Tag Archive - teamwork

Getting Together…

March 15, 2011 in creativity, leadership, network with other artists with 1 Comment

I love to collaborate with other artists…

Love.  Love.  Love.

Theatrical productions are rife with opportunities to collaborate… It is the single most compelling reason, in my thinking, to do full-scale theatre in the context of arts ministry: It gives purpose, context and accountability to collaborations.

Purpose…

I did a gallery wall at LVC last year as a prelude to launching our arts ministry… It was… nice…

But it lacked any sort of real purpose. The submission ranged from photographic art to pencil drawing to graphic design to painting… It looked diverse and aesthetically pleasing, but floundered thematically in the realm of “inspirational art,” lacking any kind of cohesion.

Our Godspell production, on the other hand, has a great deal of thematic cohesion… While focused largely on Jesus, Himself, it is also filled with themes and images of community and those themes are filling every creative aspect of the production.

Context…

I’ve observed that artists produce best in the context of a larger project. We’ve seen it in our Night In Bethlehem programs that we do with the LVC kids’ ministry… Activating about 70% of the adults and students in our church is a daunting task, but the larger scope and context of the project is part of the allure to volunteers… They can see that they are participating in something much bigger than themselves… There’s a sort of transcendence in it that keeps us coming back to it year-after-year.

A theatrical project gives the same opportunity to use our gifts and talents within a larger context.

I’m not a dancer. So, when it comes time to do a musical, I need a choreographer. Watching her work with the cast and watching that aspect of the show come together is a huge thrill for me. Even when my contribution is limited to operating the iPod…

Accountability…

If space-aliens were to break into my house and judge the whole of humanity by what they found, they’d conclude that earthlings have a strong aversion to finishing projects. Most of the creatives that I know personally have a similar struggle…

Projects with deadlines are either going to make us or break us…

That is, of course, the risk that is inherent in allowing artists to lead artists… I’m pretty sure that our pastor at the LVC has spent a considerable amount of time in prayer about Godspell… specifically regarding it timely completion… He has graciously declined to say so… out loud… but I know that it worries him.

Fortunately, I have the collaborative effort of a stage manager, an assistant director and a production assistant… to keep us on track and on schedule…

We haven’t missed a single deadline… Which reminds me:

Be sure to bring in a few left-brains when you start a big project.

Finally, remember what the Bible has to say about getting together:

Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:
If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!
Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
- Ecclesiastes 4: 9, 10, 12

Collaboration: Godspell Poster…

March 14, 2011 in creativity, graphic art, photography, theatrical with 0 Comments

I wanted to share this with you guys… It’s a collaborative piece that I put together with Troy Rowe, a photographer that I know at the LVC…

If your in the Denver area and would like to attend our production of Godspell, you can find out more and register for free tickets at GodspellColorado.com.

LeadershipIssues: Collaborate or Die…

July 30, 2010 in creativity, leadership with 0 Comments

I’ve been looking at the array of media that churches are putting together these days… Some of it is really impressive.  For example: Church on the Move in Tulsa has the beginnings of a really top notch media ministry.  You can watch some of the highlights on their YouTube channel.  I’ve probably watched their Father’s Day tribute, Dad Life, fifty times.  It’s that funny and well-done and it inspires me to do something:

Collaborate.

The truth is that all of us experience limits in our skill-set… I actually have lots of limitations in mine… I often need to surround myself with a team of experts in order to realize the considerable potential of my vision.

Dad Life is a prime example of a collaboration that could not have possibly been accomplished by a individual’s effort.  In the one 2:50 video, we see the combined talents of songwriters, comics, actors, editors, audio technicians and videographers… The quality at every level of production demonstrated the expertise of a team.

It is a symphony of gifts… and no one can whistle a symphony…

To reach this level of excellence in artistic expression, we need teams… and those teams need to be composed of people who respect, trust and rely on one another.

How can we cultivate these teams?  What are the challenges inherent in building teams of creatives?  What have you been able to accomplish through team effort?

I’d love to hear your thoughts…

Artwork for LVC JESUS WEEK…

March 5, 2010 in graphic art with 0 Comments

I’ve been really excited to be working with a professional graphics artist on marketing pieces to promote our Holy Week activities at LVC… Kelly Korak is a member of our church and has been doing the artwork for the event…

I’ve mentioned before that I really enjoy the collaborative process and working on this project has been an exciting series of meetings and discussions and creative brainstorming. It’s been an exercise in the truth the none of us is as smart as all of us…

The Shape of Creativity…

February 16, 2010 in leadership, network with other artists with 0 Comments

I spent some time today with an abstract artist that describes his personality as a “bubbly circle.”  For someone who is 15, he is pretty amazingly self-aware.  We spent some time talking about personalities, how we work together… and how we have conflict and it reminded me of a sort of unscientific personality assessment that I heard about a few years ago…

Now, for the  record, I think that ALL personality assessments are unscientific… So, this one has the benefit of taking about 10 seconds, as opposed to the Meyers-Briggs that takes half a day…

Pick the 2 most appealing shapes from the following:

The most appealing shape is your primary type… the second most appealing is your secondary type…

You have now completed the assessment.

Squares, Rectangles and Triangles are convergent personalities. In other words, they tend  to move in the direction of their goals.  They are generally systematic, logical and like specific and finite activities.

Rectangles are task oriented and relational.  They like to work in groups to solve problems, complete projects and accomplish tasks.  Squares are task oriented but not relational and prefer to work alone.  Triangles like to take charge, set goals and make sure that the goals are achieved.

Circles and Squiggles are much more interesting to creatives… since we tend to fall into one of these categories and find the convergent types rather boring.

Circles and Squiggles are divergent personalities… our tendency is to move outward from the current paradigm or structure.  Finite goals are uninteresting to Circles and Squiggles, who would much rather spend their mental energy trying to get OUT of the square, rectangular or triangular box that our bosses want to squash us into…

By the way, you might as well come to terms with the fact that Circles and Squiggles tend to be employed by Squares, Rectangles or Triangles…

Circles and Squiggles are also extroverted, creative and intuitive… and tend to be asystematic and undependable…

Circles are relational.  They are social and communicative.  Give a Circle a task to complete and he will talk about it.  I once worked with a pastor who would talk a project to death.  After one particularly long meeting, our administrative assistant looked at the two of us, shook her head and informed us that “talking is not the same as working.”  She was a Rectangle.

Circles also like for everyone to get along… Harmony is essential to their work environment… They don’t generally recognize structure as essential to harmony, but are not averse to the idea of adding structure as long as it doesn’t cut into their Facebook time…

In case you didn’t see this coming, a Squiggle is an off-the-wall creative.  Give him structure and he will invent creative work-arounds so that he can do things his own way.  Squiggles are people that get described with metaphors about “different drummers” and are often complaining about how boring their jobs are.

If you give a task to a Squiggle, he will generally come back to you with a counter-proposal. The current paradigm is ALWAYS too restrictive…

There is certainly more to be said about these types, but that’s it in a nutshell… So, what shape are you?
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