Why we need poetry in the workplace
For the past four years, at the end of fieldwork on every research project, when we are at the end of synthesis with our clients, I have shared our tentative findings in the form of recitation of a poem. I call it the collective musings of the research participants.
Typically research findings include, unmet needs, aspirations, current behaviors, future scenarios, and various types of frameworks for understanding or action. I have learned that a poem has the power to represent all of these in a memorable manner. If I add background music to it- it becomes even more memorable. Unfortunately I cannot sing- otherwise I would have sung some of my research findings.
Well yesterday I wrote a poem about poems. It reveals my understanding of the power of poetry:
Poems
poems
inspire curiosity ,
and imagination
and help us
open minds,
an open mind
expands consciousness, and
leads us to sense
our connectedness
sensing
our connectedness
makes us mindful
of the consequences
of our thoughts
and actions, and
makes us care
a little more
for each other
poems create ripples
in collective consciousness
they spread out
and don’t easily ebb
poems help us
interpret
nuances
wonders and
complexities
of life and
tune our instincts
for harmonious outcomes
I often ask my students of design and sometimes ask my clients two questions:
- Does your design serve a purpose?
- Can your purpose be represented in a poem?
On August 16th I had organised a community dialogue at Jax Vineyards Tasting room in San Francisco where we had passionate arguments about different perspectives on “Humanity in the Age of AI”. At the end of the dialogue at Jax I read out a poem I wrote after synthesising the outcomes of a similar online global dialogue organised by the service design College, Barcelona. The response was magical. The attendees spontaneously shouted cheers to humanity, I have no doubt the message of the poem will linger in the memory of the attendees.
I propose that we need to integrate more collective poetry writing and recitation at workplace if we want to make workplace decisions with elegance, empathy and compassion for the people we serve.
