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Archive for the ‘Themes’ Category

Gaga Got Game

Tuesday, November 9th, 2010

Gaga2 GagaYoutTube1 The former Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta seemingly arrived on the scene fully formed as Lady Gaga and ever since girl found her game, she has played her heart out. Music bloggers and critics compare her to Madonna, or call her Cher-esque. Tabloids warn Christina and Mariah that there’s a fresh queen of pop on the block. Elton John annoints her his new goddess.

And yet none of these analyses, nor all of them in the entirety, do justice to the gamechanging quality of Lady Gaga’s appeal, and the attraction she has for her fans, whom she has dubbed The Little Monsters. Calling her the next Oprah would be closer to the mark, because she’s on her way, if she’s not there already, toward becoming a cultural phenomenon the likes of which her generation has not yet seen.

Here’s why: Better than perhaps any pop culture persona of our time, she understands that her narrative belongs to her audience. Instead of giving the Little Monsters an iconic persona they can imitate–as popstars like Madonna, the Beatles and Elvis did–Lady Gaga gives her fans a window to their own identities. Her repertoire is so dense with meta meaning, she evolves so persistently–getting on a plane playing one role, for instance, and getting off the plane playing another role–that her narrative is always fresh, she is continually being reborn before our eyes.

Fluent in the universal languages of spirituality, music, fashion, design, choreography, makeup, theater, fame, humor, honesty, hard work, sisterhood, branding, myth, equality, and improvisation, she speaks through all of them, often through many of them simultaneously, to connect with her her audience. What she says to them through these many languages always boils down to this: “Look at me and find yourself.”

This is why the University of South Carolina teaches a course entitled Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame. It is why senior citizens, hotel workers, Russians, college students and young people all find her captivating. We are all Little Monsters in search of ourselves.

Brands and organizations can learn a lot from Gaga:

Be true to your essential character, and you can play a thousand roles authentically. Choose big themes and explore those themes energetically. Express yourself in all kinds of languages, the more the better. Always keep your narrative moving and evolving. Don’t try to define what you are supposed to mean to your customers. Instead, shimmer with meaning, just like Gaga, and let your customers know that in your brand they will discover some new part of themselves.

Tags: Cher, Christina Aguilera, Customers, Identity, Lady GaGa, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson
Posted in Branding, Character, Creativity, Games, Narrative, Themes, story | 1 Comment »

Los Mineros Part Six: Act Three Begins

Sunday, October 10th, 2010

ONE IN A SERIES… LosMineros1C

One of the ways GameChangers defines a ‘Scene’—no matter what its duration, could be minutes, could be months—is with a classic three-act structure. We label these acts Connect, Adapt and Deliver. Continuing with our analysis of ‘Los Mineros,‘ the Trapped Chilean Miners scene, we can clearly see that the scene is entering its third act. The drill boring through the 2,300 feet of solid rock to the hollow where they are trapped has just made it through to them. That’s a clear signal for the heightening of energy and emotion, increasing tempo and sharpening focus that typically indicate the beginning of Act Three of any scene.

Here’s how the three-act structure has defined Los Mineros to date.

Act One: Connect. This is where we first heard about this story. We were introduced to the main characters. The conditions of their life-threatening predicament were explained to us. With the news that it was going to take a long time to reach them, a kind of ticking clock was set in motion. The clock was not life-or-death, but it helped us frame the scene in our minds. The ‘Game’ —defined by Objective, Environment, Roles and Rules—came into focus. A lot of the meaning associated with this act was cosmetic—that is, strongly oriented toward data, raw information, clinical analysis. A mythic theme, one you might call, ‘Trapped in a Cave,’ got defined. All of this earned the audience’s attention on a global scale. Clearly, this was going to be a story that many, may people could relate to.

Act Two: Adapt. In this act, complications were introduced to the scene, and communication began to turn toward the Emotional level of meaning, as emotions like Urgency, Fear, Jealousy, Camaraderie, Patience, Frustration and Surprise colored the events during this stage. We began to learn more about the main characters, and new characterss–wives, mistresses, politicians, drillers, NASA scientists and a newborn baby—entered the scene to interact with the main characters and make the scene deeper, richer, more complex. This is where the scene often takes unexpected turns, hence the need for the characters to adapt. Three drill bits were tried before one worked. Original plans were discarded in favor of new ones. A miner’s wife and mistress both showed up at the rescue site on the same day. The newborn baby’s name got changed from what its parents originally intended—to Esperanza, the Spanish word for ‘hope.’ In other words, everyone involved rolled with the ever-unfolding reality. They had to improvise. There was no script for this.

And now…

Act Three: Deliver. Typically, the third act is shorter than the first two. This has the effect of compressing time, as does the increasing tempo of entrances and exits, and the steady release ‘new news’ by the world’s media. We are building toward a 24-hour news cycle in a couple of days in which Los Mineros will dominate current events. It is during this cycle that the scene will reach its emotional apex, and the audience will feel more pull and lean forward more than it has at any other time in the scene. There will be a lot of postscripts added after this climactic 24-hour cycle, but in terms of the three-act structure, this scene will have ended, and new scenes (you can think of them as ’sequel’ or ’spin-off’ scenes) will begin.

For business communicators, the three-act structure is a really useful framework. It gives players and audience alike a sense of where you are in your scene, and helps you organize the many narrative elements that are part of it. It will give you the ability to put the emphasis where it belongs, when it belongs there.

Tags: Adapt, Connect, Cosmetic, Deliver, Emotion, Environment, Game, GameChangers, Heightening, Los Mineros, Myth, News, Objective, Roles, Rules, Speed, Tempo, Three Act Structure, Trapped Chilean Miners
Posted in Additions and Edits, Communication, Emotion, Entrances, Environment, Games, Narrative, Objectives, Scenes, Speed, Themes, story | No Comments »

Los Mineros Part Four: Esperanza!

Friday, September 17th, 2010

This just in:

Elizabeth Segovia, the wife of Ariel Ticona, one of Los Minerinos, the 33 miners trapped 2,300 feet underground in a copper mine in Chile, has according to CNN.com, given birth to a baby girl. The family has named her Esperanza Elizabeth. ‘Esperanza’ is Spanish for ‘hope.’

Esperanza1 This is an example of what is known in improvisation as an ‘addition.’ The effect of an addition to the scene is often to heighten the stakes emotionally. The birth of a Esperanza is certainly an example of emotional heightening.

Note the difference between the authentic emotional heightening that comes with a baby’s birth vs. the bogus heightening a lot of news outlets produce, where emotions are amplified artificially through a heavy-duty media ‘lens’ consisting of satellite trucks, reporters, news vans, helicopters, camera crews camping across the street, etc. Sometimes, the emotions depicted by journalists are pure fabrication, as when a media manipulator like Andrew Breitbart ginned up a racist history for a woman who was in fact quite a model of tolerance.

In the Networked World, media-jacked emotions, hoaxes, and fear-based narratives come at us in furious flurries. At the same time, our communication channels are flooded with paid media, which, like the bogus narratives, often have very little relation to reality. And hackers are more clever than ever about luring people into giving up their account information with phony stories. That fictitious Nigerian Prince of spam email fame has, in the hands of evil narratologists, become one of your Facebook friends who’s “stuck in London without cash or a passport.” The sheer volume of this nonsensical content makes it imperative for communications professionals–and aren’t we all?– to quickly distinguish between what is real and what is not–and act on what is real. Otherwise you’ll waste too much time, and miss too much opportunity, chasing chimeras.

The birth of a baby? That’s as real and honest as it gets. Congratulations to Elizabeth and Ariel on the addition of Esperanza, and the hope for new life that has themed this beautiful scene from its beginning.

Tags: Additions, Ariel Ticona, Bogus, Elizabeth Segovia, Emotion, Esperanza, Heightening, Hype, Los Mineros, Narrative, Trapped Chilean Miners
Posted in Additions and Edits, Communication, Emotion, Themes | 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 »

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 »

Eight Empty Arguments

Friday, May 28th, 2010

EmptyGasTank1 A friend of ours working inside a large U.S.-based organization marvels at how much time gets wasted on what he calls Empty Arguments. Empty Arguments, he observes, result in too many unfocused meetings and conversations involving too many people, and require too much follow-up and clarification.

In exploring this theme with him, we came up with eight Empty Arguments that suck up bandwidth and limit a company’s potential to innovate, adapt, and act quickly on opportunity:

1. Who’s in charge.

The quest for, and maintenance of, one’s status is one of the most prevalent and profligate business behaviors there is. It results in wasteful games like that old standard, “Kissing The Boss’s Ass.”

In the improvisational model, who has high status in a scene depends not on one’s job title or institutional pedigree, but on the circumstances of the scene. Leadership does not always have to come from the top. It is as likely to emanate from the center, in the form of rapid consensus-building, or from the rear, in the form of decisive and enthusiastic support for a scene, a player or a productive game.

2. Scapegoating (a.k.a. The Blame Game, a.k.a. It Wasn’t Me, a.k.a. I Never Got Your Email)

This Empty Argument is another classic time-waster, a purely political game that’s a huge drag on productivity. In the improvisational model, teams succeed and fail together. Everyone is in charge, everyone accepts credit, and everyone shoulders blame.

Just look at how much time and effort BP is spending on assigning blame for the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. President Obama made a good move yesterday by accepting full responsibility, a move designed to clear the air of this Empty Argument. Edit. Done. Move on. Whenever you, as a manager, sense any energy being devoted to scapegoating, edit the scene and move on.

3. The Big Idea (a.k.a. The Killer Concept, a.k.a. The Gamechanger, a.k.a. The Moby Dick)

The quest for a Big Idea can turn into an Empty Argument in a three ways: 1) Stalking, capturing and processing a Big Idea can blind your team to other opportunities (this was an okay game on a whaling ship in the 1840s, not so much in the networked business environment of today); 2) so many people inside and outside the organization have to weigh in on a Big Idea that its original intention and power gets watered down or lost; and 3) the Big Idea will inevitably get divvied into a series of Little Ideas, so why not simply start with Little Ideas?—all of which will have the potential to morph into Big Ideas! Start small and build, don’t begin big and diminish! Enhance, don’t dilute!

Focus on purpose and all your Little Ideas will align themselves with Big Themes. Focus on process and Big Ideas will emerge organically. Focus on people, because Big Ideas don’t change the game quarterly, people do, on a daily basis. Big ideas come and go. Purpose, process and people are the stars you can steer the ship by.

4. The research. Research is a snapshot taken in the past. It can tell you a lot about where you’ve been but very little about where you’re going. It is a dial on the dashboard but is not a way of charting your course or predicting what the weather will be like in the future. Research can inform a scene, but it should almost never be what the scene is about.

5. How to spin a story. Scripting, editing, re-writing, getting bottlenecked on approvals, and then spinning a narrative for your audience is a really Empty Argument. As much as I abhor her politics and her prideful ignorance, Sarah Palin gets a lot of credit as an improviser. The reason she can stay relevant and a beat ahead of the news cycles is that, unlike John McCain and most other politicians, she’s not scripting or trying to spin anything, she is relating to her environment in real time, in her own authentic way. It drives the liberal news spinners crazy. (President Obama does the same to the righties.) Nosy neighbor? Build a fence! When Palin makes notes on the palm of her hand during a speech, the Ivy League-educated (I do not include Brown grads in this) grademaking machines in the liberal media try to spin it as “Doesn’t do her homework.” Palin, however, knows intuitively that 90% of the people who see this image will have it made this move themselves. We can relate. The lesson: Living your narrative is more effective than trying to live up to a narrative you’ve scripted, then convincing others to buy into it, too (see Woods, Eldrick “Tiger”).

6. Labeling. In the Networked World, curation is an essential skill. The ability to provide context for ubiquitous content is important, and should be an area of constant focus. The Empty Argument here begins with the notion that everything has to fit into the known universe of the organization or brand, that there will be an institutional meme to deal with every anomaly. In a networked environment, there are so many anomalies that this is an impossibility. Don’t waste time arguing about how to label everything. This dampens originality and creative energy. Approach every situation as its own anomaly. Act first, label later.

7. The platform. This is one of the newer Empty Arguments that have gone viral in large organizations. Decisions about which technology platforms to use has become a high-stakes game that often involves tens of millions of dollars and countless hours of discussion and debate. Here are a couple of reasons why platform Arguments are often Empty: 1) There are too many platforms to assess with any certainty, thousands of them. No one can be an expert in all of them. For this reason, decisions about platforms often as not come from a personal agenda, and not from any qualified assessment of all the options. 2) The platform is secondary to the narrative. By arguing about platforms, a company is pulling focus from its narrative. This is putting the cart ahead of the horse. Performance has very little to do with platforms. Great design is great design whether it’s computer-generated, hand-drawn or modeled in clay. Narrative first, platform later.

8. Who’s right and who’s wrong. When you script your narrative, there’s only one ‘right’ way to deal with a problem and every other way (see ‘Labeling’ above) is, by definition, ‘wrong.’ Improvisers understand that there’s always more than one way to solve a problem, and that the ability to collaborate and come up with original solutions to original problems is far more effective than arguing about who’s right and who’s wrong in any given scene. Improvisers focus on whether or not behaviors are consistent or inconsistent with themes and environment. This liberates all sorts of possibilities that aren’t present when the argument centers on right vs. wrong.

So…let’s put a cost estimate on these Empty Arguments:

The organization where our friend works, a relatively well-run company by American standards, employs 120K people around the world. Figure 10K of them are managers who have a say in the direction of the company and its brands. Our friend estimates that a third of a typical manager’s day (call it 3 hrs/day) is spent engaged in Empty Arguments. That’s 30K management hours a day across the enterprise. At an average cost per manager of $100/hr, that’s $3M a day, which equates to approximately $270M worth of wasted time per quarter!

Improvisation gives employees the ability to see and minimize the Empty Arguments listed here, and many others, too. If the managers at my friend’s company can spend one less hour per day on Empty Arguments, it will save the company $1M per day, or $360M per year in resources that can be put to better use.

That’s a lot of Empty.

Tags: Accountability, Barack Obama, Blame, BP, Empty Arguments, Games, Gulf Oil Disaser, Leadership, Marcomm, Narrative, Planning, Platform, Right and Wrong, Sarah Palin, Spin, story, Strategy, Themes
Posted in Agreement Principle, Coaching, Games, Issues, Leadership, Narrative, Objectives, Problem Solving, Themes | 5 Comments »

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