arts based learning business

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When we were talking about creativity in the office, I remember someone drew [a picture of] flowers in their office. So this week I thought, "I'm going to make a change. Fm going to have a big vase of flowers and make it look cheerful in my office so that I feel more cheerful" and then it's going to be contagious and other people in the office will say, "Oh wow!" and so... warm and fuzzy, right? (laughs) Several participants reported creating a work environment conducive to creative thinking by adding music. In this regard, James remarked: I got speakers for my computer and I'm listening to music all day now while I work. I found that's made a big difference just in keeping me focused and interested. When you're sitting here and there's nothing, you don't have any sounds, it can get really boring. When I was in University, I listened to music all the time when I studied and I absolutely loved it. It was just one of these things I forgot and so now I pull up my iTunes and listen to music and I really enjoy it. Roger was another participant who introduced music to his work environment: "Music in the office is an example [of using art] just to keep things calm during the day. You'll be open to more possibilities and open to listening because you have more of a sense of calmness around you." Two participants said they learned about the importance of play in creating a work environment conducive to creative thinking: I think I've always maybe known [about the importance of play] but just seeing it reinforced and seeing how it can be put into your business narrative in a meaningful way just made you realize, "Yeah, there is an important time for us to be able to do this and we shouldn't get so caught up in the day-to-day business of the email and the phone and the this and the that." We should take that dedicated time for play. (Maura) Having fun [through play] is very important. There's this individual that I have a hard time working with. She's made a comment to me in the past about how some other people in the division laugh a lot and it seems to bother her. But I'm a person who likes laughing too so it doesn't bother me as much. (Alison) Critical incidents obtained from the November, 2007 cohort indicate that they too learned the importance of creating a work environment conducive to creative thinking. One of these participants, Leni, wrote: "I've changed the format of my team meetings.


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