I’ve been enjoying an audio book this past week while I’m driving from place to place. And just like most intriguing and inspiring and validating words and experiences, I’ve found it to apply to what we know and believe and practice in the process of Tribes TLC.
If you have not read Tina Fey’s “Bossypants” – I recommend it. Prior to her Saturday Night Live fame, she spent eight years or so with Second City (an improvisational theater in Chicago). In one of many entertaining and intuitive chapters into her life, she shares the ‘rules for improvisation’, which she also declares as an appropriate ‘world view’. I am quoting and paraphrasing the following from her book:
- Agree and say ‘yes’ (to whatever has been created or suggested). In real life, the rule of agreement is to remind you to respect what has been created and to at least start from an open-minded place. Start with a ‘yes’ and see where that takes you…
- Not only say ‘yes’, but ‘yes…and…’. This means that you start with agreement and then add something of your own. In real life, ‘yes…and….’ means don’t be afraid to contribute. It’s our responsibility to contribute! Our contributions are worthwhile.
- Make statements. Don’t ask questions all the time…you put pressure on others to come up with answers. In other words, don’t just be part of the problem, be a part of the solution. Make statements with your actions and your voice.
- There are no mistakes, only opportunities. In improv, there are no mistakes, only beautiful happy accidents…many of the world’s greatest discoveries have been by accident!
So how and where and what does this have to do with the process of Tribes TLC? Implementation, presentation, modeling, agreements, collaboration, reflection, and appreciation, to name a few.
It’s easy to get sucked in or bogged down in the questions, roadblocks, nay-sayers, and negative attitudes brought about by budget cuts, pacing guides, staff meetings, etc.
