Creating with Others: The Practice of Imagination in Life, Art, and the Workplace [Hardcover]

Shaun McNiff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 16, 2003

Do you believe that life within an organization means death to the creative process? That creativity is the exclusive province of "artistic types"? Wrong! Shaun McNiff shows how we can all cultivate the special kind of creative energy that is generated by people working together in groups, whether in the workplace or other cooperative communities—wherever individuals come together to pursue a common goal through dialogue, interaction, and teamwork.

Creating with Others is designed to address group creativity in both theory and practice. McNiff draws examples from the creative arts as well as from organizational life and everyday work situations. He shows how leaders can be facilitators of creative teamwork, and how artists and other creative people can collaborate fruitfully with others. The book includes exercises and questions that can be used in courses, informal discussion groups, and interactive e-groups. It will also help individual readers—ranging from beginners to artists seeking inspiration—to reflect upon their personal relationship with creativity. Readers will find that they are never alone in the creative process. Creativity is the basic interplay of life, and we establish a vital link to its power through engagements with others.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A hard nugget of common sense-that creativity is often sparked by interaction with other people and their ideas-is inflated into a nebula of mystical rumination in this self-help guide. Drawing from Nietzche, Jung, Christian spirituality and Greek mythology, McNiff asserts that creativity is not the province of lone geniuses, but a ubiquitously available "positive energy" from whose "circulation" and "flow" ideas spontaneously emerge. Tapping into it requires getting outside oneself by letting go -of pettiness, negativity and controlling behavior-and by allowing the ego to dissolve in an altered state of collective consciousness induced by group activity. Art therapist McNiff (Trust the Process: An Artist's Guide to Letting Go) supplements his psycho-metaphysical musings with creativity-boosting "practical" exercises derived from his therapeutic retreats, including minimalist and non-representational art projects, poetry, "vocal improvisations" and "body movements," with the emphasis on "authentic expression of emotion" over coherence or style. His ideas owe much to the Romantic cult of the artist, which also viewed creativity as emotionalism inspired by a communion with the transpersonal Sublime; the exercises included are reminiscent of drip-painting, automatic writing and other Modernist art-as-unplanned-process techniques. McNiff transfers these conceits from the studio to the office, though, conjuring up images of dubious avant-garde Human Resources initiatives. Managers looking for a New Age approach to leadership training, as well as anyone desperate for strategies to cope with a stifling workplace may find use for this manual, but traditionalists will be more comfortable with a more down-to-earth, less touch-feely approach than what's laid out here.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A passport into creating with others. . . . McNiff is not only a master of theory but a gifted practitioner filled with exercises to help launch your creative activities with others."—Spirituality & Health

"In this book a master teacher provides important lessons for enhancing individual and group creativity."—Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Management, University of Southern California, author of Geeks and Geezers and On Becoming a Leader



"Expert advice, both in theory and practice, on creating settings that nurture creative thinking, sincere expression of ideas and feelings, and an individual and communal sense of enthusiasm and purpose. This is a book that could transform the workplace into the effective, creative, even joyful place we all would love to work—and live—in."—Peter London, author of No More Secondhand Art and Drawing Closer to Nature



"Shaun McNiff's innovative methods unleash the powerful potential inherent in teamwork—in sports, just as in any situation where people strive together to achieve a common goal. The wisdom in this book will be as useful to any coach in any sport as it will be to anyone in any kind of business or organization."—Ben Smith, Head Coach, U.S. Women's Olympic and National Ice Hockey Teams



"Shaun McNiff envisions an inspiring community of possibility where creativity is the key to discovering that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Keep this book on your desk, by your computer, in your briefcase, or at your easel whenever you need a source of inspiration and challenge to create outside the box, in both the workplace and in life."—Cathy A. Malchiodi, author of The Soul's Palette: Drawing on Art's Transformative Powers for Heath and Well-Being

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala; 1 edition (September 16, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570629668
• ISBN-13: 978-1570629662
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,437,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rediscovering Creativity Through Connection With Others, October 23, 2003

By 

Bruce L. Moon, Ph.D. (Mundelein, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Creating with Others: The Practice of Imagination in Life, Art, and the Workplace (Hardcover)

Shaun McNiff has given his readers another pearl in what is becoming a long strand of outstanding contributions to the world. This new book is an intriguing and thoughful and application of his ideas that have evolved in over 30 years of work with groups struggling to ignite their creativity. This book explores new territory as he applies his experience and unique perspectives to creative life in the workplace. His passion for unleashing the power of creative thinking and authentic being in the workplace, and in all of life, is potentially a significant contribution to organizations in need of revitalization and individuals in search of meaning in their lives. In many ways I find McNiff's creative practices, as presented in this book, to be alligned with David Whyte's poetic call for rediscovery of soul in the work place in The Heart Aroused.
Creating With Others may challenge some managers and organizational leaders who seek more traditional and shallow leadership initiatives. A key concept that McNiff proposes is that "to imagine is to let go." He intertwines the phenomena of focus and release of control as a method of tapping into one's innate creativity.
This book is unique in its approach to communal life, and yet is solidly anchored in literary sources from psychology to art. He evidences a deep understanding of human collaboration and creative exercise and applies these in practical exercises for being in creative community with others. I hope many individuals, communities and organizations will be enriched by exploring McNiff's approach to creation in the workplace.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful and Practical, January 28, 2004

By 

Barton Kunstler (Cambridge, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Creating with Others: The Practice of Imagination in Life, Art, and the Workplace (Hardcover)

I found this book a delightful read. It's filled with practical ideas and reflections about creativity, collaboration, and leadership. It's also an eminently browsable book - one can focus on a given chapter and come away with insights that speak directly to a current project. I think one of the book's strengths is McNiff's way of allowing many of the people in it, including himself, to speak directly to the reader. Another distinctive aspect is McNiff's creative sensibility - he sees creativity as the substance of everyday living rather than an "add-on" or enhancement to our lives. Hence the importance of collaboration, which enables us to generate creative energy in a number of personal contexts. Eventually, these contexts feed one another and produce a gestalt effect in which the individual becomes a powerful creative engine in his or her own right rather than simply a creative practitioner in a specific field. This is an eminently practical book for business people, artists, therapists, and just about anyone who recognizes the universal benefits of committing themselves to creative work and who might be looking for practical advice on working creatively with others.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Getting to the source, October 23, 2003

By 

Phillip Speiser, Ph.D. Executive Director, Bo... (Boston MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Creating with Others: The Practice of Imagination in Life, Art, and the Workplace (Hardcover)

McNiff has written a thoughful and practical work that not only shows direction for implementing creative thinking and being in life and the workplace, but also goes to the source of why art is so powerful a tool for change and healing. When learning occurs at its' quintessential best; when healing occurs at its' deepest level, one thing is certain - there is a connection being made between self, other and environment/community. McNiff has understood this connection and written in depth on this matter in many of his other writings. In this new volume, he takes this rich and novel understanding about connection and applies it into practical approaches for being in 'connection with others'! When one adds 'active imagination' to our daily encounters, it is here that the author boldly steps into an arena which brings a knowledge base of past and present experiences into focus and charts out new vision for 'life, art and the workplace.' This book dares to go where not many artists and scholors have dared to go before!