Looking for Gifts
Dealing with uncertainty and the unexpected has become our daily reality. As we adjust to the economic and social impacts of Covid, the goalposts just keep moving.
This has always been the world of the Improvisor, and so this week Geoff and Liz are looking at how these skills can be harnessed by business leaders needing to find innovative solutions.
The idea of improvisation in business is not new. Some companies even have in-house improvisers who work with their innovation units. But it is the mindset of the improviser that is so critical for creative leadership.
“The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence itself. It is to act with yesterday’s logic.”
According to the great management guru, Peter Drucker, ‘The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence itself. It is to act with yesterday’s logic.’
The improviser goes beyond yesterday’s logic, because the improviser sees obstacles and challenges not as hindrances but as fuel for creativity.
Easier said than done!
Let's take an example from our recent experience at Dramatic Resources. Our first business challenge after lock-down was to work out how to deliver our interactive, experiential training online rather than face to face. We got our people together (on Zoom of course) - along with some of our more playful clients - and we used all our experience to brainstorm, experiment and to crack the key problems. Job done we thought. Then a client threw us a curve-ball - We need you to run the session with audio participation only.
Quite the obstacle! But then a couple of our team members took on the challenge and came up with an approach which actually works better without video. They created a series of voice exercises which use secret instructions given to the speaker through the chat function, to transform how the speaker sounds. Because the group can’t see the speaker, they are more aware of the changes in vocal impact. It works like magic.
Not just a problem solved - but a new discovery. They used the improviser's mindset to turn an obstacle into an opportunity.
So how does this work in practice? What are the tools of the improviser?
THE IMPROVISER’S TOOLS
Yes And - When most of us are faced with a new and unwelcome challenge, our instinct is to resist – to say ‘No’ or ‘Yes But’. The improviser trains themselves to do the opposite, to ‘Say Yes and figure it out later!’ as actor, writer and improviser Tina Fey puts it. Imagine that the new thing, the unwelcome input from outside, is in fact the perfect springboard you’ve been waiting for. The improviser says - Let’s pause and look for the gift here.
Collaborate – One of the great myths about creativity is that it only exists in a select breed of creatives and that these people come up with their ideas in isolation. The truth however is that most creativity comes out of a melting pots the great genius of twentieth century art, Pablo Picasso said ‘Art is theft’. The improviser says – Connect and respond.
Be Incremental – Another myth is the Eureka moment - the idea that great ideas arrive fully formed out of thin air. Greg Orme writes in his inspiring book (and winner of this year’s Pearson Business Book of the Year) The Human Edge ‘Most ideas – even promising notions – are very bad when they first emerge'. He refers to Pixar’s notion of ‘ugly babies’ and how you have to build an idea incrementally from a mediocre, or even bad one, into something outstanding or original. The improviser says - Don’t judge the idea too soon.
Let it go - We now live in a world where it is safe for a leader to say, “I don’t know.” Not all ideas work. The solution may well come from somewhere - or from someone - unexpected and if you become overly attached to your own ideas, you may miss the breakthrough idea. The improviser says - Let go of ego and be open.
“Say YES and figure it out later.”
An MD of a top advertising agency said to Liz recently ‘I have been completely amazed how - in the current climate - by stepping out of the way, we have had fantastic ideas coming forward from the wider team’
By not having the answer in mind, we allow for the gifts to emerge.
The gifts come when you sit back, listen to other people and respond - when you open yourself to the unexpected
