Monterey CA - February 2011

Alumni Conference Centers on Imagination in Homeland Security

Nurturing imagination in the workplace may be similar to improvisational jazz music, says pianist and Naval Postgraduate School professor Frank Barrett.

"Jazz looks kind of like chaos, but if you look closer there is this minimal structure that makes it work," Barrett said during a panel discussion at the 2011 CHDS Alumni APEX Conference.

In other words, too much structure would stifle the imaginative creativity while too little structure would render the song unrecognizable. The same may be true of homeland security organizations.

Barrett was one of five panelist at the 2011 CHDS Alumni Apex Conference held Feb. 2-3 in the Barbara McNitt Ballroom on the campus of the Naval Postgraduate School where more than 150 alumni, faculty and staff convened to discuss unlocking the power of imagination and its applicability to homeland security. The half-day discussion was led by educator and writer Eric Liu, co-author of the book "Imagination First: Unlocking the Power of Possibility."

The conference also included a session on personal resilience led by author Laura van Dernoot Lipsky and a keynote address from Caryn Wagner, Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (see related story). A day prior to the conference, CHDS and NPS hosted a community-wide "Imagination Conversation" attended by leaders throughout Monterey County (see related article at www.nps.edu/About/News/Imagination-Conversation-Inspires-Participants-to-Imagine-a-Safer-Community.html)

The first day’s sessions examined how managers can both stir and stifle creativity followed by a string of exercises designed to strengthen the imagination muscle.

Far from a touchy-feely practice, unlocking imagination and creativity is becoming increasingly critical as homeland security professionals are tasked with protecting the public on dwindling public budgets.

"We have a unique opportunity with the current budget crisis," said former CHDS CEO and panelist David O’Keefe. "It’s an ideal time for new ideas and new models of how we can serve the public.

There is a mutual understanding of the need to approach government service in a new and different way."

Several alumni said they were returning to their jobs with a new approach to imagination and furthering their ideas in the work place.

Laurie Van Leuven, a CHDS fellow at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said she would use some of the concepts in pitching a new idea to key individuals within FEMA.

"One of the phrases that resonated with me is to be the choreographer of the conversation," Van Leuven said. "Maybe I just need to re-cast how I dialogue with people."

Ron Timmons, director of public safety communications in Plano, Texas, said that imagination will be needed in the homeland security profession as people enter the homeland security profession who were too young to comprehend the full impact of the Sept. 11 attacks.

"In the next couple of years people will be entering the workforce who have no grasp of 9/11 at all," Timmons said. "We will need to step back and explain what we do and why it is important. We’ll have to step back from our assumptions."

Exercising and encouraging imagination is critical to providing sound leadership, Liu noted. The session began with a conversation on how imagination plays out in the workplace and the role of leaders in furthering, or impeding, creative thinking.

Ecologist Raphael Sagarin of the University of Arizona said he looks to nature and its adaptability to find examples of imagination. Species such as the Ocean Sunfish have been forced to creatively adapt to their environment to solve challenges and to survive, he noted.

"It is about solving problems as they come up, using what you have," Sagarin noted.

O’Keefe said that in his work as a manager, his role is to nurture the creative thinking of his organization.

"I see my job as simply to create a culture in which the best ideas come forth," he said.

The topic of imagination and CHDS are nearly synonymous, said CHDS Executive Director Ted Lewis. He credited the imagination of founding director Paul Stockton for establishing CHDS and building a graduate education program geared toward busy, working professionals. He said serendipity and creativity often align, as was the case many times with CHDS. To continue with that imaginative tradition, Lewis said he seeks to empower employees to make decisions with the confidence that "the organization owns the mistake."

"What that amounts to is that I have to trust the people that work here," Lewis said.

The conversation also touched on impediments to imagination: Ever-changing leadership in an organization; longtime employees stuck in their own way of doing things; strict adherence to standard operating procedure; time constraints; and fear of taking risks.

In between the earnest discussions there were times of levity as Liu led participants through some exercises, taken from his book, intended to bolster imagination prowess. Alumni were given food-coded name badges that governed where they would sit to allow for a multi-disciplinary group of people at each table.

Exercises included "rewriting your own narrative" in which participants re-examined their life’s story.

"Is the story of your life working for you? Is it creating possibilities or is it narrowing them?" Liu asked.

A second practice was called "Yes, and." It was aimed at removing the word "no" when considering new ideas.

Another was labeled "Think inside the box."

"Crises of limits can feed incredible bursts of imagination," Liu said.

Liu implored participants to take the concepts discussed at the conference to their everyday jobs, noting imagination is necessary to being an effective leader.

"Every one of you is a professional practitioner of imagination," he said. "What we are talking about is the art of leadership, the spiritual art of being a leader."

While the first day of the conference challenged alumni to re-kindle imagination and creativity, the second day was about homeland security professionals taking care of their emotional well-being.

Van Dernoot Lipsky, co-author of the book "Trauma Stewardship," moderated a morning session designed to help front-line responders process the ordeals their organizations and colleagues routinely face in doing their work.

First responders and other homeland security professionals risk losing passion for their professions due to what she calls "cumulative trauma" caused by the nature of their work.

During a multi-media presentation, van Dernoot Lipsky outlined some of the warning signs of cumulative trauma, how to recognize them and some practices to help overcome the trauma.

She demonstrated, with audience participation, methods to reduce stress and combat cumulative trauma:

• A daily practice of some type. Van Dernoot Lipsky passed out flash cards that listed exercises for a daily practice to "center" oneself. Suggestions included contemplating a backup plan to one’s profession, engaging with people outside the workplace and practicing compassion for one's self.
• One method to fight the trauma that she exhibited is a simple 60-second breathing exercise.

"Though breathing, you can regulate your central nervous system in a very short amount of time," she noted.

A second set of flash cards outlined the signs of trauma exposure and how to mitigate them.

Some of the common warning signs of cumulative trauma include:

• Putting one’s job before family and loved ones
• Pre-occupation with work
• Being hyper-vigilant
• Having conversations with one’s self that just don’t stop.

Additionally, there are symptoms that accompany cumulative trauma, such as loss of effective creativity as well as inability to embrace complexity.

"One of the first things to go is creativity," van Dernoot Lipsky said.

Other related traits may include minimizing one’s feelings and a perpetual feeling of exhaustion.

Worse, people may just not want to do their job, what she called "avoidance," or slip into feelings of guilt and fear. The guilt can come from feeling like one is not doing enough work, she noted.

Another common behavior is what van Dernoot Lipsky refers as "numbing out." That can include neglecting one’s health and, possibly, substance abuse.

"If you are bringing your ‘A’ game to work, but neglecting yourself, that is not sustainable practice," she said.

Traits for professionals in this stage of cumulative trauma may also include anger and grandiosity, or exaggerating one’s expertise and knowledge.

Dee Walker, CHDS Senior Advisor for Alumni Programs, said this year’s sessions at the annual conference were intended to challenge alumni to think differently about their work. The call for imagination is especially salient with the current budget constraints faced by most governments.

"As leaders, we need to be inclined to trade some efficiency for the chance to improve effectiveness, especially in the future," Walker said. "In the face growing budget pressures at all levels of government, this challenge is especially profound for homeland security professionals."

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