I was asked by my friend Cina Staron to do a workshop on creative meetings, as part of a leadership training for the National Association of Young Musicians (RUM). It was a beautiful, sunny saturday morning out at Kärsögården - a perfect setting for young leaders to grow! Walking the last bit from the bus stop to the facilities there were a LOT of little snails taking their morning walk as well, along the edge of the damp grass.
The group was intimate and attentive, they'd been together for the past two days so they were rather well familiarized and comfortable in the group, with some internal jokes developed as well, that spread giggles across the room a couple of times throughout the workshop - nice to see the signs of early team building (it was something about getting into a circle).
We transfered in to the workshop by each grabbing a little stone (I had picked a dozen on the path to the center, washed them off in the cold lake, and laid them to dry in the sun), feeling it, looking at it, then describing it, and finally drawing free associations to what the stone could tell us about creative meetings. The stone-exercise was a bit of an "Aha!-moment" for some, as a complete break from the ordinary and expected - so it had a good effect as a transfer in.
The rest of the workshop we used a bunch of different methods and exercises, drawing partially from the book Mer kreativa möten (which I project managed at LSU), to go through stages of planning and preparing for creative meetings. I essentially guided them through a needs-based approach to project planning, using the NAOMMIE-method (which I have been inspired by from Magdalena Musiala - every day arts).
So we brainstormed, collaborated, drew, antithesized, dart board evaluated, went out in the sun, and feedbacked. All in all, it was a creative atmosphere, lots of laughter, funny connections, ants in the pants, grass under feet, sun on skin and positive spirits!
The spontaneous feedback round from the group was really positive and included getting helpful tools, new ideas and liking the way I explained things clearly :) In return, I liked the group too, appreciated everyones interaction and participation and had a good laugh at some of the crazier ideas in the drawing exercise!
Oh, and another funny detail was that one of the training participants couldn't be there for this workshop because he was in town playing in an orchestra for the Swedish Crown princess' wedding...
Good fun!
/Ola Nilsson
Quelle Différence
- facilitating change, making a difference
