Johnnie recently wrote a piece for Startups Magazine: Using the wisdom of theatre to give better performances at work.
“If we think our work has to result in a definitive performance we put everyone under pressure which stifles creativity. What if we see ourselves and those we work with as being in a rehearsal space? This can reduce performance anxiety. It encourages flexibility, a willingness to change course easily and to be affected by each other.”
It’s easy to write recipes and come up with lists of things-to-do when training facilitators, but we find some of the most exciting learning happens when we try things out.
For example, we use a process called Groundhog for exploring how to have difficult conversations. We get real world examples of difficult conversations from participants.
Then we aim to get the single most provocative statement the challenging person says. (“I thought you were an agile coach!” “No, I don’t want to go to a breakout group!”) and then get everyone to try out 20 or 30 quite different ways of responding. Experimenting with lots of different ways to respond stop us getting stuck in analysis – and generates surprising insights that would not happen if we stuck to a set of rules.
A rehearsal mindset creates a lot more possibilities in meetings – and empowers participants to shape what happens.