26 October 2006

Creative Endeavour an Australian First

The Australian Institute of Management has appointed a Creative in Residence, a ‘named position’ which is believed to the first of its kind in Australia.

AIM Chairman, John Hoey, will announce the appointment of Paul Grabowsky, Artistic Director of the Queensland Music Festival, to Brisbane corporates at a special launch in November.

“Paul is one of a rare breed of ‘creatives’ who can think on his feet in a commercial environment,” Mr Hoey said.

“The Creative in Residence position will sit alongside AIM’s Executive in Residence, Joan Sheldon, and continues the Institute’s focus on innovative business practises that provide managers with unique resources.”

AIM CEO Carolyn Barker, said the appointment will enhance creative and innovative thinking in business.

"Often people talk about an arts/business crossover, which in itself is a worthy notion, but embedding the creative psyche into a business environment is the hard part," Ms Barker said.

“Creativity must be aligned to an organisation’s goals and strategic framework.”

Grabowsky will undertake specific activities on behalf of the Institute such as contributing chapters to the highly successful Management @ Work series of books.

He will also deliver a public lecture in 2007 – a novelty for a community like Brisbane that does not have a long history of such events. 

Grabowksy’s ongoing role will be to introduce the notion of creative endeavour into workplaces and board rooms around the country and help them implement a crossover between the arts and business worlds.

Ms Barker said the concept of creative endeavour is distinct from the traditional view of an artist in residence whereby artistic practice such as painting or song writing are encouraged in an organisational context. Rather, it’s about bringing the creative experience to a wider audience. 

“AIM proposes that everyone can experience creative endeavour and should be free to behave in a creative way. The philosophy behind a Creative in Residence is to embrace the notion of an inner child full of innocence, imagination and 'what ifs' as a way of filtering responses to everyday challenges. This is directly opposed to the learned and limiting responses of 'no', 'can't do' or 'we've tried that before',” Ms Barker said.

Ms Barker also believes inculcating creativity at all levels of business creates a competitive advantage. 

“We live in a commoditised world - all call centres, banking products and real estate offerings are virtually the same,” Ms Barker said. 

“The only way to differentiate yourself, other than offering a genuinely new product or service, is to constantly renew and invigorate your organisation through innovation and creativity.

“AIM has defined, taught and published on the subject of creativity and management innovation for some time.  We want to provide a flexible framework that inspires the wider business community to create and innovate.” Ms Barker said.