It’s always fun and often exciting to discover a new improv game. And, as time goes by, the thrill is enhanced by finding what makes these activities worthwhile. That means delving into questions like:
- What distinguishes an adequate activity from a powerful intervention?
- What does an experienced facilitator notice sooner?
- When should you stick with the plan – and when should you abandon it?
- Which parts of our practice belong to an earlier organisational world?
- What human capabilities become more valuable as artificial intelligence improves?
Much of the difference between an activity that merely works and one that turbo-charges a group lies in aspects that are harder to put into a manual: timing, attention, judgement, relationship with the group, and noticing what is happening.
Those questions prompted me to revise the Paul Jackson Associates website. It now reflects more clearly our work in leadership in uncertainty, team adaptability, AI-era human skills, creativity, facilitation and learning design, storytelling and improvisation at work.
We’ve also brought together a wider Oxford-based faculty and revived the classic programmes that made our reputation.
Which all carried us through the heatwave. And now it’s autumn, I’ll be back on my travels, looking forward to the Applied Improvisation Network conference in Rimini next month.
I’m involved in two Learning Journeys: Essential Foundations of Applied Improvisation, alongside five other experienced practitioners, and my own half-day The Craft of Applied Improvisation: A Deep Dive Into What Makes It Work.
That second session is explicitly about looking beyond the activity itself into the facilitator’s judgement, the relationship with the group, the design choices we make and the turning points where a piece of work succeeds, fails or recovers.
Over the next few weeks I’ll be writing about those sessions and the new work at PJA. We’ll explore learning design, influence replacing the illusion of control, the craft inside apparently simple activities, and what improvisers are discovering about working alongside artificial intelligence.
[See the AIN Learning Journeys in Rimini]