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.

Scene: Microhoogle. A strong player like Microsoft will usually dominate a scene with a weaker player confused about its identity like Yahoo is. By being the more aggressive player, Microsoft has painted Yahoo’s ‘character’ in their scene as, by turns, a ‘collegial acquisition’, ‘a hostile takeover’, ‘an unfaithful tart’, ‘an overpriced stock’ and, as of this week, ‘just friends who talk on the phone a lot but there’s nothing serious going on between us, swear…no seriously, you guys, swear!’ Yahoo tried to ignite a bidding war by introducing Google to the scene, but all it did was diminish Yahoo’s status in the eyes of the audience by reminding everyone that this scene is really about Microsoft vs. Google. The best Yahoo can do is control the timing and style of the edit (i.e. the selling strategy). When a confused player is onstage too long, an edit is inevitable.

Scene: Get It While You Can. What lines of work are the closest and most loyal friends of the Bush administration in? Oil and War. These friends have approximately 230 days before they get edited, and their way-too-cozy contracts go up for review. Variations of the ‘Get It While You Can’ scene will play out over and over and over again in that 230 days, to the chagrin of most taxpayers and increasing stress on the U.S. economy. Petroleum producers will lock up all the mineral and drilling rights they possibly can, and oil prices (and profits) will go as high as Big Oil can push them, drivers be damned. With amplification by their many friends in the media, the players in the war game will present countless worrisome scenarios and justifications for buffering national security, and will load up on inventory that will move off the shelves much more slowly if, God forbid, we’re not fighting at least a couple of wars somewhere in the world. The Scott McClellan book release is a variation of this scene. Mr. McClellan may be assuaging his conscience or getting revenge, maybe both; he is also getting it while he can.

Scene: Inherit the Windmill. On May 15, Mesa Power, an energy company run by longtime oil player, T. Boone Pickens, announced a $2 billion investment in GE wind turbines. Superior improvisers are able to play in the moment while at the same time seeing the big picture. For an oilman like Pickens to invest in the wind takes some improvisation skill, and this looks like an excellent initiation of a new scene for Mesa Power. He and his team are seeking transformation and acting on environment, both of which are fundamentals of good improv. Pickens is taking a long view, while at the same time seeing (and to a certain extent participating in) what’s happening in the next 239 days. Sensing how weary the audience is going to get with the ‘Get It While You Can’ scenes, Mesa is preparing to offer alternatives, not only wind, but natural gas, too. That’s good improv.

Scene: Coca Cola and Honest Tea. The online version of Inc. reports this week that after making an investment in Bethesda, MD- based Honest Tea, the Coca-Cola Company has offered its support to Bethesda Green, a community sustainability program sponsored by Honest Tea. As part of its support, Coke is buying 20 to 30 recycling containers that will be placed in high-traffic areas around the city. Honest Tea says that 300 people turned out to participate in the launch of Bethesda Green’s first container. The analysis: In improv theater, when a normally high-status player plays low-status — a pompous Dignitary gets brought low, or the Housekeeping Staff governs the Governor — the audience loves it. The same dynamic appeals to the marketplace. When a mighty brand like Coke assumes the low-status role of Trash Recycler, our very human reaction is to applaud the move, just like we do when a little brand like Honest Tea grows in status through its partnership with Coke. The other note here is that ‘giving gifts’ of support are the strongest moves an improviser can make. It is what we see Coke doing in this scene. It is a sweet move, with no corn fructose involved.

Scene: Ninety Percent Pessimism. Forbes.com reports this week that a May survey conducted by Reuters and the University of Michigan shows that consumers are feeling worse about the economy that at any time since 1980. 90% of American consumers, the survey says, feel that U.S. economy is in the tank. One of the first things you learn as an improviser is that negativity gets you nowhere. The very fact that you are judging your scene as being bad while you’re in it guarantees that your scene, will, in fact, be bad. Improvisers operate from a positive frame of mind, always. They greet setbacks or mistakes as opportunities to change direction, try new things, find more productive paths. The way a business improviser might see the Forbes survey is that 90% pessimism describes huge marketplace demand for optimism.