A few weeks ago, I participated in a weekend introduction to impro workshop with the Sponteneity Shop in London. Impro is a form of theatre where the story is made up by the team of actors as they act it out. Nobody knows where the story will go, because they’re creating it together on the spot, often in collaboration with the audience. Andy had done a workshop with them and it gave him some serious shifts in his thinking and he came home energized and alive after each session. So I was inspired to check it out. I was not prepared for the mind-and-personality-altering experience that it turned out to be (which was appropriate, I guess, since it was impro!) I’d encourage anyone wanting to learn more about their own habitual patterns and stucknesses, learn how to think on their feet, get better at working in a team, develop confidence and become more flexible and resilient to sign up for an impro class – especially Tom Salinsky’s impro class, since he’s an excellent facilitator.
The class I took was about impro storytelling skills, but there were so many parallels with life skills – particularly the life skills for success in this era. Within the context of impro, there are certain constraints to each game – all designed to create a context of uncertainty, in order to preserve the “improvised” nature of the story. In order to perform successfully in an environment with so much uncertainty, impro storytellers have developed a set of beliefs and perspectives that are quite different to the sort of beliefs and perspectives that most of us were brought up with, and which I think are incredibly powerful ideas that we can apply to living in this era where we’re dealing with high levels of change and uncertainty. I’ll be sharing a few of these beliefs and perspectives with you over the next few posts.
It’s all about having as many goes as you can
Most of us have been brought up in a school and family system that has taught us that our performance will be assessed, criticized and scored, and we want to do well. Formal education has taught us that, if we want to score well in school (and by extension, life), we need to:
1.) Pre-decide the specific outcome we want
2.) Research the arena
3.) Plan our strategy for getting the outcome we want
4.) Once you know you’re ready to get a perfect result, take action to execute the plan.
In essence, we’ve been taught to hang back and watch, research and plan until we think we can have a perfect go at something. This is a great way to do things in a fairly stable environment where you have the time to do steps 1 to 3. It’s also a great way to live your life as a back-row critic. It doesn’t work so well in uncertain, high-change, fast-paced environments though, because by the time you get to taking action, your plan, research and strategy are outdated and irrelevant, or the client has changed the desired outcome. So, rather than fighting a losing battle by trying to create more certainty in a world that’s becoming increasingly interconnected, fast-paced, high-change and unpredictable, our generation will do better to embrace uncertainty and to create strategies for thriving within the constraints of that uncertainty.
Within the impro context, you’re forced to embrace uncertainty. Because of the fast-paced, high-change nature of the games, if you’re trying to pre-decide the outcome you want, research the arena and plan your strategy before you take any action, with the view of trying to have 1 perfect “go,” then you’re going to be highly unsuccessful. So the mantra we learned was, “Success is all about having as many goes as you can, rather than trying to have 1 perfect go.” I think this is a powerful mantra to carry with you as you practice Agile Momentum in these turbulent times.
So, I’m curious: if you were to embrace uncertainty and live your life according to the mantra, “Success is all about having as many goes as you can, rather than trying to have 1 perfect go,” what would you do differently?
Photo by Storm Crypt
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This is a lot like the way that I mentor software developers.
I often get asked “What’s the best way to solve this problem?” or “How would you do this?”
My answer is usually, “I don’t know, let’s sit down at a computer together and see what happens”
Obviously I have some ideas, from previous experience, but every retry is a chance to try it a little differently, learn some new ideas, and feed that back into the process for next time.
Wow what a great topic. For me not only is it very relevant to today’s living it’s really the only way we can move forward as individuals, local communities and as countries.
for me personally embracing uncertainty has become my no:1 challenge as I move forward in my life. Six months ago the very words ‘embracing uncertainty’ would have tied my stomach in knots and I would have almost stopped breathing! now I look at moving forward minus the fear but with the excitement of freeing myself to be more, feel more, do more, really to expand. I keep changing the questions. Instead of thinking ‘What if’ I ask myself questions like, How can I be great in this situation, and so on. It’s almost like running toward the uncertainty. It’s not so scary after all!
Susie Lomax
@Andy: I love your approach! What a great way to cultivate curiosity and constant learning! That’s powerful coaching.
@Susie: I think you’ve mastered one of the most important skills for thriving in this era! And you’re right that most of the pain we feel about facing uncertainty comes from our own “what if…” questions and imaginings, and from trying to control stuff, rather than actual reality. Reality is so much kinder than our imaginings, so when we embrace uncertainty, rather than resisting it, a lot of the pain dissolves. I’m so glad you’re enjoying your process… looking forward to catching up with you again when I’m back in London later this month, and hearing more…
Cath
That sounds like a really fun course/class/event (or whatever you call it)! Will have to see if they have them up here.
I have found the need for some people to know that change will work a real barrier to creating a truly self-managing team. I am often asked by people to make a decision about a change or for me to tell people what to do where there is uncertainity. I invariably just encourage them to go with what makes sense by talking things through and reassuring them that “if it works it will stick, if it doesn’t it will won’t” but that it is a win-win situation, as the lesson learnt lives on either way. Great post Cath. Ian.
@Andy: I’m sure they have improv training in artsy edinborough!
@Ian: I like your perspective, Ian. A lot of people think that coaches and leaders have to give answers to everything, for the people they’re guiding to feel confident to move forward. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do as a coach or leader is to model being okay with uncertainty, and giving your best in spite of not knowing how it’ll turn out… sounds like you do a great job of that!
[...] recent posts, here and here, I’ve been sharing about some of the powerful life skills and lessons I’ve been [...]
I think this is really going to be the driving force between people freaking out or people being productive. As change seems to speed up, it can lead to paralysis or learning how to make quick decisions. I was just chatting with a friend about this. We were discussing how our parents generation looked at everything as a Life Long decision; whereas we live lives that are ever-changing and evolving. I think learning how to deal with uncertainty is one of the Best tools that any of us could focus on now!