Business and poetry, at least on the surface, appear to form an unlikely alliance. Scott Edward Anderson shows us why it’s not so unlikely after all.
This Week’s Top Ten Poetic Picks
Chocolate sells books, poetry in the Windsor knot, the most famous book in South Dakota, and where money and writing collide: It’s our Top Ten Poetic Picks.
Infographic: Poetry at Work Day 2017
Poetry at Work Day is coming January 14, 2014. To launch this year’s celebration, we’re releasing our brand new 2014 Poetry at Work Day infographic.
This Week’s Top Ten Poetic Picks
Poetry as diplomacy, waiting for tattoos, unsplitting infinitives and the poetry of labor. all this and more in This Week’s Top Ten Poetic Picks.
Poetry at Work: Casey at the Bat
The 1888 popular poem “Casey at the Bat” has much to teach us about the over-confidence and pride that leads to failure at work.
Serious Fun: How We Spent Take Your Poet to Work Day
From Neruda driving the morning commute to T.S. Eliot settling down for a good night’s sleep, we celebrated Take Your Poet to Work Day around the world. Enjoy a recap of our favorite images and tweets.
Poetry at Work: The Poetry of Electronic Work
Like all work, the work of electronic communications contains an inherent poetry, perhaps several inherent “poetries.”
Poetry at Work: The Poetry of the Interview
I was part of an interview team, talking individually with four candidates for a communication research job. Human Resources had provided us with a set of “behavioral interview” questions, which meant we would be asking things like “What’s the biggest failure you’ve ever experienced?” and “Where do you see yourself in 10 years?” We followed […]
Poetry at Work: The Airport Security Check-In
A random selection of people in an airport security line becomes the occasion for two strangers to create a poem of chance, understanding, and meaning.
Poetry at Work: The Poetry of the Commute
A daily commute to work is filled with the poetry of Dickinson, Eliot, Homer, the Romantics, and the 18th century Age of Reason, in one short six-mile ride.
Poetry at Work: The Poetry of the Organization Chart
I’m likely to date myself here, but when I first worked for a large organization, one of the most important documents one could be given was the organization chart. The chart made sense of the organization, in this case a large corporation. It demonstrated order, logic, rationality, and control. It provided a compass or map, […]
Poetry at Work: The Poetry of Crisis
Poetry at work? Yes, look for it especially in a crisis. Finding the poetry will suggest the path forward.
Poetry at Work: A Poet Jump Starts a Company
A poet was asked to create a celebration for a company that was to be spun off as a separate organization.
Poetry at Work: Workplace Creativity
Poetry can be used for creativity at work in three ways: to restore, to clarify, to organize.
Poetry at Work: Television Becomes Poetry Becomes Speech
A curious combination of television and poetry helped change an industry. I was having trouble finishing a speech. And it wasn’t just any speech but a rather significant departure for the company. It would have one of two outcomes. Either the company executive giving it would “elect to pursue career opportunities elsewhere” (companies rarely “fire” […]
Poetry at Work: How to Recognize a Poet at Work
A secretary at work once stopped me outside my office. “People are worried about you, ” she said. “Me?” I asked. “Why?” “You’re walking the hallways, mumbling to yourself. People are noticing.” I stared for a moment, and then I understood. “I’m writing a speech, ” I said. “It’s a restless activity for me. I […]
Poetry at Work: Beauty in the Workplace
Few associate our work with beauty. It’s one of the reasons, perhaps the primary reason, we fail to see poetry at work. No beauty, no poetry.
Poetry at Work: The Poetry of the Speech
Poetry has considerable practical value for the business of speechwriting: using language differently, the power of poetic techniques, thinking differently.
Poetry at Work: Dana Gioia on Poetry in Business
The conventional American wisdom is that poets “must be people out of the ordinary; they must be strong, even eccentric individuals.” In other words, Walt Whitman fits our preconceived notions; Wallace Stevens, corporate lawyer, does not.
Poetry at Work: Dana Gioia and Can Poetry Matter?
In his 1991 Atlantic essay ‘Can Poetry Matter, ‘ Dana Gioia argued that poetry had been captured by academia and disconnected from its reading public.