Action Storming

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What is it for?

This is an action process to enable participants to try out new behaviours, particularly in difficult situations.

Time & People

Best done in around 45 mins – if you want to do more, it’s good to have a break

6 – 30 people but can work with larger groups

Materials

None

Source

Johnnie Moore, Viv McWaters and Simo Routarinne

Also known as: The Helsinki Method, Problem Theatre

And also...

Action Storming works best when there is a very clear moment of conflict or difficulty, captured in a couple of lines of dialogue. Other participants may be reluctant to participate. In this case have 3 or 4 people always lined up to step in and try something. Fast iteration is the key, and a willingness to try out a range of things.
There is a slideshow about Action Storming here

Description

• Ask the group to identify actual inter-personal situations that they have found difficult
• Select one situation that someone (the protagonist) is willing to explore further
• Isolate the interaction to about 2 or 3 lines of dialogue – ask the protagonist to explain exactly what was happening at the time they felt uncomfortable, or were having difficulty
• Invite another participant (or more if the situation requires it) to play the various roles in the scenario
• Play the scenario exactly as it occurred
• Ask the protagonist if that captures the situation. If not,
ask them what needs to change, and play again until the protagonist says that it is okay
• Then ask the protagonist to leave the scene and come
back in playing it differently (the other participants maintain their role)
• Suggest the protagonist try something they would not
normally do, try something much larger, or much smaller – encourage rapid experimentation
• Avoid analysis
• If someone in the audience makes a suggestion, ask them to tag out the protagonist and come and try it
• Keep trying different behaviours until something happens that suggests the last behaviour works
• It is important to check in with the original protagonist
to see if the ‘solution’ works for them
• There is no way of knowing how long this might take • Repeat with a new scenario and new protagonist
Use your judgment on when to stop and debrief as this is a visceral, action method – a debrief takes people back into their heads. If you do want to debrief the activity the following questions may help:
– What was it like to try radically different behaviours in response to this situation?
– How is it different trying the behaviour compared to talking about what you might do?