Creativity in the Workplace: Art as a Tool for Business

Below, she discusses in her own words how she came to understand the positive role of creativity in business.
-----------------------------

Using creativity in the workplace

When did the status quo become cookie cutter like? We speak about thinking out of the box; however, when it comes to hard business decisions there is a whole world of non-verbal language to be explored. Somehow, the message that art and the creative process is only for approved artists irks me. Who are we not to be using our creativity in the workplace or in shaping the world? Art is our birthright, not a luxury. Said another way, when we don’t tap into our creative power, we are limiting our businesses and ourselves. Somewhere along the path, too many of us have been told that we are not creative, period. We started to believe this judgment about the right and wrong way of doing something. But really: what is right? What is wrong? What is ugly? What is beautiful?

Through the creative process of art we can visually connect with everything. We can connect with our vision of our business. We can easily depict various perspectives by using art. For example, imagine the landscape of a blue sky versus one that is a dark chocolate brown. Changing perspectives allows us to problem solve for ourselves. We can make choices by saying ‘yes’ to that which resonates and saying ‘no’ to those aspects that just don’t fit into our picture. We can connect to our emotions. Emotions are, in reality, energy in motion. Using creativity in business and connecting to emotions and perspectives through art helps create transparency between employees, customers and management.

ART WORKS – The ideas behind using creativity in business

“As I show in my book, Art Works: How creativity empowers your business, the process for using creativity in business can be broken down into four parts.

First, we connect art and business. The largest asset to any business is its people. Art Works speaks about getting in touch with our emotions, such as empathy and antipathy, allowing for a true connection between team members, managers and customers. As the expression goes: a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Emotions can both strengthen and weaken these links. Art can strengthen these links literally by encouraging our energy to kick in through the creative process. It gives that extra boost of inspiration when energy is running low. This energy is not to be taken lightly, especially when we know that a lack of this energy causes burn-out.

The second step consists of discovering how it all actually works. The essence of art works and creativity in business stems from arts therapy, which is based on scientific research. There is a strong cause and effect relationship versus a random, ‘let me stick my finger in the air to come up with the solutions’ attitude. When you understand it, you are empowered to grasp how art communicates with our subconscious. You can gain insights into how much we actually see and learn through images.

The third part of the process deals with using practical exercises that you can immediately apply to your business. These are hands-on exercises. After years of working closely with individuals and groups, I noticed that there was a formula to merge the creative process with our business needs. These needs include: unleashing vision, gaining perspective, brainstorming, accessing/releasing emotions and strengthening teams. I noticed that when following this framework, we are able to translate the non-verbal skill of visual art into the verbal nature of business.

The fourth part involves exploring how you can utilize this creativity in the workplace process alive. Following through on action items is vital to keeping them alive. You must begin to ask, ‘Now that I got my hands 'dirty', how can I keep the momentum going? How do I follow through with this creative process? Instead of this being a one-time excursion into creativity, how can I integrate art in my (professional) life and actively use creativity in the workplace?’ We need to periodically relook at our ideas and see how we have grown. Then we can adjust our energy and actions to match our new perspective.

By condensing my knowledge into this four step process, it is my goal to demystify the workings of creativity in the workplace as it applies to business. Assisting my clients in understanding how the art-coaching process works and then offering easy-to-do exercises are essential elements to making this happen straight away. Creativity in the workplace no longer needs to be, nor should it be, kept out of business; in fact for businesses to continue to grow and prosper in today’s rapidly changing world, it is no longer an option.

Daniella Rubinovitz is known as the Visual Dialogue Mentor. She is passionate about enabling individuals and businesses to visually express their visions and has developed a proven system for using creative expression as a tool for business. www.unleashavision.com/artworks/