The Institute's efforts are coordinated by psychiatrist, author, and futurist Charles M. Johnston, MD and the larger portion of its work is drawn from his thinking. He is author of The Creative Imperative, Necessary Wisdom, and, soon to be released, Hope and the Future: Understanding the New Creativity and Maturity on which Our Future Depends. Each work in different ways attempts to make sense of the times we live in and address the greater maturity of thought and action that will be required for a healthy human future.
This site provides links to websites that address various aspects of the Institute's work as well as providing contact information and information about access to Institute learning resources and opportunities.
The Cultural Maturity website engages the most defining think tank concern of the Institute: how we best understand the core challenges before us as a species and act in response to them. Its purpose is both to engage the best minds in inquiry about the challenges ahead and to educate about a particular big-picture perspective for making sense of what the future asks, the concept of Cultural Maturity. The concept of Cultural Maturity proposes that our times challenge to a critical kind of "growing up" as a species. Cultural Maturity is not as easy a notion as a phrase like growing up might suggest. But when understood deeply, the concept brings a powerful overarching vantage for thinking about the future.
From the site's introduction: "The concept of Cultural Maturity
presents a sophisticated guiding framework for making sense of and addressing the core tasks of our time. It provides a no-nonsense, yet compelling general guiding story, one able to get beyond familiar political, religious, and philosophical ideologies. And it goes further to offer detailed theoretical perspective for confronting the critical personal and cultural challenges ahead and separating wheat from chaff with regard to the kind of understanding the future will require."
Cultural Maturity can be understood as a stand-alone concept or as a core notion within
Creative Systems Theory. The ICD site supports the understanding, application, and continued development of Creative Systems Theory. Creative Systems Theory (CST) presents a comprehensive framework for making sense of change and interrelationship in human systems. CST was developed by Dr. Johnston and colleagues at the Institute over the last twenty-five years. It has special pertinence to making sense of the challenges that define our times.
Creative Systems Theory's vantage provides a dynamic perspective for addressing the life of human systems at all scales—the individual, personal relationships, organizations, communities, nations, and the human story more broadly. It is significant both for its practical usefulness and for the new kind of thinking its ideas represent.
This web page provides an introduction to the Creative Systems Personality Typology (CSPT) and serves as a forum for its ongoing development. CSPT represents one of Creative Systems Theory's major contributions.
CSPT presents a detailed framework for understanding temperament differences with important applications to self knowledge, education, psychology, organizational development, and leadership. Its considerable power derives from the depth at which it engages, the breadth of its scope, its effectiveness as a tool for supporting collaboration, and its direct pertinence to the kind of thinking effective future leadership will increasingly require.
The CSPT web site can be used both as a point for initial learning about the typology and as a place for more in-depth inquiry.
Once each year during the Institute’s “bricks and mortar” life, Charles Johnston did a day-long presentation using the history of music and movement to bring insight to how culture, and human systems more generally, creatively evolve. The last presentation was taped and is available here. It is significant because of how powerfully it applies non-rational intelligences to making sense of change dynamics. It is significant also for its contribution to our understanding of music and music’s creative functioning in culture.
ICD Press is the publishing arm of the Institute for Creative Development. This site includes educational resources available through the Institute as well as a “preview of coming attractions” glimpse at Charles Johnston’s upcoming new book Hope and the Future: Understanding the New Creativity and Maturity on Which Our Future Depends.
Institute Learning Opportunities:
The Institute provides learning opportunities with regard to all aspects of its w
ork. Most
often these are customized to the particular groups engaged. Generally they combine on-line learning with face-to-face interaction and independent inquiry. They can range from workshops of a day to year-long, in-depth learning and think tank experiences. They can take place anywhere in the world.
Learning opportunities are lead by Charles Johnston or other Institute faculty depending on the focus of the offering and faculty availability. Those with interest in such opportunities should contact the Institute by e-mail at info@creativesystems.org or by phone at 206-526-8562.
General Contact Information:
About Dr. Charles Johnston:
Charles Johnston splits his time between his Seattle-based private psychiatric practice and his continuing leadershi
p with regard to broader cultural concerns. In his role as "cultural psychiatrist" he consults, writes, speaks, and teaches about the cultural tasks ahead. He also collaborates with others in the continued development and articulation of Creative Systems Theory and contributes occasional commentary through various of the ICD Blogs. As he wraps up work on his current book, he will be devoting more of his time to teaching and more public engagement with critical cultural issues.
Dr Johnston's private practice work is with both individuals and couples. Its focus ranges from work with fairly traditional therapeutic issues to mentoring of people attempting to provide cultural leadership. He is particularly recognized for his work with people of creative temperament. His appreciation for today's changing cultural realities and differences in how they affect us brings an important subtlety to his work. His private practice web page can be found at therapysearch.net.
Charles M. Johnston MD, director
The website provides the main portal for the work of the Institute for Creative Development. ICD is a non-profit, non-partisan think tank and center for advanced leadership training dedicated to clarifying and supporting the kind of understanding and leadership a vital future will require. From 1984 through 2002 it existed as a Seattle-based "bricks and mortar" institution. Today its work is web-based and worldwide.
