About this Blog

Hello! We are Marian Way and Phil Swallow.

                 

Marian: You can read our biogs below, but the important thing to know right now is that we are both interested in modelling and we are both interested in creativity. Hence the name of this site: Modelling Creativity.

Phil: Creative name, eh! Well, ‘it does what it says on the can’ to quote a popular TV commercial for varnish. Happily, we’re not going to lay it on thick about how we are experts on creativity. Rather we want to peel back the veneer and get to the solid pieces that form the framework for human creativity.

So why are we doing it?

Well, that’s easy; we are interested in modelling creativity so that we can enhance our own creative skills to start with and, as part of that journey, help others to enhance theirs.

The obvious thing was to ask people what creativity is for them and Marian came up with the idea of a blog-based modelling project. We’re using the blog as a way to ask and hopefully to answer some of the questions below.

Marian: As you read them, you’ll probably notice that we’re not so much after your opinions on creativity (that is, what you think it is conceptually) nor are we really seeking your best guess about what creativity might be for other people. Anything you want to tell us is fine of course – and we really want find out what being creative is for you as an individual, how you ‘do’ creative. By modelling many individuals individually maybe some common elements will emerge that could inspire our model of creativity (that’s the modelling bit).

Phil: So let’s get started: here are some of the questions that wake us up in the wee small hours:

• What is creativity for you? How do you define it?
• What conditions encourage creativity for you? Where are you most likely to be creative? As well as physical locations, in which areas of your life do you see yourself as being creative? What needs to happen for you to be creative? What processes encourage creativity?
• What conditions inhibit your creativity?
• Is creativity a process, a sequence, a strategy? ‘To be creative, first I do this, then this, then that…’ Is that how it is for you? If so, what happens first? What happens just before that? Then what happens? When does creativity end?
• If it’s nothing like that for you, how do you know when you are being creative? What lets you know? Something you see or hear or feel?

Marian:

• What do you believe about your creative abilities? Where do your beliefs about creativity come from?
• Who decides what counts as ‘creativity’?
• In what fields are you creative? Can you be creative in one field and not in another?
• What is the relationship between creativity and innovation?
• What are some metaphors you and other people use when talking about creativity? When we ask you ‘Creativity is like what?’, what comes to mind?
• How important is it for you that you be creative?
• Do you have any favourite quotations which contain insights into creativity and how it works?

Phil: Let’s repeat: yes, we will explore how acknowledged creative people (like artists, composers, writers) ‘do’ creativity – and we will explore how anyone taps into their own creativity. This means that we’d like to dialogue with YOU to find YOUR answers to these questions, whether you or others think you are creative or not. Some of the questions are ‘Clean Language’ questions, which were devised by David Grove in the 1980s as a way of respectfully exploring another person’s view of the world without trying to change it. They are as free from assumptions as possible – and so are really useful for modelling.

Marian: We intend to add pages to this site about Clean Language and Modelling. In the meantime, you can find out more by clicking on these links:

• Clean Language
• Modelling

You can contribute by:

• Adding your comments to the posts as they appear: Simply click “Make a Comment” at the end of the relevant post and start typing. We welcome feedback as well as more interesting and creative ideas to build on the posts.
• Writing your own posts by becoming a ‘contributor’. This is by invitation only, so if you are interested in contributing, please email me marian@apricotisland.com with some information about yourself and why you want to contribute.
• Letting other people know about this site.
• Using the “Modelling Creativity” Search Engine. This is a community powered Search Engine and your searches can help to refine future searches for others. Vote on the sites which are relevant to your search, and vote against those that aren’t.

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Who are we? A former teacher, Marian Way went on to work within the Weight Watchers organisation and, together with a colleague, developed the POINTS diet and several other dieting and training initiatives. It was during this time that she became interested in creativity. Marian now runs her own training and coaching business, Apricot Island Ltd, and is working with Phil to develop and deliver a workshop called Discover Your Creative Self.After exploring hypnosis and NLP, Phil Swallow came across Symbolic Modelling*. Phil has always been fascinated by words, metaphor and meaning and has worked with these processes in several languages. He now co-hosts a yearly residential retreat in France for Clean facilitators and clients.
Phil has been in the corporate communications industry for over 20 years, helping companies and individuals to deliver their messages at live events worldwide. At home, Phil designs websites and has a private coaching practice in London and the Forest of Dean.*This is the result of another modelling project, this time by Penny Tompkins and James Lawley who were modelling David Grove, the inventor of the Clean Language process. More at Clean Language