Play It Out

One of the biggest gaps in training, of all kinds, is the capacity to bridge sucessfully from the classroom to the daily world. Martial Artists train mostly with their friends, who will only push them so far. Academic environments treasure the classroom, where students are understandably sheltered and seldom exposed to vigorous debate agains prepared minds for high stakes. Students are almost never thrown into the waters of actual publishing and competing for academic positions. Executives are often accustomed to a  watchful avoidance of conflict in an environment shaped by rank, permission, and the calculations of power, rather than the creative foment of open disagreement and collaborative co-creation.

There are many consultants and management fads. Professional theater is the one training environment with everything you need to answer the human questions of leadership. If you need statistical data analysis, by all means hire the numerically professional you require, but if you want to understand how people act, how a team performs, how your leadership style and strategic plan (the plot) do and don't actually drive daily goals (motivation) and behavior (the story), then you'll need to hire the professionals in that area. Directors are ready to consult with your directors. Designers are ready to expand the options available to your architects. Actors are ready to work with your teams to build the kind of creative ensemble that truly performs. Playwrights are available to help you sculpt the kind of professional story you want the word to tell about your struggle, rise, and legacy. Theater professionals are the best kept secret in the consulting world. Know you know. What are you going to do about it?

IMPROVISE. The most self-conscious beginner can, with a bit of guidance from a professional, begin improvising right away. Martial Nonviolence (MNv) provides basic body movements and scripts to practice, so that no improvisation is required while you get your footing, and then offers one door after another through which the careful person can become more confident and flexible, ready to move, think, and speak all at once, doing watever is called for to find solutions which work for everyone involved. The difference between MNv and other theater skills-based consulting, is that we work directly through conflict of all kinds. MNv prepares the body to stay safe, and keep others safe at the same time, as you cultivate the readiness to move, think, and speak under pressure.