Holiday Season, 'Improv', 'The Two Popes' and Lessons in Team Spirit & Leadership

It's Holiday Season - That time of the year when you snooze, put your feet up and await goodies... You play loud music, accede to endless rounds of Monopoly & Chess pausing only to prepare customized meals as per the wishes of your (otherwise army-like disciplined) off-springs and clean wardrobe after wardrobe, room after room hoping to find 'The Hidden Treasures of Cucamonga' (and find only stuff worth giving away or trashing!!:D).. You watch movies on loop and pick up one hobby that you hope (!!??) will undo all the stress that the year may have painted on you.. Yet remember, everything except your skin condition and hair (or the lack of it!) heals! For no magic pill can reverse those freckles (not wrinkles yet thank god!) or acne scars and the hair loss you suffered as a side-effect of those endless cups of coffee throughout the year! And let's not even talk about the irreversible weight gain - The last time one remembers pumping their fist after losing weight with what seemed like reasonable effort was when s/he was 29, no!!?

So ya, among the crazy stuff I signed up for, this holiday season, was a workshop on Improv - A form of theater (often comedy)! What makes Improv the most creative of all forms of Theater is that all of the performances are unscripted and performed spontaneously - You are the story teller and the actor AND at the mercy of the Audience! (Scary, no?) Initially intrigued cos Applied Improvisation is used as a tool to develop communication skills, creative problem solving and enhance teamwork at the workplace, what stunned me was that one can use Improv to gain insight into a person's thoughts, feelings and relationships - hence its usage in psychotherapy!

For a person that freezes at the mention of acting in a play (even as a tree!) and equally when put with a bunch of strangers, the Improv workshop on Sunday was quite an experience! Spending nine hours intently listening and learning to Improv with 28 people from different walks of life - Radio Jockeys, film-maker, pilates trainer, UX developer, home maker and jewelry designer was quite an experience! 

The starting point of an Improv act is a word of inspiration from the audience! It could be just about any word - something as commonly-bizarre as rain, umbrella or toast, or deep-rooted sorrow-filled like death or separation, or something as abstract as geometry, gravitation (No no, not Gravitas :D)! 

Each actor makes an association in their mind - the actor who takes the 1st step, action or motion comes up with 2 of the 3 elements - the what (situation), who (relationship between the actors) and where (place where this occurs) all in a matter of seconds. The conflict & confusion arises cos you may have thought of an altogether different connotation and hence a different situation and/or relationship. Yet you must adapt to your scene partner/s as you 'YES-AND' respond to his/ her lines within seconds so the audience finds you in sync... (PHEW, how we fell flat at times)!! No wonder Improv is known to make you mentally agile and better your ability to 'Think on your feet' - Absolutely worth the experience and what a learning. In particular:

1. To be Present In The Moment (vs. my 2nd nature to multi-task & mind-talk like a boss!) 

2. To listen with your eyes & ears and respond to your scene partner to ensure we engage the audience (vs. my ability to 'hear' to respond, react rather!)

3. To co-create while ensuring your scene partner looks better than you by 'Yes-And'ing - A perfect tool for ideation, creative problem solving, building trust and gaining agreement among team members, used in Design Thinking too! 

These lessons stunningly came alive when I watched the movie 'The Two Popes' - an apt catch on Christmas Eve (no offense to the super-religious ones among you please)! A biographical drama centered around Cardinal Bergoglio (Pope Francis) and his predecessor Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) while touching upon the sensitive 'Vatican leaks scandal' and the heart-wrenching outcomes of the dictatorial regime in Argentina, the movie serves as a perfect case study for listening skills and myriad of leadership styles and dos & don'ts. In particular, it showcases the varied emotions leaders undergo when they do (or do not) take bold decisions - in particular the guilt they carry for decades after they are unable to do enough of the 'right thing' and/or when their intention and/or in/action is misunderstood by their inner circle!

The movie begins with casting two fictional personalities that are seemingly diametrically opposite as the top contenders to be the Pope following the death of Pope John Paul II. C. Ratzinger wants the post real bad and politically rallies while C. Bergoglio is stunned that his fellow archbishops even consider him as a legitimate contender and openly declares that he doesn't want the role! The former is appointed Pope and the latter goes back to Argentina until a few years later when he decides he wants to resign as the Archbishop of Argentina & travels to meet the Pope! 

What follows is a movie watcher's delight as the two leaders showcase their strengths and share their vulnerabilities in turn forming a solid friendship over pizza and finally a dance of Tango in front of a few staff at the insistence of C. Bergoglio as he returns back to Argentina after an unsuccessful attempt at resignation! He's now carrying back with him, as a confidante, the burdens of the Pope's inability to stand up against wrong-doings as a leader, while having reduced his, by openly sharing stories of his failings, esp as the young Head of Jesuits under a military dictatorial regime! Their ability to listen with eyes, ears & an open mind, their willingness to learn from the other despite being old and (super) powerful, actively acknowledge what the other person is clearly good at (including someone who is poles apart) and the need to gain closure on unresolved topics - speaks volumes about how secure leaders function! By the end of this interaction, C. Ratzinger is convinced that C. Bergoglio is the right Successor - the absolute 'Change' that the papacy and organized religion must seek in the time of turmoil and uncertainty. For me, it brought to life all the must-haves in a good leader for an organization to progress - Learning Agility, Trust-based Open Communication and active & well-intentioned Succession Planning!

The movie ends with C. Bergoglio appointed as the Pope following C. Ratzinger's resignation (another bold move since he's only the 2nd pope in history to have resigned the post!) - and both of them enjoying pizza and beer while watching the finals between Germany and Argentina at the WorldCup - each cheering & defending their resp national teams!  

Here's to listening skills, teamwork, experimenting & learning and creative problem solving! Happy Holidays and wish you all a Fabulous 2020... I'm off to yet another (never-ending!) round of Monopoly & Chess! Et toi!?