What Can We Do In These Powerful Times?
What Can We Do In These Powerful Times?
Martin Allen Morales
Martin Allen Morales is the CEO at the Institute of Imagination. The Institute designs and delivers award-winning creative learning programmes, products, and platforms across the arts, sciences and digital technologies for children aged 5 to 11 years old.
As Martin touches on in the podcast, he has had an extraordinarily varied career. He started music, then senior roles in Apple and Disney. He started a chain of restaurants, Ceviche, which were grounded in his Peruvian heritage. His mother came from a culturally rich but poor indigenous community in the Andes, while his dad was working class British.
Key theme: imagination (including being open-minded and curious) is vital to thrive in our complex world, where there is so much information overload and so many economic pressures. Combined with the right support, it can help people grow out of challenges and nurture new futures.
The Institute of Imagination is currently working on a three year plan to reach half a million children to be prepared for the future in the next three years by 2025.
Apologies for one loud cough!
Links
Global's Make Some Noise - "Improving lives through small charities". Global is an entertainment and media group that includes radio stations like Heart and LBC, and more besides.
Five Rhythms Dance is a dynamic movement practice—a practice of being in your body—that ignites creativity, connection, and community.
Article explaining hypothesis that music came before language, and might be the necessary evolutionary step to get to language here.
David Epstein - Range: why generalists triumph in a specialized world.
Timings
0:50 - Q1 What are you doing now? And how did you get there?
12:20 - BONUS QUESTION: Does the variety in your early life (indigenous heritage, time in Peru, time in working class England) equip you to be more imaginative than your peers, who grew up in Leicester only?
14;14 - BONUS QUESTION: Are there practices or habits which you have to keep your imagination active?
19:45 - Q2. What is the future you are trying to create, and why?
24:50 - Q3. What are your priorities for the next few years, and why?
29:38 - Q4. If someone was inspired to follow those priorities, what should they do next?
31:45 - Q5. If your younger self was starting their career now, what advice would you give them?
34:04 - Q6. Who would you nominate to answer these questions, because you admire their approach?
35:26 - Q7. Is there anything else important you feel you have to say?
More here.
Twitter: Powerful_Times
Website hub: here.
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Thank you for listening! -- David
Welcome to What can we do in these powerful times? I'm your host, David bent, and I've been working in the field of sustainability and climate change for some 20 years. It feels like the need for change is growing faster than the impact we're delivering. So I'm wondering, What can I do next that is useful. Speaking with others, they have this same challenge, which is why I'm doing this interview series in 30 minute bites, I asked some brilliant people, what they're doing now and why, or to inspire and enable the audience, which may just turn out to be through stories grounded in experience. And today, I'm delighted to say we're joined by Martin Allen mirallas, who is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of imagination. He has a storied career, which we'll hear about as we go forward. So hello, Martin. Hello. So tell us what are you doing now? And how did you get here?
Martin Allen Morales:I now as you said, I'm at the Institute of imagination have been working at this incredible charity for some time. I'm also a non exec director at big issue, invest and at global media's make some noise grant giving charity. Shall I give you a bit of background around the Institute of imagination? Just case? Yeah, so we are a charity that has been around for over 10 years. And we we work on repositioning creativity and imagination at the heart of education and learning with a focus of, of 21st century skills, building and and wellbeing. And, and yeah, that's, that's, that's what we're doing. There's a lot to our work currently, which I'd love to tell you more about. And how did I get here I got here via being born in Peru, to an indigenous mother, who was close to nature as a farmer. And a grandmother came from a very remote community and to having a British father and English father working class English father from Leicester. They met in the late 60s, my father went to Peru. That's where he met my mum. And then I came out a few years later, I grew up in Lima is fantastic city, full of full of great beaches and great surfing that I enjoyed full of fantastic cuisine and food. But also, at the time, a place of extreme inequality, almost Civil War. I'm Shining Path guerrillas penetrating parts of the country and also Lima. So it was a challenging place as a child. So we moved here. I moved here with my dad and my sister in the mid 80s, when I was when I was 11 years old, and grew up in in the Midlands, and then then went to university in Leeds, and I started promoting world music and, and food from around the world events. That led me to a career in the music industry, in technology, in media, and in the food industry, as well as working with charities and social enterprises.
David Bent-Hazelwood:Cool. So there's quite, there's quite a lot in there. I mean, so let's touch on the Institute of imagination just a moment. What does it mean 21st century skills building? What does that mean? And what does that got to do with imagination?
Martin Allen Morales:Well, there's various places that say, you know, children set their aspirations as young as seven children today face face a real uncertain future where we think imagination is critical. Many, many children up to 60 70% going into primary education, will ultimately today will ultimately end up working completely new jobs that don't yet exist. And there's a whole generation of children has been for for many, many years, that is almost forgotten that they are not working towards understanding how they will fit in that new world. So, you know, the World Economic Forum says the top three skills that are needed to be able to thrive in the new world in the future, our problem solving, critical thinking and creativity. But the education system is failing to prepare children for that. And there's prescribed and rigid sort of outdated education systems and curriculums. Teachers a stretch teachers are tired to declining mental health crisis among young people and There's, you know, there's a lot of funding that that has been cut, year by year by year. So there's a decline in, in this piece around creative subjects in even in GCSEs, for the last decade due to under investment. So the focus is, is much more on this rigid sort of exam tests in a competitive environment. So we, we try and change that, by working with schools and with teachers. By working with parents and with, with young people, by working with community leaders, we create programmes, we create products, we create digital platforms. And we also conveners we bring people together with catalysts. So we create events. And we're doing research around the power of imagination, because we believe it's, it's the 21st century superpower that we need to bring back to ignite creativity once again.
David Bent-Hazelwood:Yeah, I mean, there's a I want to say so my question for you about when I finished or whatever website is, like, it's a fair story. I mean, is it fair to say that we have an education system set up for a manufacturing world, a world where we want people to be good in a production line, where basically what they're supposed to do is written for them. And they're just about making that car and into the 21st century, very near a huge portion of tasks, if they can be articulated and written down, they're almost certainly going to get automated. And if that's if that's your position, or if you're in a in a job, which has that for modification to it, then even if it's not automated during a weak bargaining position, and you're, you're, you're going to be really struggling to get a good wage. And so, in a world, which is, has all of that automation happening, all of the things which can be written down being outsourced or done by robots, imagination is a superpower, because it's the thing which can't be replicated elsewhere, something that you can, means you can be creative in the job in the moment, but our education system is behind that it is behind the times on the job skills people need.
Martin Allen Morales:It was indeed created over 100 years ago, and it's not moved on from that. And it was created for the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution, as you're kind of trying to suggest and but a lot is being automated a lot, a lot, a lot is going on. But but our world is much more complex now. And, hey, someone's got to make the machines, someone's got to create processes. So it's got to think about all this. And then young people have got are dealing with with a multitude of, of different contexts in their own environment. And to manage that, that weight of, of noise that's going on, to find space and time to, to find their own feet and understand themselves and the world around them. With this incredible amount of information that's flowing, that's available that's pumped that's kind of aggressively put in front of them. It's overwhelming. And that's, you know, if you're in an environment that has some comfort, has some access, have some privilege of the many different types of privileges some of us have, then it's easier. But if you're in a place where you haven't, then there is the poverty of opportunity. And that's what we find with with many young people. They may come from backgrounds with social or economic disadvantage. They may, they may not, but they still have that poverty of opportunity. Sometimes, it may come from having educational needs that are special, that are needed, but they may also believe they have the full capacity for education, but they still have sometimes poverty of opportunity. So yes, it's it's it's this overwhelming nature and this change in what we're seeing now that the machines have been made and that new ones are being made. Well, we have to almost, you know, evolve as human beings and learn how to be right for for today and for the future, because things are moving so fast.
David Bent-Hazelwood:And I mean your answer there you also makes me think what I was saying about that that economic need is also narrow because we were saying there is in order to understand a complicated world in order to do imagine ourselves into being and imagining our own identity and our own responses to all aspects of our lives. That's an imaginative act. It's not just part of a job. And then also imagining what roles we might have in the future, what opportunities we want to pursue. Unless you have examples around you, you need to imagine what those things might be. So there's all of these different kinds of uses for imagination.
Martin Allen Morales:And there's a current, you know, there's where you are currently. So a child between five and 11, where are they currently? Where is their, their well being currently? How do they deal with what's going on in today's world, with with, with this attack on it on the senses with information overload, it's that so we, we, we provide a space for that through our programmes through our work, we provide tools, we provide resources for that. But then there's also as I mentioned, sort of, you know, how about the future, this aspiration piece this move into, from creating a space for imagination that then nurtures creativity that then nurtures problem solving, critical thinking, then nurtures new ideas and ideation and designing and then nurtures you know, the new solutions for the future. That might happen in an instant, in that seven year olds life, or it might have been in a major project that young person is working on, when they're 1618 2555. And they evolve. And we're trying to just live as best we can in this world. And make sense of it so that we can be better human beings in society and better human beings, for mother nature.
David Bent-Hazelwood:Wonderful. And I just want to circle back to connect all of that to some of your life history there, which you told us about, which is, strikes me as being relatively rare to be to have a family which has that indigenous heritage, and also their English working class heritage, to spend the first decade or so of your life in Peru, and then come over to the UK. And then as a student, very quickly becoming an entrepreneur, as a promoter in music, and then in other industries, you formed your own restaurant chain as well. What do you feel like across all that? One is one question is whether that early life, and the variety of it equips you to be more imaginative than perhaps your peers, who just grew up in Leicester? Or wherever it might be
Martin Allen Morales:all apps? Absolutely. And we're working on research on that right now. Absolutely. You know, you need to sink or swim. Pain does that to you? Trauma does that. Challenges do that. And, you know, you just need wonderful people around you to hold you sometimes, or, or faith or, or an environment that can nurture that or space. And I was lucky, even though through hardship, I did have that space, I did have that support. But I also had curiosity. And that's one of the aspects of imagination. So I allowed myself the time to digest what was going on, to learn about myself, to learn about the world, but be curious about solutions, about what could be done to grow my aspirations. And these are all the things that early life gave me, some of which was incredibly positive. And some of it was really traumatic. But the combination of those things made me a person that wants to move forward. It's certainly in recent years, when I realised sometimes I went too fast. I actually didn't look back enough I didn't, I wasn't conscious enough of the present. So So now now I'm lucky enough to kind of understand that better as an older man.
David Bent-Hazelwood:Great. And last question in this sort of bit of of the past and the present. I mean, are there are there daily or weekly practices and habits that you have which you have to try to keep your imagination alive? Keep that reflection of life? Are there things that you do to keep that time for instance, are some people meditate? Some people write journals? Is there a thing that are things that you do?
Martin Allen Morales:Yes, I've, I've, I've always been passionately into music. So I try you know, I listen to music as much as I can. I find time to listen to music. And I love different types of music. So I worked on I worked for an independent record company when I started off worked in Cuba with the Buena Vista Social Club. Folks, when I started my music career, I worked there in marketing and PR and writing and producing albums. And I also worked as a DJ so I played as a DJ in clubs around the world with basement Jackson masters at work. So I love that type of music worked in compiling compilations. So for for a small record company that was that was had the catalogues or access to catalogues of Lee Scratch Perry and tracing a call, you know, John Coltrane and Aisha Bosley and Mira McKay, but I love music from different places and ended up working with Miley Cyrus and Jonas Brothers when I was running music at Disney Europe. And when I was at Apple, with the iTunes team, Boyle worked for the catalogue of everything. I was heading up the I was a founding member of the five of us that started iTunes, Europe, and we were and I was programming because called programming, I wasn't coding but I was programming, I was choosing and selecting music for all the stores across Europe. And that was in every single genre from classical to alternative to, to, to, you know, to dance music. So, I'm a huge fan of music. Music is a real, incredible language. For me, that gives me great pleasure and comfort, helps me communicate with others and with myself, because through music, I also dance so I dance once a week, so in about two hours off to, to dance to dance for two hours, two and a half hours now solid, most Friday nights in in a session called Five rhythms. Yeah. And so I'm a huge fan of of dancing. And then I also meditate as much as I can, I pray as much as I can. And I do that sometimes consciously. Sometimes spending half an hour. Sometimes there's a walk sometimes as I drive, sometimes as I'm on the bus. And I find sometimes, you know, focusing on the breath, or focusing on my steps, or focusing on my body really, really important to calm the mind. And last, but not least, I cook, right I love I love cooking food, and I love eating food. So that is a an outlet, and one of my number one outlets currently for creativity. I'm not, even though I've written two quite successful recipe books. I don't follow freestyle. Like I like my music. So yeah, so those are those are outlets.
David Bent-Hazelwood:Cool. And it's a reminder to me that like every, almost every daily task can be enhanced by a quality of attention, whether it's walking or cooking in that and also a previous episode, which is, as we record not yet out of this podcast, but we'll be out by the time this is out with Brian Greenhill, she is a vocal improvisation teacher amongst other things. So music and music in a spontaneous way is very important to her practice as well. So there's
Martin Allen Morales:no doubt singing. Yeah, absolutely. Seeing laughter there is something that is, you know, the body is so powerful the mind of course, but we forget the body. And there is a noise piece that comes out of us not just to communicate, but to release. And sometimes if that can be channelled with a synchronicity, with a cohesion with others. It's, it's something that can even be quite spiritual, it can be very moving, and certainly uniting. So So laughter and, and chanting and singing. And, you know, I say chanting, you might think, oh, but he's chanting, but it's on the football terrorist fields as well. So it can all be very unifying.
David Bent-Hazelwood:I come aware I came across this, but there's a notion that before we had spoken language, we perhaps performed music together as a way of creating that coherence and also transmitting sort of core signals between each other. But I'll look that up for the show notes. So the next question which impressed has been more back to the Institute of imagination is, what's the future you're trying to create and why? So you're doing all of these different things, all these different programmes we know the problem around our education system is set up for a previous century. For this coming century, what is the future you're trying to create?
Martin Allen Morales:We have a, we have a very ambitious plan. We are currently working on a three year plan to, to reach half a million children to be prepared for the future in the next three years by 2025. And so we are at the moment working on scaling our creative products and programmes. And we also want systemic change. So, so that that really our work is around us doing two things, we are doers. And we're catalyzers as doers. We are doers, and designers and delivers. So we say, of these programmes, products and platforms. So we want to grow our programmes, our schools, programmes that are based on imagination and creativity, working with different boroughs around the UK, we want to expand our partnership programmes that reach different communities, particularly marginalised communities and deprived communities. And we want to increase the reach of our of our imagination box is one of one of the key the key product that we developed recently, particularly for special educational needs children. So we have wonderful partners, currently, for example, with Lego that are helping us reach more children around the UK with that. And we've got, we wanted to let develop our platforms we have, we have a website, and through that something called IOI at home that we're evolving, that is a platform where parents can interact and work with our programmes. Get access to our workshops. And so that's what we want to do in terms of doing work in terms of our catalysing work. It's catalysing and convenient, I guess it's community building, it's, it's growing this movement of imagination to see this systemic changing, and a sort of change in learning environments that we want to see. And we're doing research with different academic institutions right now, on the power of imagination on young people on primary school children, on disadvantaged communities, imagination, capital and a number of, of areas where creativity and imagination are not not so known and not so tracked, and data and information and value. Validation is not is not there enough. So to inform our programmes, but also to share with others so that others can do what we're doing or do something different, or grow, what we grow will grow this is focused around imagination, creativity, that's what we're doing research. And in future we, we hope to be creating a community or be part of this community, and enhance a community of, of, of educators and of those in those working in this field. Through through events, we're imagining an imagination festival, or Summit, and in future, possibly an imagination award. So that's, that's kind of, that's kind of where our sights are right now.
David Bent-Hazelwood:So that's very ambitious. And that's half a million children in the UK. So you're sort of bounded by the geography by the UK, that must be a significant proportion of all children in the UK.
Martin Allen Morales:That is that is that is mostly in the UK, right start with our work has been we've just finished a piece of work recently in India, Nepal, with the microbead foundation with the British Council, teaching teachers. We've done that in many other countries with that group before in years previously. We've just come back from from Denmark where we've been working with Disney and a big group of influences. And so we work across the world, but that some of our scaling work of our homegrown sort of programmes products and platforms are you know, they have to have a focus so so we've always, always sort of started with London and with some of the champions challenge communities like neon like Lambeth like Dagenham, like parking and always grow out into more regional places. I mean, I I I'm unless the land as well as the Lima lab. Yeah. I understand what it's like to live in Leicester, in Leeds to Manchester because I've lived in all those places. So it's not just a London based organisation that that sort of works in London, we are very outward looking and international as well as North of England.
David Bent-Hazelwood:And then the next question is, what are your priorities for the next few years but it feels like you've is there more to say about priorities than what you just said? Because it feels like you Mine just have given those. I
Martin Allen Morales:think that was it. Yeah.
David Bent-Hazelwood:And as you were talking there, I was reminded, I've just finished reading a book called reach by David Epstein, which is a book about generalists. And the power of being a generalist in a world, which really wants specialists. And one of the pieces of research he has in there is how the amount of money people earn in their first job is not necessarily an indication of how successful there'll be over time, people can have a, like a first job, which is very, was more highly paid. And then because they're more specialised, but actually, that lead is overtaken over time by people who have experiment, experiment more with what their career could be, and then find a good match to it. And I'm sort of thinking about that, because one of the key KPIs of our universities at the moment is the earning of students six months, six months after they leave the university, and how that's giving a really perverse incentive to universities to teach people to be specialists rather than to have imagination. So there's this need for being a catalyst and, and having a systemic change. So that imagination is seen as a worthwhile thing to chronic growing people. And it's very, it's very fundamental to how we incentivize all of our institutions, the moment that points in the wrong direction.
Martin Allen Morales:What was specialist is, is I think specialism is fantastic. I think it is great. And I think we, we, we, I don't think we are against specialism at all, and I don't think we are just for generalist, and I totally, excuse me a in reference to that book, I don't see it that way, in any way, we, you know, imagination, and creativity is in every single industry in every single job and every single moment of life. I did a talk once, five years ago, to a to, to top corporate keynote speech, and I talked about the power of creativity, and that being key to saving your life, to finding solutions to get out of holes, to evolving out of incredible life challenges. So, so yeah, that what it does, though, is it shows a way forward, any kind of profession. And it's obvious we know that professions and jobs and work, you know, whether you work on your own, whether you work with different people, we need problem solving at the heart of our of our mindset, we need critical thinking at the heart of a mindset, we need open thinking otherwise, it's narrow. And we'll only find a one hour answer. And we'll only see one perspective. And that's, that's, you know, we need the opposite of that, so that we can get on so we can look for the best idea so we can come together, so we can fail, as well. It's succeed, and be comfortable with that failure. Because we know that that we will succeed in the end.
David Bent-Hazelwood:Yeah. And it's only by exploring all of the all of the things that don't work, you can find the thing that might work.
Martin Allen Morales:Yes. And that measure that you're saying is is absolute, you know, they need to take something on to sell, sell what they have, but it's absolute nonsense, because, you know, the first six months, it could be someone actually, you know, quietly going back to one of their passions that that might take them two or three years to develop that will then change the world and not paid anything for that. So that you can call it innovation or entrepreneurialism or ideation. But that's yeah. I mean, having immediate work after you leave university, of course, it's practical. For some people, it could be essential and important. But, but yeah, that there should be more measures. But then again, you know, I understand why they do that because they need to market and they need simple messages to cut through the noise.
David Bent-Hazelwood:Yes. So then, moving on to the next question. You have the priorities of the institutes of imagination. One is quite wide about having the imagination just being used more being more respected, being more prevalent. And then there's a specifics about growing the numbers of children to half a million who are using it through your that sort of dual thing about being doers and being catalysts. If someone was inspired to follow those priorities, what should they do next?
Martin Allen Morales:This kind of work for us. It is they should be collaborators. That should be volunteers. We're growing. People love what we do people understand what we do. So People in the education system in the learning environment, people in business, you know, business leaders are crying out and saying, we're not, we don't have people equipped for the jobs that we want now, let alone in future. So the business community understand what we do really, really well. They understand the power of imagination, not just among all young people, but certainly among those who are governments are leaving behind. And they understand that sometimes, because of the challenges that they face, they could potentially leapfrog others, because they have that extra power of, of deep passion, deep ambition, that comes from hardship. So and comes from, not everything, not, not all of the opportunities have been laid out for them. So So businesses on our side, education community is, is understanding on our side, not everyone, of course, and parents are sort of also looking for solutions, because they are time poor. They that that doesn't engender their own creativity of how they should relate to their child and outs that they should play with their children, and educate their children. So we come in and support that as well. So So yeah, so work with us collaborate with us, come to do some research with us come to do some volunteering and facilitating with us fund our work, please. So be be funders of our work, be co creators, and co founders of our work.
David Bent-Hazelwood:Cool. And then next question. If your younger self was starting their career now, what advice would you give them?
Martin Allen Morales:Well, these are these are more life lessons than than anything else. That, again, some of which I might have had when I'm 20. But mostly now that I'm older, I have to, you know, just they start with and they are influenced by some of the people I work with. Always remember Steve Jobs always said, you know, trust that the dots will join in the future. So there is a piece around trusting yourself. But getting getting to know yourself about caring for yourself and about loving yourself. A lot of us sometimes, you know, there's very, very few people that are you know, absolute narcissists. confidence that the rest of us criticise ourselves too much so. So I think it is about loving ourselves that little bit more caring for ourselves, knowing ourselves and trusting ourselves. It is about resting, that sleeping about creating that space. So you can dream. So you can imagine seeking daydreams to let those ideas just drop out the sky, instead of forcibly changing them. It is about creating a healthy mind. focusing on your breathing, it's about creating a healthy body, and nurturing that, as I mentioned with, I try and do that with my dancing with my eating, and hopefully with good sleep good laughter. And it's a lot about letting go. Understanding that you don't have control over everything. However good it might be. And I've been in some good situations that I just thought, wow, you know, this will go on forever. And it just doesn't say no, if you have to, sometimes you're forced to let go. When a loved one passes, or when a business changes direction or when you lose your work. So I would say, you know, surrender to that moment. Let that moment pass, you know, it won't be there forever.
David Bent-Hazelwood:And lastly, questions Who would you nominate to answer these questions because you admire their approach and what they're doing.
Martin Allen Morales:I you know, I used to have some people I looked up to, I've always had people I looked up to that were that cared for nature that cared for society. And I still do, I still, I still am inspired by by the work of some business leaders but also of some, some people in spirituality, like taking the time for example, but today, alive and living and inspired by people working in charities and social enterprises. People like Daniel SATA, big issue. People like Nigel Kershaw, the big issue, people like James Timpson Timpson and people like Tom Ripon, at on purpose. So those working and supporting changemakers social leadership, programme creators and drivers, those that are helping solve the real real problems of society and of the natural world.
David Bent-Hazelwood:Cool. Thank you very much. And then just finally, is there anything else important? You feel you have to say?
Martin Allen Morales:Well, I think relative to that, what I would say to my younger self, which I've not said, I think, I'd like to sort of say that, I'd like to say to others that your happy place will be when you're caring for yourself, your community and your and caring for mother nature. And if we just remember that, as that is a happy place, and sometimes we lose track of that sometimes ambition gets in the way, sometimes we think it's money, or we think it's status in our ego gets in the way. But if we just remember that, that's where that's where our true happiness will lie.
David Bent-Hazelwood:That's wonderful. So caring for ourselves caring for our community and caring for mother nature, and paying attention to that relatedly about this offline. That's wonderful. Closing thoughts for us all. So thank you very much to you, Martin. Thank you, everyone, for listening. This has been what can we do in these powerful times? And yes, thank you very much.
