate as to the genealogy of the word creativity is not terribly helpful here.

Like me, I imagine you seek to make sense of this thing called creativity, rather than get more confused. In an attempt to do so, the four ‘Ps’ of creativity were proposed by Rhodes in 1961: process, product, person/personality and place/press. In 2010 Kaufman added two more: persuasion and potential.

Process: theories that focus on the creative process and ‘aim to understand the nature of the mental mechanisms that occur, when a creative person is engaged in creative thinking or creative activity’ (Kaufman 2010). This creative process is also central to the coaching process, as we will later see.

Product: theories of creativity that focus on what has been produced – the ‘products’, such as works of art, invention, publications and musical compositions.

Person/Personality: what is it that makes a person creative or think that they are not creative? Or what constitutes a creative personality? Creativity research shows, however, that ‘personality’ is just one influence on creative behaviour, rather than a complete explanation (Feist and Barron 2003 in Kaufman and Sternberg 2010).

Place/Press: this considers how the place or the environment ‘presses’ on the individual and affects the creative behaviour/process. Are there opportunities for creativity to flourish in the work environment? How does the home environment promote, enable or restrict creative behaviour? How do social and cultural issues press on individuals in terms of their creativity or desired creative outcome?

Persuasion: here creative individuals initiate or influence the direction taken by a group/movement/domain – ‘my idea will change the world: it will revolutionise . . . ’. We see creative forces in action especially in newspapers, on television, in social media and during elections or political campaigns. Political ‘spin doctors’ must be amongst the most persuasive and highly creative individuals known.

Potential: here, as yet unfulfilled, ideas and possibilities are acknowledged. This is the starting point from which support may be required to move towards optimum performance and fulfilment. Some would argue that creative potential has also become a device for wealth creation and capitalism.

As you start to ponder these, I imagine you can see how coaching has a potential role and relationship with them all:

• By its very nature, coaching is a highly creative process – but it is also often sought to facilitate creative thinking in individuals and teams.

• People often come to coaching wishing to produce a creative work: write a book, start a business, start a creative hobby, or finish a project.

• Coaching increases personal awareness and can help us understand the relationship our personality has with our creativity.

• Through coaching clients become aware of the impact of their social and physical environment on their desired outcomes (place/press).

• Often coaching clients might want to influence or persuade a situation or work environment, or start a new ‘cause’.

• And, of course, belief in personal potential, which is close to our hearts in the coaching domain.

It is helpful to really reflect upon these differing aspects of creativity, as we tend to lump things together when we talk about creativity and coaching.

I talk to hundreds of coaches each year and in those discussions many are talking about creative thinking (process). Others talk about creativity and mean using creative activities as part of their coaching (products used in the process). Some might talk about innovation at work but actually mean that more creativity, thinking and ideas (process) are desired or some help is needed to put an idea into action (continual cycle of process and product occurring in a place).

From a client perspective, individuals may seek coaching to become more creative and through discussion it becomes clear that they want to produce things, for example, create a watercolour painting or a write a book. Some clients want to be more creative at work but sometimes we meet a client who has the opposite issue – too many ideas, too much creativity – and that presents a very different challenge at work.

Naturally, as coaches we know the importance of unpicking terms and language with our clients, but as a profession we need more clarity ourselves rather than blandly using the word creativity to cover so many aspects of our involvement.

It may well feel like we revisit these two questions many times during our journey through this book:

What is creativity?

What is coaching?

And of course as coaches, you will all know how we often need to revisit the same questions repeatedly!

The complexity inherent in our understanding of the word creativity has developed through our social and cultural history and our relationship with this thing called ‘creating’. We must first, therefore, take a look back, before we can go forward.

Learning Points

• Coaching is a new profession.

• Coaching skills are used by a variety of people, in many settings.

• Creativity is a complex term, varying widely in its meaning and usage.

• Creativity as a term did not exist until the 1950s.

• Simply put, creativity means ‘bringing something new into being’.

• There are three main arenas where creativity is seen: hands on creativity (art, craft, dance etc.); mathematical/scientific creativity; creativity in empathy and communication.

• Coaching has a relationship with and a potential role in many aspects of creativity.

References

Feist, G. J. (1998) A meta-analysis of personality in scientific and artistic creativity, Perso...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• Frontmatter
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Figures
• Contributors
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Part I This crazy thing called creativity
• Chapter 1 Buzzwords and sexy shortcuts
• Chapter 2 Time and place – how wegot to here
• Part II Creative human
• Chapter 3 Creativity and the psyche
• Chapter 4 Creativity, neurology andthe physical body
• Chapter 5 Creativity and human ‘doing'?
• Part III Creativity as a means and also as an end
• Chapter 6 Creative therapy
• Chapter 7 This crazy thing called coaching
• Chapter 8 Coaching as ‘creative' process
• Chapter 9 Creative ‘doing' as partof coaching
• Chapter 10 Coaching as activating,integrating and supporting creativity
• Chapter 11 Proposing a model forcoaching creativity
• Part IV Coaching the creative process
• Chapter 12 The vessel wall – containing the process
• Chapter 13 Enabling expansion – stretching, filling and activating the space
• Chapter 14 Enabling contraction and integration
• Chapter 15 The point of creative action
• Chapter 16 Reducing ‘blocks' andrestrictions
• Part V An invitation to coach in a different way
• Chapter 17 Writing – journaling, poetryand story
• Chapter 18 Visual processes
• Chapter 19 Humour and provocation
• Chapter 20 Evocative environments,evocative objects
• Chapter 21 Imagining, being and becoming
• Chapter 22 The ‘we' of creativity
• Index