A creative approach to difference for effective collaboration

Increasingly we are required to collaborate in different sectors as awareness grows of the reduced impact that comes from working in silos. Collaboration is loosely understood as doing things together, but more often than not is about how we navigate our differences to achieve things together, and the ways in which we approach difference in collaboration matter.

Collaborating across difference seems like a great idea, until we butt up against some group or faction we don’t agree with, then it doesn’t feel so great anymore and we develop secret or subtle ways to avoid difference.

But what if we came at difference and collaboration like an artist working with different colours?

What if working with difference felt, well….different?

The creative arts have a unique angle on difference – artists forever have known the creative and generative benefits of contrast, opposites and juxtaposition – photographer Conrad Hall says it well:

“Contrast is what makes photography interesting.”

What’s in the course?

We explore and create together over five weeks. That’s Five weekly sessions, two hours each, a mix of individual experiential exercises; interactive discussion, small groupwork, tools to use, and integration exercises. You’ll leave with creative tools to work on difference with groups from every session.
PLUS Each participant gets a 1:1 coaching session to support them to develop their own inner Team throughout the course.

SESSION 1 – Difference starts within

Confronting our own internal differences can be challenging – often we don’t want to acknowledge or listen to the parts of us that don’t match our everyday identity. And yet our internal experience impacts how we embrace difference in others. The more we can embrace our own differences, the easier and more comfortable it becomes to work with. Here we play with the concept of our own creative inner team – by witnessing, embracing and harnessing difference in ourselves as a foundational mindbodyset for working collaboratively.

SESSION 3 – Radical bedfellows: Unlocking the creative and generative power of difference

When our work is about coming together – it can seem counterintuitive to bring out our differences. It’s natural to avoid conflict and opposition due to fear of hurting each other or derailment of our work together. But the cost is often limited results. Here we explore using and harnessing our differences as gateways to emergent new thinking and innovation by playing intentionally with tension – using creative constructs for generating art that can be repurposed for groups such as contrast, juxtaposition and mashups.

SESSION 5 – Difference as healing and a gateway to depth

Difference often presents as the cause of problems, born from the clash of background histories we carry with us, the expectations we place upon them, and a fear of what unleashing emotion can bring. And yet difference is also the root of change and transformation. Loving difference creates a space for beauty, witnessing, listening and belonging. Here we explore creative structures like ritual to create spaces to work more deeply together.

YOUR TRAINER

Beck Ronkson

Beck is a facilitator, coach and psychotherapist with a background in theatre and community cultural development. Her work/ practice has emerged over 25 years through the mashup of depth psychology, group facilitation, theatre and systems change. She is passionate about working with groups to codesign, create and facilitate engaging and meaningful experiences so that they can harness the creative energy within their differences to make good, congruent decisions together.

Beck consults to large systems-wide organisations and smaller regional initiatives and groups to build upon the already present capacity within individuals, communities and systems to support collaboration, community self-determination and social equity. She also works with individuals as a psychotherapist and coach to put them in touch with a deeper sense of their own wisdom and emergent potential. Beck is on the core faculty here at ANZPOP, is an Associate with Collaboration for Impact and runs her own private practice. Full bio here. 

Check out this creative facilitation tool Beck designed by combining  Process Work role theory, systemic speed stating, theatre role work, and musical chairs: