The idea of spouting poetry in the workplace seems a bit like a disconnect. How is quoting Wallace Stevens going to help an arts organization find new donors, or help an employee find a more rewarding career path?
    According to British poet David Whyte, who has made a name for himself as an organizational consultant, poetry can help businesses pay attention to patterns larger than those expressed in a spreadsheet.
    Whyte, trained as a marine zoologist and schooled as a writer by publishing multiple collections of poetry and prose, will talk about work as a journey of identity at this week's Mountain West Conference on the Arts. About 250 artists and administrators from around the state are scheduled to attend the Thursday and Friday event. In addition, 450 people are registered for Friday luncheon to honor four longtime Utah arts advocates.
    The conference includes sessions about public performance art, copyright law, social networking for artists and job performance measurements, all intended to provide networking and professional development opportunities, said Margaret Hunt, director of the Utah Arts Council, which sponsors the conference.
    Hunt called Whyte a provocative, intelligent speaker who uses poetry to ask questions about what workers are doing and why they are doing it.
    "People who work for arts organizations are already passionate about their work. But
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there's always challenges - funding challenges, programming challenges, staffing challenges," Hunt said. "Even working with artists can be challenging. Listening to David Whyte is an opportunity to give ourselves a sense of renewal."
    "So much of leadership has to do with conversations, and making sure conversations happen," Whyte said in a phone interview from his office north of Seattle. "If you look at the tradition of poetry - at Wordsworth, Coleridge, even contemporary poets like Mary Oliver - they're all incredibly good at paying attention to what is occurring around them."
    For 20 years, Whyte has been speaking to corporations, crafting speeches from his literary influences and quoting from the more than 100 poems he has memorized.
    "In many ways, poetry is about making you more dangerous again, and re-creating a kind of innocence you've had all along," Whyte said.
    Whyte urges managers and workers alike to find pockets of silence - as called for in every spiritual or contemplative tradition - to ask themselves questions. Or as he quoted poet Wallace Stevens: "Sometimes the truth depends on a walk around the lake."
    Whyte doesn't like being called a corporate poet, because he was establishing a career as a writer before he began speechmaking and consulting. At his core, he considers it his job to invite people to explore poetry. "I think of it as a life saver," he said.
    ellenf@sltrib.com
   
   
   The art of work
   
    * The Mountain West Conference on the Arts begins at 1 p.m. Thursday and continues through Friday at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center, 1355 W. 3100 South, West Valley City. Tickets are $60 Thursday, $70 Friday or $90 for both days ($60 students). Tickets for the Governor's Leadership in the Arts Awards luncheon are $40, all available at the door. For information, visit www.arts.utah.gov.