Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Do you believe that life within an organization means death to the creative process? That creativity is the exclusive province of "artistic types"? Wrong! Shaun McNiff shows how we can all cultivate the special kind of creative energy that is generated by people working together in groups, whether in the workplace or other cooperative communities--wherever individuals come together to pursue a common goal through dialogue, interaction, and teamwork.

Creating with Others is designed to address group creativity in both theory and practice. McNiff draws examples from the creative arts as well as from organizational life and everyday work situations. He shows how leaders can be facilitators of creative teamwork, and how artists and other creative people can collaborate fruitfully with others. The book includes exercises and questions that can be used in courses, informal discussion groups, and interactive e-groups. It will also help individual readers--ranging from beginners to artists seeking inspiration--to reflect upon their personal relationship with creativity. Readers will find that they are never alone in the creative process. Creativity is the basic interplay of life, and we establish a vital link to its power through engagements with others.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

A hard nugget of common sense-that creativity is often sparked by interaction with other people and their ideas-is inflated into a nebula of mystical rumination in this self-help guide. Drawing from Nietzche, Jung, Christian spirituality and Greek mythology, McNiff asserts that creativity is not the province of lone geniuses, but a ubiquitously available "positive energy" from whose "circulation" and "flow" ideas spontaneously emerge. Tapping into it requires getting outside oneself by letting go -of pettiness, negativity and controlling behavior-and by allowing the ego to dissolve in an altered state of collective consciousness induced by group activity. Art therapist McNiff (Trust the Process: An Artist's Guide to Letting Go) supplements his psycho-metaphysical musings with creativity-boosting "practical" exercises derived from his therapeutic retreats, including minimalist and non-representational art projects, poetry, "vocal improvisations" and "body movements," with the emphasis on "authentic expression of emotion" over coherence or style. His ideas owe much to the Romantic cult of the artist, which also viewed creativity as emotionalism inspired by a communion with the transpersonal Sublime; the exercises included are reminiscent of drip-painting, automatic writing and other Modernist art-as-unplanned-process techniques. McNiff transfers these conceits from the studio to the office, though, conjuring up images of dubious avant-garde Human Resources initiatives. Managers looking for a New Age approach to leadership training, as well as anyone desperate for strategies to cope with a stifling workplace may find use for this manual, but traditionalists will be more comfortable with a more down-to-earth, less touch-feely approach than what's laid out here. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Shaun McNiff is internationally recognized as a founder and leading figure in the arts and healing field. University Professor at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he is past president of the American Art Therapy Association and the author of several other books including Art As Medicine , Trust the Process , and Creating with Others .