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Top 10 Reasons to Use Art
Ten good reasons for using visual art, theather or music in organisational development
1. Creating concentration and presence
An artistic warm-up in the beginning of a training day or seminar opens up a possibility of active participation. Getting ready with art helps in learning and processing new facts. Daily routines can easily be put aside.
2. Opening up to sensitivity
Artistic methods help us opening our senses to more creative approaches to problem solving. Sensitivity to things helps finding new, valuable combinations.
3. Hands-on, but subtly
Research says that more than speech, our hands are more directly connected with the brain. Getting our hands-on with the organisation development process, puts intuition and emotion into use. It is not necessary to share all thoughts on our artistic creations, therefore even the more sensitive topic can be discussed discreetly and without embarrassment.
4. Handling tacit knowledge and creating understanding
Hidden meanings and tight fitting attitudes are major challenges in organisational culture. Digging into the tacit knowledge and making a better use of it requires sensitivity. Artistic approach is proved to help when working with tasks that are hard to define or measure. Even the hidden, unspoken topics become easier to handle with theatrical, musical and visual arts methods.
5. Empowerment
Empowerment means that we feel stronger than before in relation to the world outside. It is a personal process, no-one can't empower another. Through artistic activity the personal empowering process becomes visible and can be shared with others. We help individuals in believing in their own abilities to make a change, to be easier on themselves and to more positively engage themselves with their spheres.
6. New visions and associations
Envisioning and finding symbolic meaning helps us make new discoveries and bring out the tacit information. Discussion about our artistic creations brings the personal intuitive process into consciousness. The ability for the free association and intuitive processes can be trained. Using these abilities helps us create new visions.
7. Letting go self-critique
New creations require innovative thinking. Artistic approach helps in opening up to sensitivity towards our hidden abilities. When the inner critique has been silenced, new, innovative solutions begin to take on.
8. Holistic wellbeing
Art is a tool for self-understanding. It helps in re-developing our identity and emotions. To be able to grow we must discover the patterns through which we think and handle things. In a group we learn with others by doing things together and through discussion.
9. Supporting the different styles of learning
We have our personal ways of learning new things. One learns by rational thinking, another one by getting hands-on, and the third one by using emotions and intuition. Artistic approach is a tool for gathering and analysing information and knowledge. It also helps in learning new thing of ourselves and of the world. Good facilitation and training methods support the different styles of learning.
10. Experimenting and prototyping
Art offers great tools for experimenting and testing – especially in innovation processes. Through art, complex concepts can be drafted and quick models can be constructed. Modelling concrete forms by hand can be used with developing information systems, platforms and industrial products. When simulating social prototypes, they can be best asserted with theatre methods.
Research and literature about using Art in Business
We have collected some stories, research articles and videos that are related to facilitation through art and organisational development. Read and see more: