In my previous post, I referred to Marcus Buckingham, one of the leading lights of the Strengths Movement. Through his books Now Discover Your Strengths and Go Put Your Strengths to Work, Buckingham has popularized the idea that, in planning their life’s work, people should focus on leveraging their strengths rather than shoring up their weaknesses. An example from my past experience illustrates how improv theory and practice can help the Daily Improviser apply this tenet to her own life.
Some time ago I conducted an Emotional Intelligence workshop that noted how some people tend to be very deliberate and considered in making decisions and taking action. In everyday terms, they like to have their ducks in a row, and frequently fall victim to a syndrome called “Analysis Paralysis.”
By contrast, other people have a bias for doing something – anything! – to make things happen and shake things up. In improv terms, they fully subscribe to the maxim ”Fall first – then, on the way down, figure out what to do next.” However, they’re often susceptible to their own scattershot syndrome called “Ready-Fire-Aim!”
In this particular workshop, a participant (I’ll call him “Ducky”) admitted that he wished he could be less of the former, more of the latter, and asked how he could “learn to be more spontaneous.” Naturally my standing answer to that question is: Take an adult improv workshop.
As I’ve thought about it since, though, I’ve wondered if my advice ran counter to the thinking of the Strengths Movement. What’s wrong with being deliberate in acting and deciding? Why did I enable Ducky to believe that he needed to “fix” himself? If a steady, cautious approach helped him to restrain others who might otherwise rush over a cliff, why not leverage that as a strength?
Well, I’ve since relieved my angst by recalling the words (which I cited in a previous post) of Kouzes and Posner in their book The Leadership Challenge:
Some time ago I conducted an Emotional Intelligence workshop that noted how some people tend to be very deliberate and considered in making decisions and taking action. In everyday terms, they like to have their ducks in a row, and frequently fall victim to a syndrome called “Analysis Paralysis.”
By contrast, other people have a bias for doing something – anything! – to make things happen and shake things up. In improv terms, they fully subscribe to the maxim ”Fall first – then, on the way down, figure out what to do next.” However, they’re often susceptible to their own scattershot syndrome called “Ready-Fire-Aim!”
In this particular workshop, a participant (I’ll call him “Ducky”) admitted that he wished he could be less of the former, more of the latter, and asked how he could “learn to be more spontaneous.” Naturally my standing answer to that question is: Take an adult improv workshop.
As I’ve thought about it since, though, I’ve wondered if my advice ran counter to the thinking of the Strengths Movement. What’s wrong with being deliberate in acting and deciding? Why did I enable Ducky to believe that he needed to “fix” himself? If a steady, cautious approach helped him to restrain others who might otherwise rush over a cliff, why not leverage that as a strength?
Well, I’ve since relieved my angst by recalling the words (which I cited in a previous post) of Kouzes and Posner in their book The Leadership Challenge:
“If the only person you listen to is yourself, you’re unlikely to discover your voice or your full potential …. Finding your voice is about engaging with the world. When you engage with the world, and you try on other voices and other styles, you learn what fits you and what does not. Eventually your voice breaks through the noise and becomes recognizably you.”
It occurred to me that, early in his life, Ducky might have pigeonholed himself into a slot labeled “slow decider” without really pushing back on his own assumptions about himself. What better way to test these assumptions and try on a set of “fast actor” behaviors than to take an improv workshop?
I’m not sure what happened to Ducky, but he might have taken an improv workshop and found a previously untapped talent for falling and deciding on the way down. Or maybe he confirmed (and learned to appreciate) his original concept of his natural strengths, while also gaining a better appreciation for others who did have a natural talent for deciding-in-motion. Either way, he wins.
As a Strengths-Based Daily Improviser, you should ask yourself: Am I prematurely deciding what my real strengths are, rather than exploring possible opportunities to “try on” different behaviors and discover what really fits?
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