Communication « GameChangers

Archive for the ‘Communication’ Category

Is Social Useless?

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

A response to Spencer Fry of Carbonmade, who recently posted a blog entry entitled: “Down With Social–Social is Immeasurable and a Waste of Time.”

Spencer, I agree to this extent: The phrase ‘Social Media’ is so amorphous as to be essentially meaningless. In fact, all media are social. It’s like saying Wooden Tree, or Feathered Bird.

The most social medium is sexual intimacy, followed (if we’re talking relevance; preceded if we’re talking chronology) by meaningful face-to-face conversations, scaling out from there, and eventually reaching the nebulous netherworld of thoughtless Likes, meaningless Tweets and snarky YouTube comments. Noise. Cosmetic data with no emotional or meta resonance.

What’s usually ignored in conversations about Social Media platforms is the Science of Narrative. Narrative is the force that makes media meaningful. Narrative may not make the world go round, but it describes for us why and how it does. It provides context for information that would otherwise appear as random. The reason social messaging echos and evaporates is that it’s not connecting with a narrative. (A hashtag or a mention does not a narrative make!)

The most relevant aspect of Social Media will turn out to be the lens it afford us with which to perceive narratives. We are, I believe, at a stage in the history of narratology that parallels where physics was at the turn of the last century, when the science moved from the Newtonian to the Quantum.

Marketers who use social media as you have described it, as a fashion statement, are doomed to keep firing blanks at a target they cannot see. They are using Industrial Aged models to engage in a Networked environment. It’s like trying to split an atom with a pendulum.

Those who use it as a lens on narrative, will be able to direct ‘particles of meaning’ at the quantum narrative made visible by social technologies and capture the massive energy predictably released by these interactions.

Tags: Carbonmade, Cosmetic, Data, Emotional, Information, Meaning, Meta, Narrative, Narratology, Newtonian Narrative, Physics, Quantum Narrative, Relevance, Resonance, Science, Social Media, Spencer Fry, story, Storytelling
Posted in Communication, Emotion, Issues, Narrative, Networked World, story | No Comments »

Los Mineros, Part Two

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

A serial analysis of the quest to rescue 33 miners trapped 2,300 feet underground in a copper mine outside Copiapo, Chile…

Levels of Meaning

With the eyes of the news media fixed on one very specific location, everything about the Los Mineros narrative is tightly focused and vividly portrayed. There’s no mystery to it, no hidden agenda (with maybe the exception of a mining company looking to avoid liability, which itself would be no surprise). With the focus so intense right now on the mine itself and the rescue efforts, almost every element of the narrative is visible even to a distant observer like me, who might check the story every day or two on the webs to see how the miners are doing.

It is extremely clear how the narrative is conveyed on three distinct Levels of Meaning.

All communication happens on three levels: Cosmetic (data, information, quantification, surface descriptions, neutral language), Emotional (passion, mood, empathy, attitude, ups, downs) and Meta (symbolism, context, iconography, metaphor, perspective, interpretation, the subconscious connections).

Observe, and learn from, how the Los Mineros narrative is conveyed on these three levels:

Cosmetic: Tons of information here. Plans and backup plans described in detail. The three four-inch pipes that have become their lifeline. The NASA psychologists who’ve arrived to help. The number of calories they’re eating every day (2,000), and how much water they’re supposed to drink every day (5 litres). We know about the ’super drill’ being brought in to bore through the rock. This early in the story, there’s still a lot of cosmetic meaning to be conveyed, an abundance of factual information. Expect that, at some point, this level of meaning will begin to lose steam, and that the tellers of the story will begin to place more emphasis on the other two levels.

Emotional: As always, this is where the most meaning resides, where the story is most potent, and touches us most profoundly. We know that some of Los Mineros have been depressed. We know that they have been able to communicate with their families. They have shared their frustration. We feel their claustrophobia. They have begun to play roles, and these will rouse emotions, too. Who will give the pep talks? Who can get them to smile? Keeping their emotions positive will be key to their mental health during their ordeal, and so, the longer the ordeal goes on, the more crucial the emotional content of the narrative will become.

Meta: The video feed is an existential lifeline. “I video, therefore I am.” For this reason, its very existence is a hopeful symbol. The handsomer guys are getting more facetime on camera. Stars of the narrative, those who can best hold our attention, will emerge as the Cosmetic flow slows. Bringing in the NASA psychologists to deal with the miners’ prolonged isolation is a recognition of the global significance of the narrative, and it ennobles Los Mineros by equating them with astronauts, Los Astronautas, and to the heroic qualities we ascribe them. This blog post is, itself, meta communication about the rescue effort.

Sometimes uncovering the Meta language requires digging beneath the surface, because beneath the surface is where the Meta meaning works. For example the number of miners, 33, has deep meta significance in the predominantly Catholic country of Chile, because 33 is commonly believed to be Jesus Christ’s age when he died on the cross. When Los Mineros finally walk into the light, the date on the calendar will not matter, they’ll be celebrating Easter in Chile.

Tags: Catholic, Chile, Communication, Cosmetic, Emotional, Jesus, Levels of Meaning, Los Mineros, Meaning, Meta, NASA, Trapped Chilean Miners, Video
Posted in Character, Communication, Emotion, Narrative | 2 Comments »

JetBlue Scene

Monday, August 30th, 2010

Jeremy Redleaf, one of the new physicists of the narrative form and the creator of this brilliant site OJN1 initated the scene when he sent me this email JBJeremy1

about this JetBlue ad JetBlue1

which is anchored by copy that saysIn my role of Commentor On All Things About Improvisation in Business, I responded to Jeremy’s email with this GameChangers post JBGameChangers1 in which i point out that ‘the first rule of improv’ if there even is such a thing, which itself is debatable, is not to say ‘yes’ but to say ‘yes and.’ ‘Yes’ is a state of mind. ‘Yes and’ is action. The most fertile ground in the world is useless until it’s planted. ‘Yes’ is the ground. ‘And’ is the seed. My blog post inspired Jeremy… JBJeremy2C

Posi-ffiti! Yes! I love threads like this. As usual, I’d tweeted a link to my blog post. I decided to yes-and Jeremy by calling JetBlue’s attention to its error with a Tweet. I was able to Google their CMO, Marty St. George and find his Twitter account. To Marty’s credit, he tweeted back within 15 mins. This already puts @martysg and JetBlue way ahead of most CMOs in brand narrative game. It also tells me that this is one vigilant, sensitive cat. Dude’s running it like Ochocinco

here @martysg commits the improvisation error of denying. He does this by being vague–what does “if you said ‘no quotation marks’ I might be with you” mean, anyway?–and acting as if I’d accused him of misquoting ‘John’, and seems to be saying that the mistake is not theirs, but mine, for calling them out on the wrong thing. I responded by suggesting the ‘Posi-ffiti’ game

and further suggested how to initiate the game… JBTweet11

@martysg blocks the game… By acting as if I’d said something I hadn’t–that ‘The Posi-ffiti Game’ would have to be played without ‘John’s’ permission–Marty kills the scene. This was probably his intention. He also implies that quoting people without their permission is MY style. In one statement, he refuses my gift and pimps my character. Nice. This is classic old school management style, a familiar corporate game I call, “Parry and Thrust.” It’s played by stalling, and staying non-committal (”Hm…if….I might…”) and then landing a knockout blow (”Do something unethical? Not us. YOU maybe. Not us.”)

Look, everybody understands that a CMO like @martysg will not alter an ad campaign because some nitpicker tweets him about the word ‘and’ in an ad. Like I said, he gets credit for being open enough to have the conversation in the first place. This is more responsiveness from a tweet than you’d get from 90% of all the CMOs in the world. It is, however, short of the kind of action a person would get from an improvisational brand like Southwest Airlines. Furthermore, what happened when @martysg did respond is precisely the point of my blog post. The conversation didn’t go anywhere because Marty St. George ‘yessed’ and he did not ‘and.’

How might Marty have yes-anded? Anyone who’s gone through a GameChangers workshop can give you a dozen games that would be more productive than ‘Parry and Thrust.’

The good news coming out of this exchange is that all is not lost. Jeremy Redleaf has a new job description for OddJobNation: “Posi-ffiti Artist.”

To an improviser, Lost is just the first step on the way to Found.

Tags: @martysg, Agreement, Blocking, Denying, Game, Gifts, Improvisation, JetBlue, OddJobNation, Scene, Yes And
Posted in Additions and Edits, Agreement Principle, Branding, Character, Communication, Dialogue, Games, Gifts, Initiations, Issues, Listening, Narrative, Scenes, story | No Comments »

GameChangers Glossary, O to Z

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

Adapted from GameChangers–Improvisation for Business in the Networked World, by Mike Bonifer:

Objective–The desired outcome of a scene; the focus of a scene; the business goal of a scene; one of the four elements of a Game

Opening–An ‘overture’ prior to a scene or series of scenes in which a player or a group develops the themes for a performance; usually begins with a suggestion from the audience

Organic Opening–A style of group opening in which a ‘stream-of-consciousness’ dialogue and/or actions identify the themes for a performance

Organizational Environment–The overall physical presentation of a business to its audience; the ’stage’ upon which a business performs; includes exteriors, interiors, wardrobe, lighting, transportation, ambient noise, air quality, etc. etc.

Pandering–A performance-related problem that occurs when a player appeals to an audience’s basest instincts; in improv comedy, this is known as ‘going for the easy laugh’

Performance–The actions taken by a player or group to achieve an objective; a scene or series of scenes designed to earn the audience’s approval and achieve an objective; participation in a game; the object of analysis (by a coach/manager and/or audience) of a group’s effectiveness; an improvised scene or series of scenes; the effectiveness of a brand’s narrative in the marketplace

Pimping–A performance-related problem that occurs when a player makes an unreasonable demand or sets unreasonable expectations of other players; setting up a scene partner to look bad; asking a scene partner to perform in a way that conflicts with the scene partner’s role and/or character.

Play–Participation in a game; spontaneity; full engagement with one’s environment and scene partners; a design for achieving positive outsomes from unforeseen circumstances; performance; the enjoyable, shareable and scaleable pursuit of an objective; (see Improvisation)

Player–Anyone who plays a role in a scene; one who collaborates with others to achieve an objective; one whose work is informed by a sense of play; improviser

Quantum Narrative–The flow of experience, perception and communication–both conscious and unconscious–in which all living things participate; a thematically-connected definition of these experiences, perceptions and communication; the material from which linear (i.e. ‘Newtonian’) narratives get produced

Role–The set of job-related responsibilities and duties for a specific player within a scene; unlike Character, roles can vary from scene to scene, and can also vary in terms of status; playing a role is often colloquially referred to as ‘wearing a hat’; one of the four components of a Game

Scene–Any interaction between two or more players who share an objective

Scene Partner–Anyone with whom a player interacts during a scene; a teammate

Scenic–Description of an environment that is rich with visual information and objects of inspiration

Scripting–A performance-related problem that occurs when a player plans how a scene will go beforehand; the imposition of one player’s narrative on the other players in a scene; dogmatic then sticks to the ‘script’, even if unforeseen events within the scene call for actions different than those planned

Scripter–A player who goes into a scene with his or her mind mind up about what the scene should be; a player who imposes his or her narrative on other players; the worst thing you can call an improviser

Spolin, Viola–An educator, community activist, author and theater director (1906-1994), who, along with her mentor, Neva Boyd (1876-1963), established the game-based theories and practices upon which GameChangers, and much of modern improv theater, is built; ‘the godmother of modern improvisation’; the author of the seminal textbook, Improvisation for the Theater (1963; U. of Chicago Press); Spolin’s son, Paul Sills (1927-2008), used his mother’s techniques to modernize and commercialize comedia del arte as ‘improv comedy’ through his work at the University of Chicago as co-founder of the Compass Players and as the co-founder and original artistic director of Second City Theater

Status–The level of authority associated with a player’s role in a scene; in Industrial models, status did not change from scene to scene, the CEO, for example was high status in every scene he or she (oh wait, we said Industrial, make that just ‘he’) was in; in the Networked Model, the CEO’s (or anyone else’s) status can range in status from scene to scene.

Status Games–A genre of usually unproductive games in which defining and preserving status is the objective; includes games such as ‘Kissing Ass,’ ‘Who’s Going to Tell Him He’s Wrong? (Not me!)” and “I’m The Decider”; these games usually need excessive follow-up, as reality must catch up to the fictions generated by managers who focus on status instead of objectives that can be shared by the group

Story–The historical artifact that emerges from the playing of a game; the arc of a scene or performance, often said to consist of Beginning, Middle and End; the ‘Newtonian narrative’ that results from interaction with a Quantum Narrative; a snapshot in time of narrative flow; narrative history; an artifact produced by engagement with one’s art; the historical record of a player or group’s interaction with its environment

Suggestion From the Audience–Any idea or piece of information given to a group prior to a performance by those who will judge the effectiveness of that performance; includes market research, customer relationship management, results of spidering and other listening technologies; organizational imperatives; brand statements; directions from manager/coach, etc.

Symbolic Movement–Meta communication that moves a narrative forward

Theme–An idea inspired by a suggestion from the audience and generated in an opening or first scenes in a performance; the idea whose exploration provides the conceptual and narrative ‘glue’ for a performance; that provides the inspiration and foundation for a scene or performance

Upstaging–A performance related problem that consists of of stealing focus or negating the contributions of another player to make yourself look better; trying to good at someone else’s expense; blocking the audience’s view of another player in a scene

Yes and, Yes anding–Accepting a scene partner’s reality or declaration, then adding useful information or contribution of your own in order to arrive at a new idea or reality shared by the group; a shorthand phrase that describes the most fundamental concept of improvisation, the agreement between players that results in transformation

Zone, in the–see ‘Group Mind‘

THIS IS A LIVING LIST; PASS IT ALONG AND ADD TO IT, AS WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO HERE AT GAMECHANGERS.

Posted in Communication, Education, Issues, Networked World, Objectives, Problem Solving, Scenes, Themes | No Comments »

GameChangers Glossary, H to N

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

Adapted from GameChangers–Improvisation for Business in the Networked World, by Mike Bonifer:

Heighten–To build emotional involvement and energy in a scene

Improv–See ‘Improvisation‘

Improvisation–spontaneous communication designed to generate positive outcomes from unforeseen circumstances; interpersonal and group communication that is instinctive and informed by experience, knowledge, serendipity and respect for environment; improv, as performed in theaters, such as with improv comedy; a conversation with the community; the pedagogy, philosophy and process defined by Viola Spolin in her 1963 book, Improvisation for the Theater; a games-based methodology for generating communication, learning and transformation

Initiation–The first meaningful words or lines spoken during a scene; in this case, ‘meaningful’ refers to anything that directly involves the group’s progress toward achieving the scene’s objective(s).

Interrogation–A performance-related issue, often arising in interviews or employee reviews, that arises when one player only asks questions and never acts on the information revealed by the answers;

Invention–A performance-related issue that occurs when players work with speculative or subjective information instead of the reality of the scene.

Invocation–An exercise that lets players examine a subject from the third-person (”It is”), second-person (”You are”) and first-person (”I am”) perspectives in order to identify themes for a performance.

Issue–Any performance-related problem which can be remedied by better execution of GameChangers business communication techniques.

Judging–A performance-related problem that occurs when a player subjectively assesses a scene while the scene is taking place.

Justifying–A performance-related problem that occurs when a player self-consciously explains his or her (or their team’s) actions in a scene, especially when the behavior does not align with the GameChangers principles.

Liminal–relating to the threshold of perception that players break through by participating in a game; relates to perceptions of one’s own abilities and to what one’s perceptions of what is generally possible; transcending the status quo

Meta Communication/Meaning–A symbolic or allegorical representation of ideas and concerns that exist on a societal, cultural or archetypal scale; the symbolic representation of a macro trend, widely held belief, or aspect of the human condition; (See ‘Cosmetic Communication/Meaning‘ and ‘Emotional Communication/Meaning‘)

Monologue–A speech given by a single player in a scene; a speech shared amongst multiple players in the course of a scene or presentation.

Narrative–A flow of thematically-connected events that can be related after the fact as a story; organizational memory and vision of the future that inform scenes performed in the present; a purposeful alignment of ideas and events, such as for a brand.

Negativity–Traits, ideologies and behaviors that halt a scene’s progress through skepticism and a disagreeable inclination to oppose, deny and/or resist the ideas or involvement of other players; pessimism; the antithesis of the attitude required for productive collaborations.

Network–The communications matrix of an organization, brand or individual; those who are connected by a communications matrix or belong to an organization; defined by John Seely Brown, John Hagel et al as consisting of ‘core’ and ‘edge’

Networked World–The highly communicative, internet-supported global stage on which business gets conducted

Objective–The desired outcome of a scene; the stated purpose of playing a game; the business goal of a scene; one of the four elements that comprise a Game

Opening–An ‘overture’ prior to a scene or series of scenes in which a player or a group develops the themes for an upcoming performance; usually triggered by Suggestions From the Audience

Organization–The manifestation of a business or brand to its audience; the operational structure of a business or brand; a company or group with a shared mission and business objectives (see ‘Network‘)

TO BE CONTINUED…

Tags: Definitions, Dictionary, Fundamentals, Glossary, Meaning, Terms, Words
Posted in Branding, Communication, Dialogue, Emotion, Environment, Fundamentals, Initiations, Issues, Narrative, Objectives, Themes, Uncategorized, story | No Comments »

GameChangers Glossary, A to G

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

Adapted from GameChangers–Improvisation for Business in the Networked World, by Mike Bonifer:

Addition–Entering a scene in progress for the purpose of contributing immediately to the team’s performance; contributing to a scene; giving a gift

Agreement, The Agreement Principle–A principle of improvisation, characterized by players’ openness towards each other and an organization or communications network’s openness at its edge; the group consensus around a game or theme that informs a scene

Audience–Those within and outside of an organization whose reactions and opinions will determine the success of a scene or performance

Audience, External–People outside an organization or network, including customers (and potential customers), competitors, bloggers, users, fans, viewers, etc. whose reactions ultimately determine the value of a performance or narrative

Audience, Internal–People inside an organization or network, whose judgment acts as a kind of filter on scenes and narratives before they reach the External Audience

Blocking–A performance-related problem that occurs when players impede the progress of a scene by refusing the gifts offered them by their teammates

Callback–The act of recalling information that was stated by a player earlier in a scene or in a previous scene.

Cast–Players who share the same business objective; also called a Group or Team; can also refer to the employees of an entire division or organization (Disney, for example, refers to all employees as ‘cast members’)

Casting–The process of selecting players who will comprise a business team

Character–Traits that make a player unique as an individual and consistently valuable to his or her team

Close, Del–Credited as one of the originators of longform improvisation, and one of its most influential teachers, Close (1934-1999) created ‘Harold,’ probably the most-performed structure for group improv theater performances; his proteges include Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd, John Belushi, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey; legend has it that he willed his skull to the Goodman Theater in Chicago to be used in future productions of Hamlet, in which he was to be billed as playing the role of Yorick

Coach–A person who casts a team; an objective observer and critic of a team’s performance; one who establishes game-based strategies and standards of preparation and performance in directing a team toward its objectives; manager; director

Cosmetic Communication/Meaning–The surface level of communication within a scene, primarily through spoken dialogue; data; information. (See ‘Emotional Communication/Meaning‘ and ‘Meta Communication/Meaning‘)

Crazy Town–A performance-related problem that occurs when players indulge in fantasies, magical thinking, or egoistic behavior, until the scene becomes un-moored from any actionable reality.

Denying–A form of blocking in which a player repeatedly contradicts or ignores other players, confusing the audience and fellow players; refusing to recognize another player’s reality

Edit–The action of making an entrance for the purpose of shifting the scene’s focus, or to begin a new scene; edits usually occur in concert with other players exiting the scene

Emotional Communication/Meaning–The most dynamic and meaningful level of communication in a scene. conveying its players’ passions and desires, where reactions (both positive and negative), and reinforcements/alienation are strongest

Energy–The pitch at which a player or group performs (and modulates) its performance; an umbrella term for the level of activity and intensity the audience observes in the group, and that players in the group experience in one another

Entrance–A player’s first appearance in a scene

Environment–The setting in which members of team collaborate to achieve their objective; any place where players interact; more expansively, any place where an audience experiences a brand; the overall business climate in which an organization operates, shaped by factors such as regulatory agencies, competitors, geopolitical factors and the desires, attitudes and beliefs of customers

Exit–A player’s departure from a scene

Fantasizing–A performance-related issue that occurs when players build outlandish, or wildly fictitious scenarios that do not acknowledge or act on the real world environment or the businessa; magical thinking; (see ‘Crazy Town‘ and ‘Invention‘)

Flatlining–A performance-related problem that occurs when players show no energy or life, impeding or halting a scene’s progress

Game–Rules, roles, environment and objective(s) defined; an exploration of a theme; a strategy used to achieve a business-related objective; games fall into two broad categories – productive and unproductive

GameChanger–A player who has mastered the art and practical techniques of business improvisation; a manager/coach or player with the ability to identify and support productive games and quickly change or edit unproductive ones

Gift–A move that supports the scene and the players in it; ‘giving gifts’ is one of the most powerful and effective moves a player can make

Grandstanding–A performance-related issue that occurs when a player wastes time and effort trying to contribute something ‘heroic’ to a scene; holding back for effect instead of engaging in the moment; habitually swinging for the fences or reaching for the ‘Wow Factor’; going for a home run when a single would better serve the scene

Group Mind– The tangible web of connectivity between players that achieved through a shared focus on a game and the exploration of a theme; the collective unconscious; not the same as ‘Group Think‘

Group Think–Rubber-stamping; going along to get along; consensus for its own sake; agreement that does not involve a game or theme; behavior that is not intended to achieve the objective, but rather to reinforce status; uncritical or unquestioning support for a political agenda, ideology or hierarchy

TO BE CONTINUED….

Tags: Definitions, Dictionary, Explanation, Fundamentals, Glossary, Terms, Words
Posted in Additions and Edits, Agreement Principle, Branding, Casting, Character, Coaching, Communication, Dialogue, Emotion, Entrances, Environment, Fundamentals, Games, Gifts, Group Mind, Issues, Narrative, Objectives, Scenes, Themes | No Comments »

Created in America

Monday, August 9th, 2010

In noting President Obama’s rallying cry for a program to support small businesses in America, the White House published the following in the President’s Facebook news feed:

A minority in the Senate is standing in the way of giving our small-businesspeople an up-or-down vote on the jobs bill. That’s a shame. We need to decide whether we’re willing to rise above the election-time games and come together—not just to pass a jobs bill that is going to help small businesses hire and grow but al…so to rebuild our economy around three simple words: “Made in America.”

While we wholeheartedly support a jobs bill that will help small businesses like ours, ‘Made in America’ is an Industrial Age idea that has very little resonance in the Networked World. Nothing substantial can be built around anything as meaningless as that statement. Here’s why… MickeyMouse&Abro1

The problem is that making stuff is not what America does any more, not exclusively to ‘Brand America’ anyway. Stuff gets made all over the world. What’s the most ‘American’ brand you can think of. Disney? Coca Cola? Nike? ‘Made All Over the World’ is the truth of these brands, and the same is true for any other brand vibrating on a network frequency. The Budweiser Clydesdales are Belgians now. Deal with it. In light of these new truths, ‘Made In America’ becomes just another piece of empty political rhetoric, designed to dampen disagreement rather than to foster any large-scale agreement around a new economic narrative.

What we need is an idea that will generate new narratives, and new ideas about how to stimulate the economy.

One of our favorite American companies, ABRO Industries, based smack dab in the heartland of America, South Bend, Indiana, with 25 employees and projected 2010 sales exceeding $150M, does over $40M of sales a year in Nigeria alone with products it manufactures in South America. Most of ABRO’s products are made outside America, and yet most of the wealth it generates comes back to this country. How? It originates the business cycle and the brand. It creates networks to market its products around the world.

“Made in” is no longer an differentiator for American business. ‘Created in’ still is.

What makes American business unique, what we can count on every time, is Creativity. The true American brew isn’t Budweiser, it’s the idiosyncratic brew of cultures and personal histories that make the American narrative unique in the world.

What matters about Disney is not where it’s made. After all, its primary product, happiness, can be conjured up anywhere in the world. What’s unique and irreplaceable about the Disney brand is that it was created in America, born out of the imagination of a Scotch-Irish Socialist-Farming Depression-Era Cartoon-Making Hollywood-Bound Space-Racing Commie-Fearing Polo-Playing Chain-Smoking Family-Loving Chili-Eating Anti-Semitic Dandy From Kansas City Who Dreamed He Was a Mouse.

Making stuff means replicating it, and that means commoditizing. Anybody can do that. Originating stuff–growing Walt Disneys and Apples and Pixars and Lady Gagas and ABROS–that’s what America still does best.

Tags: ABRO Industries, America, Coca-Cola, Created in America, Creativity, Disney, Jobs, Made in America, Nike, President Obama
Posted in Agreement Principle, Branding, Communication, Creativity, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Narrative, Networked World, Sales, Themes | No Comments »

Peter Arvai’s Unexpected Prezi Scene

Monday, July 26th, 2010

SCENE: Not long ago, I attended a presentation by Peter Arvai, the co-founder and CEO of Prezi, a Flash-based app we use as often as we can as an alternative to PowerPoint. The presentation was attended by a mix of students, young professionals and educators, maybe 40 people in all.

Arvai1_Caption Arvai’s presenation rambled all over the place. He seemed to have no one particular point he was driving at. Frequently, he’d turn his back to the audience, look up at his Prezi projected on a large screen, scratch his head, and navigate around the Prezi until he found the next thing he wanted to talk about. Sometimes he got a little lost as to where in the Prezi he could find what he was looking for.

On top of the seeming incoherence of his story, Arvai, as a Scandanavian by upbringing, isn’t what you’d call an animated personality type. His voice has a pleasant, sing-songy quality, like small waves lapping at a dock on a lake. His performance style doesn’t have that build-build-build-bada-bing! quality that TV packages into bites like Nabisco packages cookies.

Afterward, outside the room, I heard people panning the presentation. “Boring.” “You’d think he’d have it more together.” “I can’t believe that guy’s the CEO!”

The people who were disappointed were looking for a particular form or style from Arvai, and probably looking to be entertained for an hour by a showman, a pitchman, a visionary, a clown, or a pundit. None of that materialized, so waaaah! They were like children who didn’t get the toys they wanted for their birthdays.

These people, I think, missed the gift Arvai gave them: He showed himself learning! It was one of the most interesting and disarming games I’ve ever seen a CEO play in a presentation. To show the audience how one uses Prezi, he was willing to get himself lost in it.

In a totally unforced and improvisational way, Arvai showed how putting Prezi to best use means working with themes, chipping away and shaping them to a narrative, purposefully getting lost in the material so that you can find meaning in it, as if the information you put on the Prezi screen is a stone and your narrative is a sculpture.

I thought it was brilliant. Another thing I liked about his presentation is that it was conversational, which was good for the relatively small room we were in. Arvai showed that ‘always-on’ doesn’t have to mean always being the center of attention. You can be ‘always on’ if you step onto the stage as if a conversation were taking place before you got there and you’re joining it. That way of ‘always performing’ is more genuine and easier on the life of your batteries than if you have to crank up the voltage every time you step in front of a group of people to talk about your product.

Our friend Barbara Groth, CEO of the design company, Big Buddha Baba, put something on her Facebook profile earlier today that seems to applie to Arvai’s prezi:

“Whatever it is you’re seeking won’t come in the form you’re expecting.”
— Haruki Murakami

Tags: CEO, Communication, Environment, Learning, Peter Arvai, presentation, Prezi, Sales, Storytelling
Posted in Communication, Education, Environment, Innovation, Leadership | No Comments »

Imp

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

Because it is so tightly tethered to comedy, we almost never use the word ‘improv’ in relation to GameChangers (unless we’re referring to actual comedy improv).

We do, however, use the word ‘imp.’ I have always associated the idea of impishness–of being playfully mischievous–with improvisation and even sometimes refer to improvisers as ‘my fellow imps.’ While waiting on a Skype call this morning with Hildy Gottlieb of Creating the Future, I decided to look up the roots of the word ‘imp.’

Turns out that ‘imp’ comes from an entirely different strain of language than ‘improvise,’ which is derived the Latin root ‘improvisere,’ meaning ‘not foreseen.’ ‘Imp’ has Old English roots, a little Latin attribution. Yet there’s a lot of overlap, like a family from Naples and one from Nottingham having a lot in common.

Here’s how the TheFreeDictionary.com, an aggregator of print dictionary listings, defines it:

imp

(

mp)

1. A mischievous child.

2. A small demon.

3. Obsolete A graft.

tr.v. imped, imp·ing, imps

1. To graft (new feathers) onto the wing of a trained falcon or hawk to repair damage or increase flying capacity.

2. To furnish with wings.

[Middle English impe, scion, sprig, offspring, from Old English impa, young shoot, from impian, to graft, ultimately from Medieval Latin impotus, graft, from Greek emphutos, grafted, from emphuein, to implant : en-, in; see en-² + phuein, to make grow; see bheu- in Indo-European roots.]

imp [ɪmp]

1. (Myth & Legend / European Myth & Legend) a small demon or devil; mischievous sprite

2. a mischievous child

(Individual Sports & Recreations / Falconry) (tr) Falconry to insert (new feathers) into the stumps of broken feathers in order to repair the wing of a hawk or falcon

[Old English impa bud, graft, hence offspring, child, from impian to graft, ultimately from Greek emphutos implanted, from emphuein to implant, from phuein to plant]

ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms

Noun	1.	imp – (folklore) fairies that are somewhat mischievous elf, gremlin, pixie, pixy, hob, brownie folklore – the unwritten lore (stories and proverbs and riddles and songs) of a culture faerie, faery, fairy, fay, sprite – a small being, human in form, playful and having magical powers leprechaun – a mischievous elf in Irish folklore sandman – an elf in fairy stories who sprinkles sand in children’s eyes to make them sleepy
	2.	imp – one who is playfully mischievous scamp, monkey, rapscallion, rascal, scalawag, scallywag child, kid, minor, nipper, tiddler, youngster, tike, shaver, small fry, nestling, fry, tyke – a young person of either sex; “she writes books for children”; “they’re just kids”; “`tiddler’ is a British term for youngster” brat, holy terror, little terror, terror – a very troublesome child

imp

noun

1. demon, devil, sprite He sees the devil as a little imp with horns.

2. rascal, rogue, brat, urchin, minx, scamp, pickle (Brit. informal), gamin I didn’t say that, you little imp!

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

imp

n imp [imp]

1 a small devil or wicked spirit.

2 a mischievous child Her son is a little imp.

adj impish

——————————————————————————————

GameChangers summary: Both ‘imp’ and ‘improvisation’ express themes of playfulness, the getting of wings, a childlike view of the world, and a mischievous spirit that results in some kind of transformation. Like improvisation, the imping that describes a plant graft builds on an existing reality. Impishness isn’t a seed. It is a branch grafted onto the existing reality of the tree. It isn’t a new wing, it is adding feathers to a bird that already has wings.

Growth, flight, magic. What fantastic themes these are. Imp on!

Tags: Child, Cosmetic, etymology, Free Online Dictionary, Graft, Growth, IMP, impishness, improv, Improvisation, Language, Mischievous, Play
Posted in Branding, Communication, Education, Themes | No Comments »

The Game is the Frame

Sunday, June 13th, 2010

In a conversation with John Seely Brown and Erick B this past week at a party in Westwood hosted by the Deloitte Center for the Edge, we talked about creating value at the edges of networks, where the flow of information is fiercest. (The new book, The Power of Pull, co-written by JSB with John Hagel and Lang Davison, explores this subject in depth. My review to follow.)

JSB asked Erick and me how social networks (Erick’s area of expertise) and improvisation (mine) create value.

I asked rhetorically in return, “Why do pictures have frames?”

The conversation continued for a minute or so and then JSB repeated, “Why do pictures have frames? That’s a good subject for an article!”

So here it is, JSB. An improviser’s answer to the question, “Why do pictures have frames?” (Erick B? You got anything? Bring it!)

Frames impose discipline. How many times have we all heard the phrase, “Think outside the box”? Scary many. Over the past ten years, it has succeeded “paradigm shift” as the #1 business cliché. Worse than a cliché, it’s bullshit, because it implies that a good creative process is not subject to restrictions. That it’s totally free. Random and unfettered. A good process, in fact, begins with restrictions.

A sculptor chooses a rock. The rock is a frame. The sculpture is already in the rock, and it’s the artist’s job to coax it out. The rock tells the artist what tools to use. How much time to allocate. How much force to apply to the coaxing process. The nature of the rock suggests where the sculpture will eventually live. The artist can only create within the limitations of the rock, and yet, within those limitations, there is unlimited potential to bring something delightful to life. The artist uses the frame of the rock to test his or her own limitations to make something of value. Our limitations are not in the rocks we choose, but in ourselves.

For improvisers, the game is the frame. The game liberates potential because players know that everything required for a great performance is already in the game, waiting to be discovered. In terms of business, ‘framing games’ put the emphasis where it belongs, on human potential, and not on a particular system or platform.

Frames create focus. The eye knows where to go. The geometry of the frame introduces–to both the artist and the beholder–spatial and temporal relationships. These relationships between the art and its environment, and between elements of design within the frame, give meaning to what’s inside the frame. Likewise, the act of framing helps define relationships within networks; and between a network and the business environment.

Frames provide context. Unless the immense amount of communication coursing through a network is given context, it tends to be read as raw data by platform- and metrics-obsessed managers. Data is not narrative. Data is not theme. Data without a framing game to give it context is meaningless, like water without a container. All it does is evaporate. The molecules are still there, but its usefulness vanishes into thin air.

Frames invite valuation. Let’s face it, business needs numbers. The margins must be there. How much is the time of a employee at the edge, in steady communication with players outside the company’s network, worth? Framing games make valuation possible. (Not easy. Possible.)

In The Power of Pull, JSB, Hagel and Davison describe ‘shaping strategies’ for networked organization, which are analogous to the framing games described above.

If this has whetted your appetite for the subject of ‘why pictures have frames,’ you can deepdive into this conversation between the renowned academics, David Bordwell and Henry Jenkins, part 3 of a series about framing transmedia narratives.

Tags: Center for the Edge, Creativity, Deloitte, Discipline, Erick Brownstein, Frames, Framing Device, Framing Game, Games, Improvisation, Improviser, Innovation, John Seely Brown, Organization, Pictures, Process, Social Media, The Power of Pull
Posted in Communication, Creativity, Environment, Focus, Games, Innovation, Narrative, Relationships, Themes, Uncategorized, story | 1 Comment »

Archive for the ‘Communication’ Category

categories

Links

tag cloud