It Takes A Village To Raise A Child. Alright stop, collaborate and listen,WOOSH is back with a brand new edition! – Cue Vanilla Ice/Queen/David Bowie background music. It is my absolute pleasure and honour to be able to present to you our third Volume of WOOSH: Qi Creative’s 4C approach to service. Each edition this year will focus on one of the 4C’s: COLLABORATE, CREATE, COACH, and CELEBRATE. This edition we look at what it means to collaborate. Qi Creative believes in the importance of a collaborative approach from the onset of any partnership. In our practice, this ensures that all partners are full participants in learning and working towards meaningful success for children, families, and schools living with challenges. We invest time to not only understand the needs and wants of others, but also believe in learning about others’ interests and passions. We believe this rapport creates the foundation for a collaborative partnership based on trust and mutual respect. We believe that true collaboration is achieved when all members of the team are valued as experts in their own right and invited to share their expertise. So let’s roll up our sleeves, put on our brainstorming caps, and open our ears to listen to some amazing ideas that maybe, just maybe, might change our own lives or the lives of others to create more awesome in the world. Collaborate well and prosper.
WOOSH!
Jonathan Rivero BScOT, OT (C), Certified Trauma Specialist CEO & Founder Qi Creative Inc. 1
Paula Audrey Rivero BBA, MSW, RSW Creator of Outstanding Opportunity (COO)
I am a collaborator. I am open to share, listen, and explore ideas, in order to develop a shared vision to Create Awesome. I honour and respect my fellow collaborators because we all have value–unique and rare. I trust in the process of collaboration and that it continues to get better over time. Most importantly, I love to celebrate the Wins with my team. This creates connection, builds momentum, motivates, fosters positivity, and makes the journey fun!
Heather Sherwood MScSLP, R.SLP, S-LP (C) Speech Language Pathologist & Coach
Heyo! My name is Heather and I think that when we work together with a goal in mind we can do great things! Look at the pyramids (which recent archeological finds lead researchers to believe were built by paid labourers, not slaves), look at our roads and hospitals, look at the International Space Station! None of them would exist without a group of people working together for a single goal. This 2
makes me so grateful that I get to work with so many great people to help children and their families succeed, because I know that when we work together, we achieve great things.
Sam Pathirana BScOT, OT (C) Practice Coordinator & Coach
Collaboration has been, and continues to be very important in my life. Through collaboration with people far more talented, and skilled than myself, I have been able to do some pretty cool things. Through collaboration with my family, I am raising an incredibly brave and charismatic daughter, who is nothing like her shy and awkward dad. Through collaboration with some great hockey players, I’ve had the opportunity to score a winning goal. Through collaboration with some amazing musicians, I have had the opportunity to perform at the Winspear. Through collaboration with Jon, I’ve had the opportunity to make a TV show, write songs about washing hands and pooping on the toilet and be a part of a fashion show. Through collaboration with amazing coaches, families, and schools, I have the opportunity to be a part of the lives of children all over our province, even though I can only be in one place at a time. Thank you to all who have collaborated with me, and to all who will. You help me do things I could never do on my own. I am truly grateful.
Meghan Harris BScHK, MScOT, OT(C) Occupational Therapist & Coach
The aspect I love most about collaboration is creative minds coming together from different walks of life. Each person on a Qi Creative team, whether it be a child, parent, coach or teacher, brings different experiences, different knowledge and different ideas to work towards a common goal. “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller 3
Fatema Jivanjee BScKin, MScOT, OT (C) Occupational Therapist & Coach
Merriam-Webster defines collaboration as the act of working with another person or group in order to achieve or do something. Our awesome teams include the children we work with, their families, schools, communities and the Qi Creative coaches. I love our team approach to helping our amazing families! It allows us to brainstorm unique and creative strategies that integrate many different ideas and perspectives. As the newest coach to Qi Creative, working on a team has been an awesome tool to allow me to learn and grow from many different individuals! I cannot wait to continue this journey and see what we can all achieve together :) Woosh!
Michael Schwake BSc, BEd Technical Director & Success Coach
Hi, I’m Coach Mike and I’m a Success Coach with Qi and success requires collaboration. I am also the Technical Director, so I get to also work on new ways for us to connect and collaborate using technology. Did you know you can use “Color a table” to spell “Collaborate?”
Lucero Vargas-Almeida R. SLP Bilingual Speech Language Pathologist & Coach
Throughout my several years of experience, I have developed a dynamic approach that continuously engages both multi-modal and multi-sensory techniques. My passion for my profession and supporting families drives me to create unique approaches according to individual needs. I integrate these avenues into my daily work in collaboration with families and communities. I feel excited to share knowledge, passion and experience with the WOOSH family. 4
Crystal Baines MSc.SLP. R. SLP, SLP(C) Speech Language Pathologist & Coach
Collaboration: working together toward a common vision; directing individual accomplishments toward organized goals and objectives. Behind every great person is a bunch of other people; behind every great coach is a team of coaches; behind every child is a village to raise, nurture, and support him or her. I feel honoured to be welcomed into so many villages as a Qi Creative coach. “The strength of the team is each individual member.The strength of each member is the team” – Phil Jackson
Luis Ballester BScOT, OT (C) Occupational Therapist & Coach
I used to think that the highest expression of achievement is total independence… How can someone be so wrong? With experience and the passing of time I have finally learned that while it is good to be, do and have the best you can, it is even better to participate in synergistic interactions with other people. There is magic in combining skills, experience and insights with others, to the point that 1 + 1 is no longer equal to 2, it becomes 3 or 5 or 11, or who knows what? Just think about the magazine you are holding in your hands right now; it is the result of applying the talents of many people and not one of us could have made it better on our own, “magic!”
Kim Gilbert BScOT, OT (C) Occupational Therapist & Coach
I use my experience as a mom of two and as an Occupational Therapist to collaborate with families to find balance in their lives in play, self-care and work. I strive to create family-specific solutions for each child and their family’s needs and desires to promote a fulfilling life. 5
My name is Joan Janeczko. I am an inspired mother of four unique girls, each with their own challenges. I, too, have my own challenges. My youngest daughter, eighteen years old, who has Down Syndrome has taught me very much and has provided me with a unique circle of important friends. On my journey through life I have found many new skills, some of which I never thought possible. My journey has taken me on a number of roads: some were nice and straight, some hit crossroads and road-blocks, and there have been many ups and downs. One of the best tools I have learned is how to advocate and collaborate with people to obtain what my daughter, and others, need. One of the first skills I learned, was to define what was needed and understand where I wanted to go. I used the acronym BRAVO:
Belonging, Respect, Acceptance,Value and Ownership. When I advocate, I think about the concept of inclusion and how I want it to turn out for my daughter, Jacquie. When she was born, I was told she may have Down Syndrome. We waited four days for the results of her blood test to confirm that she indeed did have Down Syndrome. I was scared, not that she had Down Syndrome, but rather, could I be the parent she needed. I come from a family of survivors; we don’t give up‌we learn to move on. Secondly, I learned to research and learn what was available and what was not available. I discovered that my small town of Hinton lacked many of the services that were available in the bigger centers. One of the services that I advocated for was Early Childhood Intervention (ECD); our province had this service in all regions except for three, our region being one of them. If someone had told me I would be talking and pushing the MLA for change, I would not have believed them. I had to step out of my comfort zone so many times at the beginning that I forgot where my comfort zone was. I was persistent, I called my MLA weekly for updates and by the time Jacquie was eighteen months old we had ECD. My daughter was my motivation but it became a passion to see all people receive what they deserve to be the best they can be. I have 6
continued throughout the years to advocate and collaborate to help make changes within my community. I am starting a new movement in Hinton: People Inc. We aim to bring our community together and help to provide programs for all our citizens. It is a group that believes in BRAVO and that everybody belongs regardless of their challenges, everyone deserves respect, and that everyone should be accepted for who they are. All of us want to be valued and we all need to take ownership of ourselves. I believe that to get this movement going, I need to surround myself with people who share the same values. I am also looking in our community to see what we already have and how we can all work together. I have spoken to our Mayor, and our MLA, and they are both willing to work with me and have inspired others to help support our movement. When you advocate with people, you need to get the community to see what is needed. Finding the services or programs that will work for your community, and help support everyone is a challenge. As Jacquie’s mother, I can accept any challenge that comes my way. Qi Creative has been hugely beneficial to getting the school to work with its staff and getting the point across that the family needs to be in on the planning. Jacquie benefitted from this because with the collaboration of all the team players she actually was less confused and was able to move forward with less melt downs; we were all on the same page. My Journey continues. My motivation to be my daughter’s, and others’ hope continues. Even as my advocacy changes, my passion to help others, remains the same; the rules stay the same. Know what you want, know what is there, and work with others. Surround yourself with people who believe what you believe and you will be successful. I leave you with this thought:
You must be the change you wish to see in the world. ~Mahatma Gandhi
Joan Janeczko 7
Working with the amazing families we serve reminds me of the importance of having awareness of goals and clarity around the desired outcomes of any coaching we do. As we focus on collaboration during the first part of 2015, I have been reflecting on what it means to me and my practice so I can be more effective; a quick look at the dictionary reveals that “to collaborate is to work together to create something” (Google online dictionary). The way I see it, working together involves: Communicating clearly to find out common goals. Agreeing on actions and reviewing progress. Organizing a plan and allocating responsibilities so everyone knows how they are contributing to the final goal. Leveraging each individual’s talents so that each person involved is able to contribute in the best possible way. Learning from mistakes and from each other so we are able to constantly refine and improve. Aligning with the goal; if we are in alignment, it will be easier to overcome challenges. Being barrier-aware; even if we are always expecting the best, there will be times when challenges will get in the way of progress. The time spent in preparation up front will likely result in smoother negotiation of obstacles later. Opening the door to changes and adjustments by regularly: Reviewing progress so we know we are moving in the right direction and making changes if we are not. Activating your best self for the benefit of the common goal. It’s great when we are able to bring in our A-game consistently. In any case, always do your best. 8
Training others to carry on with the work you have done so you are able to move on to a new collaboration. Enjoying the fruits of the collaboration; taking time to celebrate, not only at the end of the project, but also at certain milestones and challenging steps. This helps maintain motivation because you are able to see progress and keeps you focused on the final goal. I hope you enjoy this issue of WOOSH; it was created through collaboration! If you have any questions or comments about this article, please get in touch with coach Luis, he will love to hear from you. WOOSH!
Luis Ballester
Wrapping in empathy A shared understanding Running hand in hand with purpose Striving togetherness Grasping a goal. Songs in harmony, Paths intertwined for the moment Giving to the cause While allowing free movement. Momentum of An idea barrage With soldiers committed to action. Hands and hearts and thoughts held gently in Collaboration.
Kim Gilbert
9
10
Without Collaboration, Awesome Cannot Be Created.
Sam Pathirana
I’m going to confess something here: I’m not a huge fan of asking people for help. I’ve always been a “Just get it done, “Stiff upper lip, “Don’t complain, just do it,” kind of lady. I’ve been this way from a very early age. I remember being in Grade Three, Mrs. Pocock’s math class, and not grasping the concept of less than and greater than. I remember sitting there, staring at the math sheet on my desk, fidgeting with my snap bracelet, before finally just writing down those > and < symbols all willy-nilly, handing in the sheet, and getting a horrible mark. It is so clear in my mind, even though it was almost two decades ago. I. WOULD. NOT. ASK. FOR. HELP. But look where is got me, a red frowny face on my math sheet. I can't put a finger on why little nine-year-old Heather didn’t want to ask for help, was I worried Mrs. Pocock would think less of me because I didn’t get the concept right away? Would she think I was stupid? Everyone else seemed to be getting it, why couldn’t I? I should be able to do it on my own, shouldn’t I? I would love to say that I learned a great lesson that day, after-school-special style, about asking for help; that I was no longer afraid to talk to my teacher about concepts that were hard or tell my parents about struggles with friends. Alas, but no. Though, I would say that I am better at it than I was at nine, it still isn’t easy for me to ask for help. When I am feeling bogged down and overwhelmed with all the STUFF I have to do. I find that I need to take a step back and think about my situation. Here are the things I do to get better at asking for help: 12
1. Help others before you even need help: You build a positive reputation as someone who is helpful and others will want to help you 2. Know what you want to ask: Look at your project or goal and think about “What would really help you get it done?” 3. Make a SMART request: A request that is Specific, Measureable, Action Oriented, Real, and Time-bound is a lot easier to do than something vague, for example. “Can you book the limo for the birthday party by Friday the 20th?” is more likely to get something done than “I need help planning the party.” 4. Assume that people have the means to help you: If you think that “oh, people don't have time,” or “she can’t help with that,” then you will never even ask for help in the first place 5. Create an environment where asking for help is the norm: Set the tone, norms and practices around you to make it easy for everyone to ask for help. I also need to think about why I don’t want to ask for help. Is it because I am an international spy and to do so would be an act of treason? Ok, you might be on your own there. Or is it that I might feel vulnerable admitting that I can’t do something on my own. This could be something to explore and provide a chance to be courageous in asking for what you need. Why am I sharing all this, you ask? Well, when I think about collaboration and people getting together, and all the great things that can come from it, I realize that it only happens when someone has the courage to say “Hey, I can’t do this on my own and I need help.”
Help only comes to those who ask for it. ~Albus Dumbledore
Heather Sherwood
13
1. Communicate
2. Visualize
Your Ideas.
All of them When you challenge yourself to communicate an idea it forces you to clarify your thinking so another person will understand.
6. Celebrate. The. WINS.
Where do you want your idea to go? Create a vision and purpose for the collaboration. What is the outcome? Visuals are great facilitators Too!
To work jointly on an activity, to goals; especially to produce or
The more you praise and celebrate the big and the small successes, the more there is to celebrate. Why? »Motivates the team to continue awesome work »Unifies the team around a positive outcome »Creates connection and a sense of togetherness »Reminds you of the goal you set and why you set it »It’s Fun!
WOOSH! Paula Audrey Rivero 14
References Maynard, S. (2015, January 1). Collaboration in the Workplace: What Does it Actually Mean? Retrieved March 1, 2015. Bence, B. (n.d.). The Top 10 Reasons Why Leaders Should Celebrate Wins. Retrieved March 1, 2015. McAdamis, S. (2013, September 24). Listening: The forgotten skill necessary for effective collaboration. Retrieved March 1, 2015. Reed, W. (2012, May 11). Time for a Change #14: Collaboration through active listening. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
HERE!
3. Listen and Take Notes Use visuals to communicate your ideas and clarify. Visuals are scientifically proven to be up to 6 times more effective than W-O-R-D-S.
o do a task, and to achieve shared r create something AWESOME.
5. Acknowledge Collaborative relationships work best when team members feel appreciated and valued. Honor and respect each team member. They are there for a reason.
Hearing ideas is just as important as sharing ideas. “Nature has given us two ears, two eyes, and but one tongue; to the end that we should hear and see more than speak.” ~Socrates Qi (Key) Tips to Active Listening: 1. Be quiet 2. Listen with your body 3. Put your agenda aside 4. Wait before responding 5. Check for accuracy (paraphrase) 6. Take notes 7. Listen with your ears and your heart
4. Commit 100% and GO! Through the finish line Be dedicated and engaged in the process. Collaboration is a process that continues to get better over time.
THANK YOU – KAMSAMNIDA – NAMASTE “ You get what you give.What you put into things is what you get out of them.” ~Jennifer Lopez
15
Mikey Hamm has always possessed an interest in writing and crafting stories. In fact, many locals know him as Mikey Maybe–his rap moniker and pen name of sorts–and have caught him performing his humorous and thought-provoking sets in venues around Edmonton. In 2012, however, Mikey was able to use his gift of storytelling in a new capacity, forever changing the life of his friend, Anthony, through a video and a bright business idea. I could explain the two-minute video in detail to you, but I think it speaks so phenomenally for itself, that I encourage you to stop what you’re doing and watch it before reading further. Search “Meet Anthony” on YouTube, and you’ll find the clip right away. The video has over 200,000 views–a number Mikey refers to as “minorly viral”–and its impact has been felt globally. Mikey truly embodies the spirit of collaboration, and I recently sat down with him to hear more about the inception of “Anthony at Your Service,” and how its creation has impacted both Anthony and Mikey. What inspired you to start Anthony At Your Service? I started working with Anthony as his community aid, which was a great job. Although Anthony was going to school at the time and really enjoying it, Anthony’s mom, Deborah, always wondered what her son would pursue as a career. She thought that Anthony might be a good courier, and as she was sharing this with me one day, I suggested starting his own delivery business so that we could have full control over its operation.
16
I started thinking about all of the friends I have that work in different businesses around town, and thought about how we could best approach them. I decided, instead of doing a big long spiel and introducing Anthony to each of them, that I’d simply make a video. In it, I thought I should explain some of Anthony’s
quirks–like the noises he makes, for instance–so that people don’t worry or think he’s in trouble. Ultimately, I wanted to show how friendly and awesome Anthony is. And then to also mention we’re starting this new delivery business. I figured I’d show it to a few of my friends, and we’d get a few jobs from it. I made the video, people really liked it, and people started sharing it. And it went minorly viral. Enough that it definitely went viral throughout the Autism and disability community. Enough that there were people emailing us from all over the world that had seen it, which was really cool. For example, I got an email from a mother in Spain whose son has Autism, and she’d always wondered what he was going to do. The video gave her hope that they could find something. I got a lot of responses like that. For me, that became one of the main reasons why I thought I should keep making these videos. I saw the benefit of it first hand. I also saw that Anthony got more benefit from the video, than just advertising for his business. It also was a way for him to sort of interact with the community, because he’s non-verbal. He loves people and he loves being around people, but he doesn’t really talk that much. The video worked as a way to introduce him to people and make him known. We’ll have people approach us and share that they saw his video, and I think that makes Anthony feel good. The video definitely helped to make a good first impression for Anthony. Of course, it’s impossible to explain anybody in a couple of minutes, but if it’s done right, I think it can be helpful. And then, since making Anthony’s video, I’ve started making videos for other families that started approaching me. The first one was for a guy named Andre. His mom approached me to make a video for him, because he’s a really awesome guy, but he has a lot of behaviour issues. She wanted to create a kind of ad to get good staff for him. Then, more projects just started coming from there. Families were hiring me to make videos of their kids, and I’ve been able to help kickstart a couple of other exciting projects and businesses through these initial videos. 17
MadeByBrad.com & LegoArtByAaron.com are two of our personal favourites here at Qi. We highly encourage you to look them up! How has the experience collaborating with Anthony shaped you? Working with Anthony, I learn something from him every day. He just knows how to live his life the way he wants to, and he’s just a super happy person. He notices the cool things around him and actually pays attention. He lives in the moment the way we’re all trying to do, so that’s a good reminder. I’ve also learned and realized that I’m a lot more like Anthony than I first thought. Sometimes, Anthony will make these strange noises, for example–but as I talk about in his video–a lot of us will do the same thing, too. A lot of us just make noises that we’ve all decided are okay. Or, I’ll often catch myself saying something like, “oh, Anthony just really likes his routine.” And then I’ll realize, I really like my routine. I think, after spending day after day with someone who, at a first glance, seems very different from you in a lot of ways, those differences start to melt away. Or, at the very least, you realize how much more in common you have.
How has all of this impacted Anthony? People like working. People like doing things and being effective and being useful and feeling satisfied at the end of the day. And that’s how Anthony feels with this business. He’s excited every morning about the deliveries he knows he has to do that day, and I think that’s really improved his quality of life. I have no idea how much he thinks about these things, because he doesn’t share how he’s feeling with me. But, I can just tell he likes doing it. I would hope it’s been a positive experience for him, and the other guys like Brad and Aaron, too. 18
Do you have a memorable delivery experience that you can share with me? Early on, during the first winter we’d started the business, I started to question whether or not this was really a good job for Anthony. Or, whether this was all just sort of for show. That changed for me one day, when we were doing a particularly difficult delivery. Of course, I always knew Anthony’s value as a person, but I came to see his value as a delivery person that afternoon, too. We had to deliver about thirty gift baskets, and the way the loading dock was set up made it really difficult for us to carry the baskets one at a time. It would have taken forever, and would have made us really late for the rest of the day. So, I suggested that we make an assembly line, and I could hand the baskets off to Anthony. Everything worked really smoothly, and I realized I could not have done that delivery without Anthony’s help. In that moment, I felt like we were definitely a team. There have been several situations like this, since then, and I’ve realized that our collaboration and teamwork is essential to this job. I remember another really cool experience taking place when I was making the video for Anthony. He popped his head into the office where I was editing, and I saw how excited he got about the video. I realized, in that moment, that I was really making the film with him. What does collaboration mean to you? I think the most creative moments of our lives happen when we’re collaborating. At least, especially for me, I like bouncing ideas off of people. Sometimes, collaborating with others can bring about unexpected results and can become a bit of a challenging and fun puzzle to work out. This can often bring about a lot of creative results. To hire Anthony or Mikey–or to learn more, visit: MikeyHamm.com AnthonyAtYourService.com
Carmyn Effa
19
Email: Info@QiCreative.com Give us a call for more information: 780.554.8745 Join the conversation on Twitter: @QiCreativeInc Celebrate with us on Facebook: Facebook.com/QiCreative Learn more at: QiCreative.com
20
Š All Rights Reserved, Qi Creative 2015
QiCreative.com ~ Info@QiCreative.com ~
@QiCreativeInc