Innovator Wendy Mike helped about 90 UCCS staff members re-route their brains at the spring 2012 Staff Enrichment Day.
Mike, a professional artist, facilitator and critical thinker, directed participants in drawing pictures at the Feb. 15 workshop in the Lodge. The activity was an exercise in different ways of thinking, seeing and communicating, designed to engage both right and left-brain functions.
Mike used whimsical background music and an activity generally considered childish to disguise a more serious purpose.
“The language of imagery has tremendous influence on communication and the search for meaning,” Mike said. “With insight into the connection between words and images comes the ability to generate new language and new understandings.”
In the first exercise, Mike told the group to use the crayons and paper provided to draw pictures, and gave a 45-second time limit to each assignment. Although she encouraged staff to have fun, many of them said they had no skill at drawing. Mike pointed out that any skill requires practice. Math is a skill just as drawing is, she said, and practice develops ability. Math is an analytical, left-brain skill and drawing is a visual, right-brain skill, each developing its own side’s functions with practice.
She directed staff to draw a dog, a cat, various barnyard animals, and some jungle animals. She then led staff members in examining how and why they followed her instructions.
For example, most people used one crayon to draw the animals, while only a few used a number of colors in the exercise. People drew the animals facing right or left or directly ahead. Most people drew their animals standing still, with the exception of a cheetah and a horse, where they tried to incorporate motion into the design.
Mike pointed out that her directions had few restrictions but not too many people are imaginative or creative as an automatic response. She suggested that people are used to following rules and addressing priorities in a manner that is easy, familiar, and conforms to a common standard. Communication usually depends upon abstract meanings that are agreed upon by society. Pictures representing animals are examples of visual thinking and communication.
In another exercise, staff members were given the task of communicating purely through drawing with no verbal cues allowed. In yet another, she told people to finish the incomplete fantasy characters started by others to see if the first artist’s original intent was successfully visually communicated.
Mike’s creative engagement process involves a shift in thinking she described as re-routing the brain. Her goal is to help people unlock their creative potential, expand their capacity for problem solving, improve their teamwork, and use “whole brain” thinking and seeing.
For more information, about Mike, visit www.wendymike.com or call (719) 291-1515.
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