Calling a fault on Fawlty

In the March 2014 edition of Harvard Business Review, Adi Ignatius interviews John Cleese, who became a comedy icon in the 1970s for his work on Monty Python’s Flying Circus and Fawlty Towers. Asked about improvisation, John responded:

Adi: As a scripted comedian, what do you think about the rise of improv?

  


John: The delights of improv have always rather escaped me. I don’t know why it’s considered a major art form. I don’t mean that it’s not interesting or skillful. But over the years all the comedians that I’ve respected—I could also say all the comic writers—are people who put words down on paper and went on working on them until they felt they couldn’t improve them anymore. That seems to me the most important and interesting part of comedy. The other is sort of a party trick, which I respect, but it doesn’t seem to me that it should be regarded at the same level. I got an Oscar nomination for the script of A Fish Called Wanda, which had been through 13 drafts, and by the end of it, I really felt I had brought it all together. That is not a feeling I have with improv. They don’t really build to any kind of dramatic climax or comedic climax.

Admittedly, John's comedic efforts rank as some of the best ever produced. Fawlty towers is my personal all-time favorite. Yet, as I read the paragraph above, I get the distinct feeling that John's remark about improv being a "sort of a party trick" seems to have come out twelve revisions too soon.

I have a lot of respect for John's great achievements in comedy. I also have a lot of respect for Improvisation, and so I accept his statement as an offer, and true to my improv roots, present an "in the moment, on the spot, and one hundred percent spontaneous" improvised response.

Improvisation's popularity lies in two key abilities that scripted comedy can hardly match

1) Audience engagement: The essential ingredient in an improv performance is that the audience and the actors work together to create theatre. Suggestions from the audience are used to shape the action that unfolds on stage. Spontaneity and unpredictability are the hallmarks of Improvisation, and make improv a unique and an inescapably delightful and exciting experience for the performers and the audience.

As someone who has watched, learned, and performed improv, I am always amazed at the level of audience engagement improv fosters. Audience participation can range from offering suggestions to actually joining the performers on the stage, as they work with you to perform a scene. You can see it in their faces - the exhilaration from participating, and shaping the scene, rather than just being passive observers.

2) Personal transformation: Improvisation has a few key principles that performers follow to create fun and comedy:

· Say "Yes" and build upon the previous action or conversation (offer)

· Be spontaneous

· Stay present

· Make your partners look good, and,

· Embrace failures.

These simple principles can also effect a profound personal transformation in the performer, foster teamwork, and build creativity.

In improvisation there is no script to guide the scene, and performers are dependent on each other to shape the scene. Improvisers learn quickly the value of spontaneity and being in the moment. Over time, they overcome their hesitation and fear that holds them back at the side of the stage, let go of their self-censure, their judgments, their notions of what the scene is, and begin to trust their spontaneity and jump onto the scene to carry it forward.

The impact of becoming spontaneous and in the moment grows over time. I recall many an occasion, where after a performance, I have been in a state of heightened awareness, without a thought going through my mind for a long period of time. Improvisation and meditation are perhaps only two activities that have the ability to foster spontaneity and "in the moment" alertness . And this ability to be in the present is a very powerful experience - quite possibly the greatest therapeutic remedy out there.

Additionally, performers become aware of how reality is socially constructed. As there is no script, there is no single reality out there that the performers are acting out. Instead, they have to work with each other’s notions of what the scene is, and actively construct a shared reality. Performers pay attention to their partners, and work with each other’s offers to move the scene forward, and in turn, act into a new reality.

This notion of ensemble, and the ability to develop a shared understanding and self-organization is finding value in the corporate world, and making its way into business schools. Improv has benefits that are well documented in literally hundreds of articles ranging from topics such as therapy for mental illnesses to fire fighters using Improv techniques for improved performance in high risk, uncertain situations. I personally have used it in business settings to improve team dynamics, and facilitate resolution of difficult problems in diverse groups. Participants are appreciative of the deeper insights and shared perspective they develop as a result of using improv.

Published without a second revision, with respect to John Cleese and Improvisation.

The Birbal way - unleashing creativity and change through positive personas

Birbal was a minister in the court of Emperor Akbar, who ruled India during the 15th century. Birbal became famous across the land for his wit, and ingenuity in problem solving. Subjects, courtiers, and kings alike sought his help in solving difficult problems. Birbal's stories of cleverly helping his king, and his people solve many a dilemma are folklore, and popular as comics, cartoons, and story books amongst children of all ages.

My work keeps me regularly out of town, and I find myself frequently parenting my young daughter over the phone. As any parent can imagine, the issues that crop up are sometimes unpredictable and complex, and not the most amenable to guidance over a phone call - especially when you are pressed for time.

And then my daughter had the opportunity to go to school halfway across the earth in a remote area of India for a few months. We spoke once during weekends. Over long phone conversations an anxious parent began a ritual of reading stories to his little one every week. Birbal's stories were the most popular, and I observed how my daughter remarked that he was so smart, and  he had such a creative way to solve every problem that came his way.

Gradually I introduced an inquiry into our conversations. As she shared her challenges and difficulties, I would ask, " if Birbal were here with us, what would you ask him to do? ....And how do you think he'd go about solving it?"

 These two inquiries, simulated step by step for many a problem, gradually created a shift in the conversation. I began to notice her moving away from just sharing her problems to leveraging her imagination - describing not just challenges, but how she would approach the situation. She started talking about other broader issues that did not impact her directly per se, and pose possible alternatives to how we could better these situations. The mindset was shifting away from a problem to a solution orientation, and Birbal's persona was there to help spark her imagination and creative side.

Our conditionings, inhibitions, and fears, accumulated since childhood, become an inner voice (or inner critic) that holds us back when we want to be creative, try new approaches, or resolve to make a change in our life.  This inner critic is seeded during our formative years, for example by parental instruction  (rightfully or wrongly - parents are trying to instill survival skills in us, "don't touch that, it can give you a shock"), and criticisms. Such external interactions become internalized  and acquire a persona of their own - our inner critic - residing as a voice in our head, and constantly carrying on a conversation in the background. The background conversation modulates our natural instincts, urges us to take the safe, well beaten path, or undermines our resolve to make changes, no matter how much we may wish to make them. (In an organizational setting, it is these individual background conversations, going on within every employee that makes organizational change so difficult)

As we seek change, as we seek to harness our creativity, we work to over come our inner critic - recognizing it, and making a conscious effort to keep it from holding us back.

Perhaps there is another persona that we can acquaint ourselves with as we deal with the inner critic. This is a persona that epitomizes our values, our purposes, and speaks to our most imaginative, creative, and resourceful self. We can name this persona, describe its values and abilities, maybe even find a real person, and use him in our inner conversations to help empower us to make choices that resonate with our deeper purpose and values.

Your inner critic can hold you back, but your positive persona is there to lead you. He has been where you wish to go, and knows the path well.

Ready to give it a try?

Effective persona building requires more than a superficial level of knowledge. Birbal to my daughter was an authentic individual who had used his ingenuity to overcome many an obstacle. His problems, deliberations, and tactics were vividly described in the stories and comic books that she had read.

 Likewise, if I pick an individual as a positive persona I need to know how he solved problems, what were his values, his deliberation in moments of choice. I have to be immersed in the situations about his persona that would appeal to me.

 A great example is in the movie Invictus, when  Matt Damon's character (Francois Pienaar) visits Robben Island days before the rugby world cup final (Robben Island is where Nelson Mandela had been imprisoned for twenty seven years during apartheid) . The moments of him imagining how Mandela spent his time there, getting a feel for the cramped space, the harsh environment, and yet the personal transformation that he underwent in that prison cell, connect him to Mandela's persona, and the higher purpose of his mission. Towards the end of the Rugby world cup final, this persona helps him inspire his team by appealing to something far greater than themselves ("Listen to your country...this is our destiny"), strengthen their resolve, and win the world cup.