Creativity, Foresight, and Genealogy

Developing Foresight and Creativity

I'm reading a thought-provoking book called The Rise of the Creative Class: Revisited by Richard Florida [1]. How does this relate to genealogy and family history? Think of how much our field has changed in the past few years, and even more in our lifetimes. These immense changes, from microfilm and copy machines to online records and virtual meetings, are the result of creativity in action. 

When I attended the NGS (National Genealogical Society) Conference in Sacramento last spring, genealogy society delegates met in person for the first time, and spent a morning discussing and learning how to practice foresight. Not predicting the future, but instead, thinking with the future, to better prepare our selves and our societies for the changes that are coming. Did any of us, on New Year's Day 2020 see what was coming and how it would change all our lives?  

Many public health experts all around the world had been worried even before Covid-19 was identified, because the epidemics of the previous decade or two had been stopped by circumstances on the ground, rather than scientific advances in prevention and agile development of new treatments. Looking back, it's easy to see that all around the world we were susceptible because we lacked foresight; and we had not invested in the robust public health systems which could have quickly responded. 

On the other hand, our genealogy society and many others realized quickly that we NEEDED to continue to meet, and that we had the tools available; we just needed to learn to use them. Hooray! We survived and have thrived, this time. 

Here is a link to the presentation we heard at NGS, now released to the public. In this short video about building the practice of foresight by Jeff De Cagna, we're asked to look backward, by thinking back to August 2012. What did we know about the future then, and how were we preparing for it? 

Intentional Learning

It's up to each of us to shape our future to the extent we can, and intentional learning is the tool we need to navigate the future. Not just data and information are needed, but also our imagination -- our creativity. I think many of us are already doing much of this intentional learning, not just about improving our genealogy research practices, but also thinking with the future. This is why we consume the news and analysis, right? 

De Cagna's presentation really changed how I think about the future, and my responsibility to learn enough to shape my own future and share that education with this society and the other organizations too. 

MaryLynn recently shared an article about how Melinda French Gates is making her voice and influence felt, not just in philanthropy, "but through her commitment to empowering others and her appreciation that true progress is achieved when all voices can participate in the solution." She is making this happen by teaching a class "empowering individuals to enact change in their own communities."[2]. I think that our society and all genealogists and family historians who do impeccable research, share it with others, and teach others to carry on this practice are "leveraging an area of expertise" in the most profound way. If all voices are heard, then we release the maximum amount of creativity and lasting progress. Using our creativity is our best contribution.

Pinewood Derby kit

In chapter 2 of Rise of the Creative Class, "The Creative Economy" a section caught my eye. Florida told a story about his father and the factory where he worked, and how the creativity of all the workers there was used to make the business thrive. His dad's fellow employees helped him make a winning Pinewood Derby car as a Cub Scout, and he saw creativity in action as they all collaborated to improve each new version of the car. It helped him understand what was lost when new management of the factory replaced support of creativity with a rigid hierarchy, and why the business then ultimately failed [3]. 

Grandpa Thomas Cowan

Each of us can probably think of similar stories of creativity or the stifling of it in the lives of our extended family. It made me remember my grandpa Cowan who worked for elevator companies after World War 1, and why he was always so happy. Both his company and his union brothers encouraged creativity and he was creative and productive until the end of his life. I've often thought about the changes he and my other grandparents lived through, from the 1890s through the 1960s. My thoughts mostly focused on changes in technology, such as the rise of electricity in homes and cities, the introduction of cars, trucks, airplanes, radios and then televisions and even computers. 

Because of this book, I've now realized that social changes are actually the ones more difficult for some to accept. Humans have had light in houses for millennia, whether by candle, kerosene lamp or electric light. And transport, whether by horse and wagon or cars and trucks. They had communication whether by letter, newspaper, telegraph or radio and television. All of this new technology was an improvement but was not earth-shaking, and little of it would require a lot of new learning.

What was fundamental change from the Fifties on was the shifting of the social structures. Social mixing brought about by two wars, cheaper transport and faster communication profoundly changed attitudes, jobs, and education and the sense of personal freedom in the post-war period. My grandpa liked those changes, while my grandmother abhorred them. Old hierarchies continue to break down as the mix of all sorts of people living and working next to one another learn about the cultural background of their friends. Racial and religious separation are slowly disappearing. Florida believes and the book demonstrates how creativity is the driver of these changes. Creativity makes our lives fit us better. It makes our organizations fit us better.

The more information we take in from varied people, places, domains, and sources, the richer our lives and the better genealogy research we will do. As a wonderful byproduct of that, we will make our genealogy societies better too! And we must make our society better, more welcoming to creativity, or we won't be able to nurture the genealogists of the future. 

1. The Rise of the Creative Class: Revisited by Richard Florida, Basic Books, 2011, 2012, Philadelphia, PA.

2. "Exclusive: Why Melinda French Gates’ Next Act Is What The Future Of Philanthropy Needs" by Moira Forbes, Forbes Staff; https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/exclusive-why-melinda-french-gates-e2-80-99-next-act-is-what-the-future-of-philanthropy-needs/ar-AA10NpJy, accessed 19 August 2022.

3. The Rise of the Creative Class: Revisited by Richard Florida, Basic Books, 2011, 2012, Philadelphia, PA., pages 30-34.

Valorie Zimmerman