arts & business council

MetLife Foundation National Arts Forums Series

Regional Arts & Culture Council
Northwest Business for Culture and Arts
Portland, Oregon

Fostering Innovation: Creative Methods to Cultivate a Competitive Advantage
04/12/2007

Moderator: Carole Morse, President, PGE Foundation & Kira Higgs, Associate Vice President, The Standard

Panelists:

• Gary Hirsh, On Your Feet: Improv for Business
• Julie Huffacker, On Your Feet: Improv for Business
• Karen Lentz, Organizational Development Professional
• Ruth Radford, Graphic Recorder
• Sally Rhys, Portland General Electric Ethics & Compliance
• Mary Roberts, The Roberts Collaboration

In Portland's 2005 forums, Northwest Business for Culture and Arts (NW/BCA) and Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC) heard from both arts and business representatives that while these communities are eager and receptive to discussing issues facing Portland's economy and creative ecology, there were few real opportunities for conversations beyond arts funding issues, and fewer still opportunities to take action beyond having a conversation. This year’s forums were designed to create a more interactive and applicable set of topics facing nonprofit arts organizations and for-profit companies who share a workforce and other civic concerns.

The first MetLife Forum, “Finding Innovation,” examined and highlighted best innovative practices from the Portland region. This acted as both a valuable networking opportunity, as well as a tool for learning what active innovation actually looks like in practice and results. The goal of the follow-up forum “Fostering Innovation” was to engage participants and further develop steps for acting out innovation in their own specific contexts. Those approximately 60 participants were a mix of the targeted business representatives, creative industry entrepreneurs, and nonprofit arts administrators.
 
After a brief introduction by NW/BCA and RACC board member Carole Morse, Gary Hirsh and Julie Huffacker of On Your Feet: Improv for Business led warm-up improvisational activities for the group to get them ready to work very differently than they normally do and to set the conditions for innovation. Then, participants chose between one of two different breakout frameworks: The World Café or Playstations. These acted as small work groups to better facilitate interpersonal interaction.

A little more than half of the participants joined the World Café discussion on how to develop a civic culture that fosters innovation in our workplaces. The café created a living network of collaborative dialogue. Conversations linked and built on each other as people moved between groups, cross-pollinated ideas, and discovered new insights into the questions and issues of the day. 

The playstation design was developed to get people out of the traditional ‘classroom’ setting and have more face-to-face interactions, thus leading to an informal and comfortable environment to develop programs and practices that support a company's commitment to creativity.

At the end of the forum, both the World Café and Playstation groups convened and shared their responses with the entire group to wrap up and bring together the various conversations. Gary and Julie led the participants in a few final activities to allow attendees to leave with a final thought about what the city of Portland can become if we push the envelope and invite breakthrough thinking, creativity, and artistry to produce greater results.

The challenge Portland faces is actively engaging and attracting a truly diverse audience and getting true city and business leaders to hands-on events.  Another challenge is bringing whatever was learned from the new and revelatory experiences provided by the forums back into an entrenched corporate culture that has a workforce and leaders of disparate ages and experiences.

As Portland gains more national and global recognition as a city with solutions for sustainability, smart design, and forward-thinking policies, businesses are increasingly seeking ways to attract the best and the brightest. To do so, they need to prove their commitment to innovation and creativity in their business practices and philosophies. These forums, in their topics and their structure, used art and creativity as the tools for businesses to meet their objectives, and shared valuable lessons from the disciplines of artists and arts organizations that anyone can use on the job.