why the how matters
the creative practice of process
I’m halfway through my first semester and it’s pure joy to be learning again. I’m loving the content. I’m inspired by my classmates and professors. After years of being a freelancer I’m revelling in the structure and defined purpose of being a graduate student. I’m feeling blessed to have found this program and the privilege to pursue it. Being back in the classroom has brought up reflections around how I learn, what I need to learn well, and how sense-making itself is a living, breathing process. My program is a Master’s of Design in Strategic Foresight & Innovation. We’re learning about design thinking, innovative research practices, systems theory and creative problem solving tools for complex issues. I’m connecting the dots from my work as an artist and creative producer.
After years of making theatre on different scales, with different people and in different places, I’ve come to believe that the creative process is the product, it is the heartbeat of a project. In making the shows I wanted to perform in, my attention shifted from acting to creative producing - the art of drafting, shaping and caring for the creative process from beginning to end. This looks like strategic visioning, project coordination, securing and managing resources and designing the process side by side with the director and creative team. The production and creative process must flow together towards a shared artistic vision. The process should embody the values and principles of the company. It should be deliberate and crafted in relation to the nature of the project and its intentions. It should consider who’s in the room, what they bring, where they’re at and where they need to be. It needs to account for time, space, money, labor, proximity, relationships, power. It should have spaciousness for mistakes and emerging discoveries. It should feel invisible to the participants and simultaneously be transparent and consentable, flexible and firm. It cannot be arbitrary or ambiguous. One size does not fit all. It is the sacred container for learning and creating and ought to be held by responsible leadership.
I wasn’t taught how to produce shows in theatre school. We didn’t learn HR skills, business models or leadership styles. It takes time for a (grossly unpaid) group to form, storm and norm until they find their process and organizational flow. Little cultures sprout out of bigger ones, we worked how we were taught to and we made things up as we went along.
As a creative producer in my past theatre company, I couldn’t pinpoint what it was that I was trying to capture or track. After projects I would send out surveys on how everyone was feeling, ask how we could grow and improve, how was their mental/emotional health, did they feel taken care of, what could we do better next time. Making good theatre is hard, period. Let alone in a society that doesn’t care about it, in an industry where belonging, wellbeing and abundance are fought for and rarely achieved. Maybe our expectations were too high, maybe we were too ambitious and it led us to a couple of broken hearts and all round burnout. Of course, our struggles were symptoms of a larger system that wasn’t set up for stability, recognition and safe working conditions for all. But instead of blaming the system, what changes could we have made in our own process to address the impact of industry-size challenges? What does a ‘ground-breaking’ show with a ‘healthy’ process look like? How is that measured? How do we take care of ourselves and each other within a culture of disposability & scarcity? What does it mean to challenge the ‘traditional’ theatre-making models? What technology do we toss, keep and what’s waiting to be invented? What is being asked of creatives that requires a system, an industry, a culture to change? What kind of leadership does that call for, and where do we begin? How can we —sustainably, authentically and compassionately — work better, be better and make better art?
Organizational scientist Peter Senge compares an organization to an ocean liner and asks - who’s the leader of this ship? At first we may say it’s the Captain, or the navigator pointing which way to go. The commander who controls the direction or the engineer stoking the fire. Perhaps it’s the social director, making sure everyone involved is communicating effectively. But the most influential of them all is the designer of the ship. “What good does it do for the captain to say, “Turn starboard thirty degrees,” when the designer has built a rudder that will only turn to port, or which takes six hours to turn to starboard? It’s fruitless to be a leader in an organization poorly designed.”
This is where design thinking, systems and strategies come in. Dreaming big, taking stock, creatively strategizing, researching, working through obstacles, experimenting, failing, changing this, trying that. Using imagination and creative tools to change and innovate across scales — this is what I’m studying. It aligns with what I’ve been scratching at over the years, the questions I’ve had with the processes and flow of systems within an individual, within an ensemble, within a community and within an industry at large. My fellow classmates, just as passionate and curious, nerd out about research, patterns, stickie notes, spreadsheets, timelines and powerful questions as much as I do! Coming from all over the world with different professional backgrounds, we’re learning how to center (and challenge) the why’s and the how’s in creative problem solving and innovation. We’re learning how to do this with diverse mindsets, cultures and areas of expertise and it’s been a rich and robust experience so far. I don’t have the answers to the questions above. Yet. But my little artist heart has hope. Not just for the arts, but the world.
How we do things matters just as much (if not more!) than getting them actually done. How we begin our day in the morning, how we lead, how we gather, how we create, how we witness, how we manifest, how we celebrate or grieve, how we learn and how we design and live our lives. The architecture of a process is a creative practice in itself.
As a coach and consultant I seek to facilitate pathways that prioritize wellbeing and collaboration and that flow in alignment with the client’s values, resources and capacities. I am holding a spacious and mindful process for transformation and fulfillment. Whether that’s in leading a creative project, stepping up in their career or navigating conflict and change. I believe it can be done without burnout and broken hearts. I believe small (but mighty!) changes, intentional goal setting and a custom-designed creative and care-based process can make a powerful difference in a person.. and a play. 💫
🪴 sharings:
My professor brought up Rebecca Solnit’s book Hope in the Dark last week. My copy is ripped up and crumb-filled from the year I carried it around in my purse as a reminder of what’s possible when human beings work well together. Never a bad time to read this one but it might be particularly comforting these days 🕊
Hospicing Modernity - Recommended by my dear soulfriend Kamana, this book is taking me almost a year and a half to get through because of its density and depth regarding systemic transformation. I strongly recommend this to all educators and changemakers (actually, everyone!) If anyone’s interested maybe we can book club it..let me know! 🤓
I don’t know much about him but I learned about Neil Harbison this week, the world’s first cyborg artist. Just needed to share this. 💁🏼♀️
😉 The (leader) ship example is borrowed from Peter Senge’s article, “The Leader’s New Work: Building Learning Organizations”
Almost exactly one year ago, the whole time I was at PAF, I listened to Jenny Hval’s song on repeat. When I finally looked up the lyrics I had goosebumps ✨
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