(By the way, If you’ve not already started start now. Right now! If you’re not sure where to start – then start from where you are now – it’s the only place you can start from!)

Having made a start the next problem is often about maintaining that commitment. Creative development is a journey of incremental steps and it is inevitable that they’ll be setbacks on the way. (One step forward and two back is a natural, but not inevitable, state of affairs). However, I recommend you avoid the temptation to start again.  It’s very easy to lose momentum early on and to make a series of false starts. Instead, I suggest you remember that you’ve started and acknowledge the gaps and insecurities as part of the process.

Remind yourself that you have started and, having taken the first action, take a second and then a third so that you can build some momentum and some confidence.  Why not give yourself a job title? This will help remind you, and others, of what it is your doing?  When there are a few people working together I encourage everyone to take on a role, a project and an action – to know what to do next. They way we can support each other to engage – and maintain our engagement.

If you have a few friends or colleagues working together on similar projects you may find this simple peer support process helpful:

Present – Give a brief presentation to you peers about your project and any issues that you’d like help with.

Clarify – Each person asks a question to clarify any issues, answer each question in turn.

Suggest – Each person then makes a short suggestion to help you move forward.

Respond – listen to all the suggestions and then respond to everyone on how you might move forward.

You can then repeat the process for the rest of the team.

A quick word about projects – these can be as complex or as simple as you like – I’ll write later about some of the more complex projects I’m involved in and how that complexity can help foster engagement and participation but for now it is sufficient to see a project as a cluster of the first actions you do – brought together in your first to-do list.

I’m working with a large team of people, many of whom are at this stage in the creative development process. They are building an understanding of their individual and collective goals and starting to put together their first project plan.   I’ll explain how we will make this process more formal and structured soon but for now it’s important that people feel in control of the process.

How’s your project going? Do you feel in control? If not, do let me know what’s holding you back – besides, you may well find that identifying the barriers makes the solutions obvious – give it a go.

We are working on a universal programme of creative development, one that can be adopted by a wide range of people in order to build more creative and inclusive communities.

Whilst the process has been designed primarily to invest in the skills and talents of disabled and socially excluded people it will also be used to encourage creativity and inclusion across the whole community.

It is important to be clear that this is not about doing things to or for people. It is about supporting people to identify strategies that build the freedom to live the lives they themselves have reason to value.

The programme sees development as self-directed, social and strategic.

It is a self-directed programme that helps people identify actions that will build the capabilities they require to achieve their goals.

It is a social process that brings people together in a shared commitment to creativity and inclusion.

It is a strategic and sustainable process that enables people to make the best use of resources (including the resources of the community around them) to achieve long term goals.

Self-directed development

The process is person-centred with every individual encouraged to develop their own development plan

The process uses established frameworks of learning and a bespoke ‘freedom framework’ to identify the capabilities each person desires.

Participants then undertake actions to achieve these capabilities. (Everyone is encouraged to develop their own role, to focus on a deliverable project and to identify incremental actions towards their goals)

People maintain their own (evidence based) achievement record

Social development

Achievements are also shared to show what can be achieved when people work together towards a shared goal.

People work together to support each other’s projects. We also identify mutual benefits by bringing together people for whom one person’s need is another’s opportunity.  A market-place of partnership opportunities helps to facilitate these connections.

Peer support networks, Problem posing forums and ‘creative fusion’ network events bring people together to identify barriers to development and provide mutual support to implement solutions.

Strategic development

Individuals, groups, networks and communities are all encouraged to make the best use of their resources and to develop sustainable and practical partnerships to achieve shared ambitions.

(For example: art + power’s ambitions are: ‘To transform the way people experience the arts’, ‘to build a universal creative development programme’ and ‘to maximise the potential for the arts to empower individuals, strengthen groups and build more creative and inclusive communities’)

Our creative development programme engages all those who share our values to work with us in an ongoing commitment to learn, share and create together so that together we can end cultural exclusion and foster equality and freedom of opportunity for all.