Learning for business through drama

This was me as Sam Pickles pleading with my 'daughter'
Rosie to visit her estranged mother, Dolly.

Annie, as a drunken Dolly, tells her daughter Rosie
that she shouldn't hate her.

Annie and I got back from our week on a residential summer drama school and I didn't really give much feedback on my Blog. We were 2 of a group 24 completely unconnected people thrown together with two directors and two assistant directors. The task was, starting from scratch, to rehearse and perform in a public setting - within a week - the Australian play (set in the 1940's) called ‘Cloudstreet’ by Tim Winton

An amazing week for many reasons. I've been thinking about what I learned in that week from a business/organisation perspective;

1 – Getting out of the comfort zone …. A long way out!! ... is good!

2 – Seeing two talented directors illustrate real leadership

3 – The joy of being part of a team committed to delivering a product in a very tight schedule

4 – Realising how much we rely on others when the chips are down and when we feel vulnerable and out of our depth

5 – Seeing how much business can learn from the arts

6 – Keeping going when half way through the week our heads were telling us ‘we’ve made a big mistake coming here’

7 - Feeling the exhilaration of a successfully completed ‘project’ that customers enjoyed

8 - Realising life needs to be as much about doing different stuff as that stuff we are used to doing every day

More pictures can be seen here on Annie’s Blog

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Learning about how 'stuff' gets done .....

Well … amazingly enough (to me) I did it. I actually went a whole week without checking my inbox.

That’s not quite true. On my mobile phone I can access gmail and so I was able to read the odd email that was sent to my gmail address but I was disciplined and didn’t reply to any. I never checked my hotmail inbox … and even more surprisingly (to me) I never even glanced at Simplicity Blog.

I’m grateful to my friends David Wike, Dave Wheeler, Richard Lipscombe, John O’Leary, Joel Canfield, and Mark Foscoe. Looks like you guys had an interesting exchange whilst I was away and I hope David Wike fulfilled his promise of buying all the drinks!

Annie and I got home earlier this (Saturday) evening from sunny (not) Harrogate in Yorkshire and so far I’ve only had time to glance at your excellent comments. I want to read them fully, reflect a bit and then reply properly.

By the way we worked intensively for seven days on performing the Australian play 'Cloudstreet' by Tim Winton. I know that Richard is well aware of the work of Tim Winton.

Our week started from scratch as a group of 24 totally unconnected people under the leadership of two directors and two assistant directors building up to a public performance.

It was certainly a terrific learning experience for me. I was well outside my comfort zone. I learned a lot about leadership, front liners and team work.

Our public performance took place on Saturday morning; seven days after 28 people unknown to each other met for the first time. The performance was well received by the audience of approximately 125 people.

It was terrific 'learning by doing.' It reminded me yet again how focus, teamwork and good leadership can produce a 'product' that people seem to enjoy.

Customer Feedback Needed

I’m really looking forward to a week away with Annie from Saturday 2nd August. We will be leaving our two dogs and the house in the capable hands of my in-laws Eric and Pauline.

We are going on a residential acting summer school in Harrogate – should be fun!!

I was having an email conversation with David Wike and David rightly feels I should leave something ‘meaty’ on Simplicity Blog for hearty and meaningful discussion over a few virtual beers (wine for the more sophisticated among you).

So … having thought about it for at least 2 minutes I am going to ask you to discuss what sort of stuff you like to see on the Simplicity Blog – what works – what doesn’t etc.

I am always going on about my passion for finding out what customers think so please don’t be backward with your advice - as if you would have any hesitation anyway.

Discuss it among yourselves to your heart’s content while I am away.

Needless to say I'll try hard to resist visiting a PC next week but if I do manage to find an odd moment or two I may join in the conversation from sunny Yorkshire.

Enjoy the discussion and of course .... all the drinks are on David Wike!!!

A Perfect Day

The Eagles in action at the O2 Arena

Easter Sunday was a terrific day.

First of all in the morning Annie and I performed a short piece of drama at Church which seemed to be well received.

Early afternoon was time to sit in front of the TV and watch my beloved Manchester United beat the old enemy Liverpool 3-0 to go five points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Then it was a drive down to London for the evening to watch The Eagles concert at the O2 Arena along with another 20,000 Eagles fans.

And we found ourselves in a block of seats occupied by some Manchester United fans!

Due to public demand The Eagles have added two additional dates to the UK launch of their world tour which means 120,000 fans will see them in the O2 Arena in six concerts. Not bad for four old rockers. The 3 hour concert was absolutely brilliant and getting home for bed at 1.30 am ended a perfect day.

Thank you again God!

'Trust Me I'm a Patient' - 14th Episode

Early start on the train at 7.15 am for Annie and me as we head up to ‘Geordie’ land in South Shields near Newcastle tomorrow for our 14th Trust Me I’m a Patient workshop … Good fun and serious learning in the same workshop.

As I always say at the outset of every workshop …. ‘It really is not compulsory to be miserable at work.’

Another 80 delegates tomorrow … that means almost 800 delegates have now been through our workshop. We are both very proud of that.

More details can be seen by clicking here

In a nutshell it is about trying to get NHS staff and managers to see change through the eyes of patients….

We love it!! And feedback to date has been good

Trust Me I'm a Patient

In the next month or so in various parts of England, Annie and I will be delivering 4 more of our highly successful inter-active workshops called Trust Me I’m a Patient.

This is an exciting and creative way for healthcare staff to see change through the eyes of others - especially patients. Click here for more details.

Trust Me I'm a Patient is a facilitated workshop that last for between two and three hours. It enables all participants to play a different role to their normal role in a scenario we re-create similar to those everyday scenarios faced by healthcare managers in the real world. For example the closure of three GP Surgeries and their replacement with a new purpose built health centre in the out of town shopping centre. The issues of public and patient involvement are then played out.

Feedback to date has been good and we have delivered the workshop to almost 550 participants.

It is great to receive bookings for more workshop as words gets around that role play and drama is an effective way of learning.

It is even more encouraging that hard pressed NHS managers who are struggling to balance their budgets are finding money to invest in this creative way of developing their staff.

A Bug's (After) Life

Something completely different this week for the Audio Blog. Annie and I are performing a short drama sketch at Church on Easter Sunday and you can here it in this Audio Blog. The sketch is called 'A Bug's (After) Life' and it lasts 3 minutes and 7 seconds. I hope our American friends don’t get too thrown by the Cockney accents!! We did the same sketch last year and the picture is from Easter 2006 performance. Enjoy.



MP3 File

Good on you Tony Blair

Here is the hilarious sketch featuring Tony Blair last Friday evening on Comic Relief

This is purely in the interests of Christmas research!!

Intrigued?? .......

For more pictures and explanation click here