Because you’re able to produce excellent outcomes, people will compliment you on being analytical and detail oriented. But it’s your talent in The Arts (Poetry is a member) that produce the results.

What if you don’t consider yourself talented in poetry or The Arts? How does this apply to you? You don’t have to be a poet to apply these to your personal—or professional—life.

Two things to accept going into this: you are a creative person (by design), and you can learn the principles applied—which in turn, will further develop your creative skills.

And here’s how you do it, using what I call the 3 F’s for Poetry (and Systems).

• Feel

• Flow

• Function

Do you want to be a better poet? See better results from your systems? Then continue reading and find out how.

Feel

Even the best poems that make you think, make you feel throughout the experience.

It would be shallow to say Feel is just emotion. Emotion is part of it, but it’s also how you respond to the emotion. You can have a poem with a sad emotion that feels great.

Systems are the same. As it’s said, “The best systems are the ones you use.” And the ones you use are the ones that feel good to use.

This is the reader experience. The user experience. In the case of a personal system—you’re own experience.

Consider the final four lines of Robert Frost’s “The Oven Bird” as a perfect example of poetry that makes you think, feel, and experience the depth of each.

The is a singer everyone has heard,
Loud, a mid-summer and mid-wood bird,
Who makes the solid tree trunks sound again.
He says that leaves are old and that for flowers,
Mid-summer is to spring as one to ten.
He says the early petal-fall is past
When pear and cherry bloom went down in showers
On sunny days a moment overcast;
And comes that other fall we name the fall.
He says the highway dust is over all.
The bird would cease and be as other birds
But that he knows in singing not to sing.
The question that he frames in all but words
Is what to make of a diminished thing.

Emphasis added.

Then consider “The Oven Bird” is a type of sonnet. And a sonnet is a poetic system.

The beat, meanings, and sounds of the word make you feel the “sad” emotion, while enjoying it too.

Get a sense of Feel, and design your work to include it.

(I do want to mention that Feel can go much deeper—in the way you get a “feel” for doing or experiencing something. But that may have to be a standalone post.)

Now, you may be wondering: “What if the system feels boring, and I just can’t bring myself to enjoy it? What if the poem deals with a really sad topic—how would I enjoy that?”

The answer to those questions is Flow.

Flow

Flow builds off Feel.

Flow is part rhythm, part rhyme. Both may be literal or figurative, depending on the context.

The inspiration for Flow and Feel in regards to poetry and systems came from leading prayer services for college students, years ago.

In leading a service, you need the flow nailed down to facilitate the best experience—where people are free to feel. Flow include order, transitions, and even what’s included or cut from the serve.

The same applies to poems and systems. Even if a system is effective in theory, if it doesn’t flow well—if it’s not easy to follow—it’s not going to be effective in practice.

Referring back to “The Oven Bird”, Frost uses the Sonnet form to facilitate flow through the rhyme scheme, poetic meter (beats per line), and turns of thought.

Looking at the final four lines again, the change in rhyme structure is designed to coincide with the turn of thought.

The bird would cease and be as other birds
But that he knows in singing not to sing.
The question that he frames in all but words
Is what to make of a diminished thing.

That’s flow.

But what’s the point of Flow? Function

Function

Function is the point of what you’re doing.

Obviously. That is obvious, right?

You may think that’s a no-brainer, but how many times have you had to do a system in the work place that felt pointless? Or read a poem that seemed like nonsense?

It’s easy to take Function for granted… But try adding intentionality, and see what happens.

For the longest time, I had two F’s: Feel and Flow, both from the poetry side of things.

I added Function from the systems side after listening to the audiobook for Jobs to Be Done: Theory to Practice by Anthony W. Ulwick

In Jobs-to-be-Done Theory, “functional” is one of the types of jobs, or core tasks, that a customer wants to accomplish and you want your product or service to serve.

In poetry and systems terms, think of Function as the job you want the poem or system to accomplish.

Do you want to create a poem for a ready (or listener) to experience in a certain way? Consider the function of everything involved, from enjambments in line breaks to double entendres in word choice.

Do you want to innovate a system that is as efficient as possible? Consider how it could produce win-win outcomes for multiple users (or consumers).

For a poem or system, Function is an opportunity for creative and innovative excellence. By simple awareness of it, you might find additional opportunities you would have otherwise missed.

Using the example of “The Oven Bird” one last time, Frost’s choice of a sonnet serves the function of the poem—providing an opportunity to introduce an introspective turn at the end.

The question that he frames in all but words
Is what to make of a diminished thing.

And you’re left pondering the experience of the poem.

For a system, you’re left amazed at the results.

P.S. But what if the function is tedious? Feel and Flow, full circle.

Share Creativity & Culture

In the process of reading the book, I realized I’ve created my own reframes of reality. Some I had already put into words. Others, I wrote as “new” reframes, because I wanted to communicate the perspective I already had.

Frame of Reference

Put in non-physics terms, a frame of reference is the perspective relative to an observer viewing an experience—who may or may not be a participant in the experience.

It’s how you view reality.

Changing your frame of reference does not change reality. But it does change your view, and possibly your experience, of it.

That said, if you change your view and experience of something, you’ve changed your reality, so to speak.

Reframing Attitude

Changing your perspective requires changing your thinking. And reframing your thinking reframes your attitude.

Attitude determines how you approach something (look up what a “self-fulfilling prophecy” is). And how you approach something changes your perspective.

In short, “reframing reality” has the potential to snowball success. You just have to believe it, and live it—with confidence and consistency.

The Reframes

Now that we’ve set the stage, on to the reframes.

There is No Box

Usual: Think outside the box.

Reframe: There is no box.

Because accepting the box means accepting limitations—accepting a scarcity mindset. We’re limited by what we accept.

This does not mean constraints are not real, or that we shouldn’t be aware of the obstacles to overcome.

There is no box sets you free to use what you have in new ways. Whether talents, resources, or even the constraints themselves.

If faith can move mountains, a box is nothing.

Take Stewardship

Usual: Take ownership.

Reframe: Take stewardship.

Because everything we have was given to us by our Creator.

Now that we know there is no box, we take stewardship of what’s been set free.

Accountability and legacy are what this reframe provides. When you take ownership, you’re only responsible to yourself. When you take stewardship, you answer to God, and your kids, and your grandkids, and to the generations that come after you.

Parenting is a great illustration. We can take ownership of our role—or we can take stewardship, and realize our kids will grow up to make their own decisions. We’re answering to the Creator of the universe who entrusted our children’s lives to us. And we’re answering to our kids when they’re grown.

The sense of scale and impact makes a dramatic shift when we realize we’re stewards.

Gratitude is Glue

Usual: Gratitude is good.

Reframe: Gratitude is glue.

Because thankfulness holds it all together.

You may have never heard the usual frame here (or at least not often), but it’s something we all know is true. Gratitude is good, right? The reframe does not discount this—gratitude is still good, but it’s also something more: it’s glue.

Colossians 3:15 (NIV) illustrates this perfectly:

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

Thankfulness—gratitude—holds the peace together.

The reframe, Gratitude is glue, takes the value of gratitude from concept to concrete.

Talent is Energy

Usual: Talent is tangible.

Reframe: Talent is energy.

Because you can’t manage a talent beyond doing or not doing. But you can manage energy.

(This is another reframe where the point is not to be literal, but to grab the concept.)

Talent is tangible isn’t something we say, as much as something we believe. When we think of talent, we think of something people possess. Your talents are yours, aren’t they? Even if you’re stewarding them?

Again, the point is not to “disprove” the usual frame—it’s to shift the perspective.

In Reframe Your Brain, Adams reframes “Manage Time” to “Manage Energy.” This reframe builds off of that.

Talent is energy you can manage, or steward. Use your talent—your energy—when it’s most effective.

Do you write better in the morning? Manage your writing talent by writing in the morning.

This is how you “take stewardship” to manage your energy, your talent.

Systems are Poems

Usual: Systems are boring.

Reframe: Systems are poems.

Because a poem is a system.

Systems are Poems combines Take Stewardship and Talent is Energy into a tangible, transferable skill.

If you’re a systems person, this reframe could help you appreciate poetry (or art) more—systems are poetry means a poem is a system.

If you’re a poet (or an artistic person), it could set you free to embrace the “left-brained” expressions of your talent. And be a huge ticket to success in work and business.

Write Your Own Reframes in 4 Steps

Systems are poems is a great reframe to use as a template to make your own, with your unique talents and interests.

Start with the reverse order: Poems are systems. Next, work with if/then logic: If poems are systems, then systems are poems. It doesn’t have to be literally true. It just has to “make sense” in a way you can feel.

And it needs to be memorable.

I’ve included potential reframes as examples.

Step 1: Your Talent

Now, take something you know you’re good at and that you love doing. This covers the mindset (know) and the emotions (love).

_____ are/is _____.

Poems are _____.

Art is _____.

Jiu-Jitsu is _____.

Sprinting is _____.

Step 2: Your Job

Then, take the thing you have to do, maybe don’t want to do, but need to do. Could be work or life responsibilities. Something that if you get good at, it will advance your vision. And you know you need to change your thinking and/or attitude around it.

It’s ok if the phrase sounds counter-intuitive. (Step 4 brings it home.)

Poems are systems.

Art is engineering.

Jiu-Jitsu is relaxation.

Sprinting is data.

Step 3: Uno Reverse

Now, reverse the order. It may sound even more abstract, but that’s ok for now.

Systems are poems.

Engineering is art.

Relaxing is jiu-jitsu.

Data is sprinting.

Step 4: Why? Because

To cap it off, add a because statement. This is self-persuasion. Your because takes the phrase from concept to concrete—it gives you a reason to be grateful, so to speak.

Poems are systems. Because poetry has structure.

Engineering is art. Because art has layers.

Relaxing is jiu-jitsu. Because jiu-jitsu is breathing and flow.

Sprinting is data. Because sprinting is form and function.

Bonus Step: The Usual

This is a bonus step, because you don’t need it unless you want to better articulate your reframe. It’s your intuitive reason for needing the reframe in the first place.

Systems are boring. → Systems are poems.

Engineering is math. → Engineering is art.

Relaxing is hard. → Relaxing is jiu-jitsu.

For the tense, go-getter who does jiu-jitsu but finds it hard to rest, this could change how they think about rest. Even though you go “all out” when sparring (rolling, as its called), you have to “relax” to do well.

Data is awful. → Data is sprinting.

Sprinting is all about form, and form leads to function. For someone who loves sprinting, in those fast few seconds, they’re still processing data. For someone who loves sprinting, this could change their process-approach towards handing data. The speed part is irrelevant—the focus would be on data in terms of formatting (form) and interpreting (function).

Innovate Your Own Personal Reframes

Feel free to take my reframes and make them your own. Maybe you’re not a poet, but you love cooking: Systems are recipes?

And now that you’ve got the recipe, what kind of reframes will you come up with?

When I launched this newsletter in January 2024, I did so because I wanted to steward what God has given me by adding value to people—including sharing poems for you to enjoy.

However, a lot has changed since January 2024. (I’ll share more on those changes as they’re relevant.)

But, I wanted to get back to sharing my poetry and adding more value to people, and part of that is rebranding this newsletter into Creativity & Culture.

Click here to read more about Creativity & Culture

3 Creative Writing Group Poems

One of my favorite things I get to do is co-lead a Creative Writing Group for college students.

While facilitating the group, I’ll also participate. These three poems were written during our group times, inspired by prompts or other exercises.

The first two poems are heavier, dealing with regret and not doing what you know you should do.

The third poem is lighter and reminiscent of times long past.

Cain was Able

Pain was an old man
when he took the knife
to childhood memories and kin.
Bloodstain left in the sand,
dried from wind-blown strife—
the consequences of sin.
Banished in barren lands,
he toiled to give his wife
means from well-worn ends—
the produce of his hands.
Cain longed for his life,
to be able again.

Curse the Ground

Comfort strikes the heel
as the soul crushes the head,
grounded in the heart.

A Letter

Sealed—To whom it may
concern: no one writes letters
with dipped quills or wax
embracing a signet ring
pressed by flame melting the time
it takes to hand off.

Signed—Yours, if I may,
faithfully from our betters
who paid postage tax
for the warmth a kiss could bring,
captured in moments of rhyme
passing the days off.

Personal Innovation

Poetry is the creativity “half” of Creativity & Culture, and Personal Innovation is the other half—if leadership sets culture, personal innovation is self-leadership.

I landed on Personal Innovation because leadership sets culture, and personal innovation is self leadership—all in context of creativity and how to “think like a poet.”

See How Your Creative Talents Work in Your Work

The first piece of Personal Innovation content is now live: The Vision Fit Framework.

I “accidentally” created this as an exercise to help me see how my work involved my talents and intrinsic motivations. To help me gain vision for my role.

Then, I tested it out on other roles—and it worked.

If you’re an artistic person who works in analytical or “non-creative” work, but want to see how you can use your creative strengths the make the most of the work you do, this might be for you.

Click below to read about it, and use the framework system for yourself.

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Colossians 4:5-6 NIV

But vision starts where you are right now, in this moment.

You have a vision for what you want your life to look like, but you don’t see how your current work fits that. Maybe you’re an artist wo…

Read more