Improv Wisdom

and (somewhat less intentionally and much less elegantly and consistently) how I do those things, my approach to action:

Intentionally, I have increased the number of hours per day I spend doing the nine things I do (above) from 5.5 hours per day to 8.5 hours per day, with an eventual target of 11.5 hours per day. And I try to do them, whenever I am self-aware, using the 7-step ‘personal presencing’ process listed above. This is very much a passion-to-action ‘U’ process: sensing, learning, asking, opening, letting go and letting come, and then realizing, with others.

I am, alas, not self-aware often enough, although I have taken to wearing a bracelet as a constant reminder not to get sidetracked from the nine things I am meant to do, to do the less fruitful and ultimately unimportant things that we are so relentlessly expected to do; as a constant reminder to follow my 7-step approach to action; and as a constant reminder to practice whatever specific exercises I have committed to do to improve my capacities.

As I apply the above, I reflect with some awe on the fact that my intentional behaviour is now guided substantially from what I have learned from people in my gravitational community: The three charts above are my personal adaptations of models developed by Chris Corrigan, Patti Digh and Cyndy Roy respectively — three people I have never met in person.

So it was with great anticipation that I read the highly-recommended (by four people in my gravitational community) book Improv Wisdom, by Patricia Ryan Madson. I hoped that, through practicing improvisation, I could refine and make easier my 7-step process.

Madson’s book is delightful slim (148 small pages) and readable. It has some wonderful insights in it. It is based around a set of ‘maxims’ which, paraphrased, combined and oversimplified a bit, are as follows:

1. Say “Yes, and…”: Adapt yourself. Accept instead of trying to control the situation. Don’t presuppose that you have a better idea, don’t change or steer the subject, don’t correct others, don’t disengage. Listen and go with the conversation. Pay attention and go with the situation.
2. Be resilient instead of preparing: Don’t anticipate or lock yourself in. Learn to be ready for whatever may happen. Breathe and be present in the moment. Learn to hold balance, to yield, to open and hold open.
3. Just begin: Show up. Start with what’s important or what’s obvious. Step onto the stage. Be on time and value your time. Move. Act to discover what comes next.
4. Make sense: Be clear, even obvious, rather than trying to be clever. Clarify. Explain. Articulate.
5. Pay attention to details: Stand still and look until you really see, listen until you really hear. Use all your senses. Learn to remember people’s names and other details. (This is especially hard for me because I find a lot of what I pay attention to uninteresting, which is a terrible reflection on my inability to concentrate.)
6. Be utterly truthful: Face the facts, and understand them and why they are so. Stop wishing that things (or you) were different. See procrastination, blaming, self-criticism and self-sabotage for what they really are, and then do something about them.
7. Be aware of your purpose: As you achieve it find your next purpose. Ask what would not be achieved if you were not here. Do things intentionally.
8. Share your gifts: Be a steward not a master. Know and share your gifts and discover new ones. Appreciate others’ gifts. Mention what you appreciate. Be supportive and accept support. Share control. Make others look good. Be kind.
9. Make mistakes: Mistakes are how we learn, growth, stretch (the word intention means ‘stretching towards’, and intending is a risky and error-prone practice). It’s also how life evolves, makes quantum leaps, gets better.
10. Play: Have fun. Be boisterous. Smile.

Madson notes that there are some activities that do not lend themselves to improvisation, that need to be done in a planned, precise, intentional way, but these activities are rare, and most of what we do is better done without a script. Improvisation takes some courage, self-confidence, and faith in others, which are also qualities best learned through practice. Madson asks us to ask ourselves: What would you do if you knew you would not fail?

These ten qualities of excellent improvisation are imbued with generosity, humility and grace. To some extent you need to bring them to the practice of improvisation, and to some extent they are what you acquire and learn through improvisation, in a virtuous cycle.

I’ve tried to figure out how these ten qualities of improvisation fit with my seven step approach to action. I’ve concluded, I think, that they are guidelines and hints on how to be better at sensing, self-control, understanding, questioning, imagining, offering, and collaborating. Andhow to cope when you run into trouble with any of the seven steps.

I’m still learning. Once I’ve practiced a bit more I’ll let you know.

Swan photo from Kevin at Bastish.