Services
We spark new ways to think, act, and envision the future with services designed to harness the power of imagination and apply it to the business of change. We work across a wide range of professional environments with teams that are ready and willing to challenge the status quo.
Facilitation
Change is hard. It requires shared vision, commitment, and teamwork. It also requires creativity, which in its simplest, most widely accepted definition, means the generation of new and useful ideas. But new ideas are often overlooked without a process in place to cultivate and accelerate them into workable solutions.
Catalyst Muse shapes a process to generate and build on new ideas in a judgment free environment. We blend in humor and trust, so that participants build on each other’s ideas and take imaginative leaps that lift the deepest thinking to the surface, shedding new light on complex challenges, problems, and opportunities.
At the core of our facilitations is Creative Problem Solving (CPS), which weaves together divergent and convergent thinking into a powerful, productive process. In other words, CPS makes space for ideas of all kinds to emerge in large quantities. From wacky and silly to obvious and practical, new thoughts are used as material for participants to pause, consider, and select those that hold the most promise.
It’s natural for humans to solve problems, and CPS’s simple structure leaves space to layer in different tools and techniques to create a custom experience designed to meet each client’s needs. Click here for a better understanding of how the basic CPS process works.
Case Study
It Takes a Village to Find a Problem
In Topanga, California volunteerism is deeply embedded into civic life. Essential services, such as emergency preparedness and senior care, are partially funded by Los Angeles County and fully conceived of, initiated, staffed, and operated by volunteer groups. Individuals coordinate effective efforts to provide recruitment, training, and operations that directly serve the mountain community. Yet, burn out has set in after many years of continuous work. Volunteer leaders are ready to pass the torch. But to whom?
With a lack of ready successors to take on enormous responsibilities, Bonnie Morgan, business manager at MESSENGER MOUNTAIN MEDIA GROUP (MMMG) created a volunteer portal on the media group’s website to connect potential volunteers to the more than 40 public benefit entities in the canyon that rely on unpaid people power. She invested countless hours collecting information and posting organizational profiles, but very few people took advantage of this ready source of information. To help Bonnie understand why, Catalyst Muse lead a Creative Problem Solving session.
At the beginning of the session, Bonnie felt that the problem was hers alone and stated, “It would be great if MMMG could inspire an ethic of volunteerism in the community.”
The discussion evolved from the belief that the problem started with lack of marketing into a deeper understanding of the issue. After the session, Bonnie had many new, invigorating ideas to consider, a working solution, and a new perception of her involvement, stating: “What I see myself doing is…spearheading an education/information campaign to inspire more community awareness and involvement in our volunteer organizations. This has multiple legs – comprehensive.”
In follow up, Bonnie is reaching out to potential community partners to develop the campaign.
Workshops
coming soon…
Case Study
Coming Soon…
Research
Similar to facilitation, ethnographic research starts with asking questions. We begin with discovery, where we learn more about what our client seeks to understand then collaboratively design the study using quantitative and qualitative methods and assessments. We plan and implement data collection, analysis, interpretation, and reporting. A Catalyst Muse study results in key insights, findings, and recommendations that richly inform the decision making process.
Our team has worked together for almost a decade. We began at the Centers for Research on Creativity, founded by the late Dr. James Catterall. Internationally known for his influential studies, books, and publications on the cognitive effects of music and arts education on developing youth, Dr. Catterall expanded his lens with CRoC to investigate the conditions that promote creativity in teaching and learning. Our clients included the Alameda County Office of Education, Collaborations: Teachers and Artists, Educational Theatre Association, Inner-City Arts, Louisiana A+ Schools, P.S. ARTS, Royal Blind School of Scotland, The Wooden Floor, The Walt Disney Company, and Tree People.
Catalyst Muse maintains an active network of cross-disciplinary researchers throughout the country and around the world and welcomes inquiries about how we might collaborate with your organization.
Case Study
Growing Leaders for Change
Los Angeles County’s Generation Earth environmental service learning program (GESL) is managed and presented by Tree People Center for Community Forestry. Located in the serene forest of Coldwater Canyon, the organization has grown from one teenager’s passion for saving trees into a leading force in environmental preservation, restoration, and integration. For over 40 years, the organization has taught multiple generations about how to care for, protect, propagate, and enjoy nature.
Many public, private, and charter schools throughout the County have adopted GESL curriculum. From planting trees and gardens to reclaiming water and reducing pollution, today’s students are developing valuable skills, the ability to collaborate and care, and a deep appreciation for individual and collective action.
External evaluation is integral to the continued effectiveness of the program. Catalyst Muse partners with Imagination Group to conduct student and teacher focus groups, observe teacher PD workshops, and report on the findings. The goal is to inform teachers and administrators about what’s working, what’s not, what has the most impact, the least, and what their peers and students value most.
Evaluation provides a solid foundation for making improvements and adjustments to maintain the vitality of the programs, which ultimately touch the lives of millions of people. This is some of the most hopeful work that Catalyst Muse engages in!