50 USC/Annenberg students crowd into my yard for a creative journey.
Perhaps the biggest creative challenge of the morning was teaching the students from China, Bulgaria and India how to assemble a lox and bagel sandwich.
How do you explain schmearing cream cheese when the Chinese inform you that most of them are lactose intolerant?
Try explaining why someone needs to choose between bagels with sesame, onions or just plain.
“The cucumbers and tomatoes go inside the bread. No folks, the olives don’t go in as well. You’ll crack your teeth.”
The Swedish student, a daily consumer of herring was a natural.
Creative engagement is changing everything.
Okay, the real issue: The new creative-driven society challenges everyone—students, business people and nonprofits. Students of creativity can find it intimidating and frightening entering through the doors of the creative madhouse, as if seeing their talents—or lack of talents— reflected in funhouse mirrors. How important is it to build a nurturing creative atmosphere? How important is it to delve into challenging questions that engender a dynamic give-and-take creative conversation? How important is it to set standards of creative excellence? Will all this effort enhance creativity?
Classrooms as creative agencies
Dr. David Craig and I both run our USC/Annenberg Masters in Communications classes as if they were professional creative agencies. Professor Craig, a successful Hollywood TV writer teaches TV writing, storytelling and trans-media. I’m an ad guy who is also a nonprofit marketing guy. I teach creativity based in advertising as well as nonprofit marketing. (Even though I am no Phd, my students call me “Professor.” Recently one of them was on my car speaker saying, “But Professor…..” My 97-year old father, sitting in the passenger seat shouts out, “Who the hell is calling you ‘Professor?’ Your mother should have been alive to hear this one.” The next day all my students knew the story.)
David and I, who have become good colleagues and better friends, have begun to consider the following: “Can we give our students a different creative experience if we remove them from the classroom? Through a less formal, casual interaction, will they delve into the creative challenge in a different way?”
So Creative Sunday Morning was born.
The oneness of creativity
For this first event we decided to find a speaker who would experiment along with us—and not charge. So, I turned to Micah, my rising-star chef son. “You’re going to talk about the creative principles of being a chef. And oh by the way, you’re also providing the breakfast.” His much touted food might have been what really brought everyone out.
Micah presenting to the students
After Micah spoke, David and I worked with students to extract the creative chef principles Micah articulated. They found that these principles could be applied directly to the creative processes in which they are involved as well. They began to realize a oneness between all creative endeavors and a relationship between all creativity. This realization opened them up to a vast world of creative thought and self-identification.
The importance of a creative community
Creativity can be a very lonely endeavor, especially when you first begin the journey. Creative output becomes less frightening, more powerful, dynamic, conceptual and risky when it is nurtured and supported by a community. Through interaction with other creative people, standards of excellence are set and pushed. Possibility is expanded. I realize that for my students’ creative growth, it is essential that my classrooms become real communities. By David and I bringing together our students, they can share fears, ideas and form bonds.
Annenberg is one of the creative nerve centers on campus. Our students are emerging into a world now driven by creativity. Creative ability is expected and valued. What they are learning at Annenberg is essential for this new world. They must know how to compete in the creative arena if they are to succeed with excellence.
And so what about the nonprofit sector?
You think the emergence of these new creative realities are any different for nonprofits? Nonprofits can still hide their risk-averse heads in the sand, buried in safe and passive strategic planning as their driving force. But those creative bugs are gonna bite them right where they can’t ignore it any longer.
What I’d really like to do for the next Creative Sunday Morning, is mix the students with nonprofit leaders and watch the students challenge them with the realities of this new creative, idea-driven world.
Anyone interested? I can promise the food will be great.
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And if you want to get a jump on all this creative stuff changing everything, click here.
Mona is interested in communications jobs in the following industries: Social Media Management, Digital Media Strategy and Copy/Content Writing. She can be reached at mona.molayem@gmail.com. Mona got an A in both classes and gets A+ recommendations from me.
Think critically. Act creatively. Talk visually. Evolve big ideas.
Re-Wire the Nonprofit Brain Seminars.
Seizetheconversation Transformations, founded by Gary Wexler (@GaryWexler) and Moira Schwartz.
