{"id":707,"date":"2016-12-14T00:29:34","date_gmt":"2016-12-14T00:29:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.maverickminds.com.au\/?p=707"},"modified":"2016-12-14T00:29:34","modified_gmt":"2016-12-14T00:29:34","slug":"merry-christmas-and-2016-in-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maverickminds.com.au\/uncategorized\/merry-christmas-and-2016-in-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Merry Christmas and 2016 in review"},"content":{"rendered":"
Hello Mavericks<\/span><\/div>\n
\nIn my last newsletter I wrote about getting the most from conferences.\u00a0 2016 really was a major conference year for Maverick Minds.\u00a0 It provided the opportunity to attend and present at the Art of Management and Organization conference in Slovenia, the Queensland Rural Regional and Remote Women\u2019s Network in Roma, The Arts and Health Conference in Sydney and the Story Conference in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

From my perspective\u00a0The Story Conference: influencing cultural change one story at a time\u00a0<\/i>goes to the heart of what makes a conference worthwhile.\u00a0 Ultimately it is about connecting and sharing knowledge with our peers, professions and industries.\u00a0 When this is done through creative and powerful storytelling it is a great thing.\u00a0 It is also about the stories told and shared throughout the conference, in the breaks, at lunch, via workshops.\u00a0 I think that\u2019s why I enjoyed the Story Conference as much as I did.\u00a0 There were workshops, longer breaks, open space \u2013 both outdoors and within the program, as well as some creative community building activities which encouraged deeper connection.<\/p>\n

And while we know stories can be used to connect, influence, move, and create positive change, the flip side is that people and organisations can get stuck in unhelpful stories; so it pays to be mindful and aware of the stories that we tell ourselves and the people around us.<\/p>\n

Life certainly brings challenges.\u00a0 Being human means we will be on the receiving end of any number of good and not so good stories. As my colleague Geoff Mead from the\u00a0<\/u>Narrative Leadership Associates\u00a0<\/u><\/a><\/span>says \u2013 \u201cwe are swimming in a sea of stories<\/b>\u201d. \u00a0\u00a0Indeed we do – stories of joy, sorrow, conflict, paradox, uncertainty, complexity, love, greed, compassion, anxiety, fear and hope.<\/p>\n

Being human means we need to find ways to navigate and support ourselves, and at times the people around us, within the complexity and uncertainty that life holds. \u00a0\u00a0One of the ways we do that is through stories.\u00a0 Stories often have a starring role in how we endeavour to make sense of ourselves and the world we inhabit.<\/p>\n

2016 has provided me with some great opportunities.\u00a0 Working with people can be complex, exciting, creative and at times challenging.\u00a0 It certainly keeps me on my toes.\u00a0 I have enjoyed longer-term engagement with my clients.\u00a0 This has allowed for a more satisfying and deeper way to engage with others and for positive change to emerge. \u00a0Time is often a major factor in what can be achieved or not.\u00a0\u00a0 Change, innovation, relationships, creative leadership and a cultivating a sense of wellbeing and flourishing can provoke feelings of uncertainty, and yet if we want change and different results we need to sit with that and work with it.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also excited by the opportunity to co-edit the special edition of the\u00a0International Journal of Professional Management\u00a0<\/b>with my colleague Dr Geoff Hill and will be released in 2017.\u00a0 This special edition is based on the storytelling workshop presentations from the 2016 Art of Management and Organization conference strand we co-curated and facilitated.\u00a0 I\u2019ll let you know when this becomes available.<\/p>\n

Finally, it would be remiss of me to not acknowledge that at Christmas many of us become part of a very powerful narrative in some way or another.\u00a0 Underneath that narrative is a mix of competing stories – of faith, beliefs, values, assumptions, and conflicting views. Whatever Christmas conjures up for you it can provoke certain demands and a range of feelings.\u00a0 It can also be a time to take stock and reflect on what has been and what is yet to arrive.<\/p>\n

Christmas often means catching up with family and friends and if you are fortunate it provides some \u2018chillax\u2019 time.\u00a0 So while you down tools for a while, catch up on some reading and napping, I hope your heart and soul are also filled with nourishing stories by loved ones and strangers.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve recently shared some great stories with strangers and have learned a whole lot of stuff I didn\u2019t know \u2013 from a person doing multi faith peace work around the world to being shown software on an iPad which pilots use when flying air-crafts.\u00a0 Very interesting!<\/p>\n

I wish you well for the Christmas season and hope that 2017 is a positive year full of stories that will move and inspire you.<\/p>\n

And I hope we have the chance to connect in person and share some of those stories.<\/p>\n

In the meantime<\/p>\n

Stay safe, well and always creative<\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Yours creatively
\nCathryn Lloyd<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello Mavericks In my last newsletter I wrote about getting the most from conferences.\u00a0 2016 really was a major conference year for Maverick Minds.\u00a0 It provided the opportunity to attend and present at the Art of Management and Organization conference in Slovenia, the Queensland Rural Regional and Remote Women\u2019s Network in Roma, The Arts and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maverickminds.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maverickminds.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maverickminds.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maverickminds.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maverickminds.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=707"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.maverickminds.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":709,"href":"https:\/\/www.maverickminds.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707\/revisions\/709"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maverickminds.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maverickminds.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maverickminds.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maverickminds.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}