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David

The art of making great art

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.  

Scott Adams

The genius of the Dilbert cartoons was his ability to astutely capture the nuances of life at work in such a simple form. I often found myself laughing out loud . . . even as I recognized the frustration they embodied for many of our clients or co-workers. 

The issues he raised are even more compelling now as we adapt to the pandemic and what it is awakening in many of us. As practitioners, we have spent much of the past 18 months trying to figure out what works and what sells to meet the unique needs in these times. 

If you are like me, some of our efforts have worked and some less so. The key now is to invite the ‘mistakes’ to teach us. The path to great art — and great practice — comes through figuring out what to keep. This calls for compassionate and candid discernment.

To support my own practice, I developed three criteria to decide what is my true ‘art’: (1) What do I need to compost (to free up the energy I need now)? (2) What do I need to curate (to simply deliver the highest value)? (3) What do I need to channel (to be in flow as I work)?

As the year is coming to an end, take time to reflect on where you are now and what you want for the new year. Feel free to use the three criteria to review your life and practice. What truly makes a difference to you? To your clients? To the future of the planet?

We can help you with that process:

  • If you want support for your own integration to support new choices, check out our Guiding Lights retreats. Click here to register for the next mini-retreat to experience what they can offer you.
  • If you want to work with greater ease and agility as you coach, check out the 20th- anniversary edition of Narrative Coach™. Click here to register for the next Narrative Coach™ Q&A to find out more.
  • If you want to revolutionize how you design an deliver programs or projects, check out the ID Way™ program. Click here to register for the next ID Way™ Q&A to find out more.  

Mistakes can be an essential part of our growth — IF we allow ourselves to learn from them. This includes seeing the pandemic as an initiation calling for new ways of practice. Join us to make 'great art' so you can bring out the best of who you have become to the world.