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3 views of the Learning Consortium Learning Event in March 2011.
For this, the 6th edition of our Connections newsletter, we have chosen to share with you the event in March and 3 people’s impression of the topic: an overview of the event from Geof, the director and producer of this drama…; Erica, who bravely volunteered to act as a subject for a real-play writes of her experiences and how that helps us to realise how people in our workshops perhaps experience such situations; and finally a ‘guest-article’ from Erik de Haan who was a major character in the drama of our workshop. All the photos are from that workshop too. Enjoy!
Using Drama
On one day in March this year, some 30 consultants, trainers and actors met at the Brewery Theatre in Bristol to explore some different uses of drama skills in developing and enhancing their practice. This was one of Learning Consortium’s own learning events, which was opened up for other interested professionals to join and benefit their own learning. The first workshop was facilitated by Erik de Haan, the Director of the Ashridge Centre for Coaching. He led a session that focused on using a well-known play as a source of inspiration and learning. He used the play King Lear to highlight the role of the consultant - looking at three scenes from Lear where different characters try (successfully and unsuccessfully) to advise the King – a theme based on his book The Consulting Process as Drama. Professional actors acted out some of the scenes from the play which then led to reflective discussion and learning about how the consultant interacts with the client.
… Food for thought on which other plays and films could provide a stimulus to learning and could enhance training programme design – Apollo 13 comes to mind to stimulate thinking on teamwork and creativity, Henry V as a study in leadership, and the Flight of the Phoenix giving a different view of leadership and how it can change to meet different circumstances.
Our afternoon workshop looked at how the use of professional actors in the learning environment could enhance the learning process. Professional actors Adam Woodroffe and Peter Winnall took up a number of different roles under the direction of Mark Huggins of Corporate Drama, using of Forum Theatre and Real Play. In the Forum Theatre we were transported to a world of customer service and an interaction between a manager and a customer, which was going badly wrong – except that the manager was not aware of his behaviour. Interacting with the audience, different pieces of behavioural advice were built into the scene and enacted to see more effective behaviours at work.
We also witnessed an enactment of an upcoming situation for one consultant in fairly standard application role-play session – except that the person playing the other role was a professional actor. The ability for the professional actor to carry out the role with minimal instruction, behave authentically and adapt easily as the situation developed was a real learning experience in the benefit of using professional role players rather than other course participants. Erica – who was the volunteer who contributed her situation to play on stage – was impressed by Adam’s quick and supportive responses and the major insights she received from him and the facilitator of the session during feedback.
In the final analysis – a great event for our own learning and a challenge to think of applications for using professional actors in training and coaching situations. Participants in Bristol were stimulated to think about the use of drama in conflict resolution, negotiations, coaching, therapy, community development, serious case reviews and international development – as well as in assessment centres, conferences and training courses.
Geof Cox
Experiencing real play as a powerful learning tool
As a trainer and facilitator I often invite participants to practice their newly acquired skills by trying them out, using a fellow participant as a sparring partner. It is a form of role-play called real-play, because the situation comes from your real life and work and is not made up by someone else.
In our Focus on influence program we use two forms of real-play. Early in the program we ask people to go back to a work situation they felt as not very successful. Then we invite them to replay that so others can actually see what the participant is doing and give feedback on the behavior that might have led to the failure. It is a strong tool that gives a lot of insight because we are not able to see our own blind spots and often misjudge the effect we have on others. We need feedback to help us locate our ineffective behaviors.
Knowing what you do wrong is one thing, but getting it right is even more important so the final afternoon of the program we invite people to work in small groups and use real play to anticipate on a situation that will come up shortly after the course. It is set up like a dress rehearsal were you get a change to practice the real thing until you get it right.
Afterwards Participants highly value these opportunities to learn, but at first some are hesitant to engage in this real play, up till now I used my persuasions skills to ‘seduce” them in to participating. That might change since March 24th!
In the drama workshop in Bristol I was asked to volunteer to bring in a work situation to demonstrate real-play. For me that was a powerful learning experience in more then one way. It helped me gain insight in my case, the audience and the actor playing my counterpart gave me some useful feedback on how I could have done it different and last but not least I experienced myself what our participants must also feel. Some hesitance about bringing out my failures in the open, anticipation on how it would work and real hope to get some results!
I was amazed by the effect, I just gave some information on the situation and some characteristics of the real person and the actor picked this up very quickly. In a minutes time I forgot the audience and even that it was an actor in front of me, I was propelled back into the real life situation.
Especially the feedback on my nonverbal behavior was very helpful, I know body language and tone of voice are powerful influencing instruments but I was not aware I was using them so poorly.
In my next course I can advocate for the use of real play from my own experience.
Erica Koch
Shakespeare’s King Lear seems highly relevant to gaining an understanding of management, leadership and consulting.
Shakespeare’s King Lear seems highly relevant to gaining an understanding of management, leadership and consulting.
In consulting and drama, there is a tradition of distinguishing five phases, which bear a striking resemblance.
In consulting, the five phases are entry (contacting and contracting); diagnosis; implementation; consolidation; and evaluation. The equivalent phases in classic tragedy are, exposition; development; crisis; denouement; and catastrophe and exodus.
King Lear is littered with examples that a consultant can learn from. In the Earl of Kent, the Fool and Edgar, son of Gloucester, the play offers three consultants to Lear. The theme of the play is taking responsibility for one’s situation. Lear’s first actions in the play, in which he abdicates completely his responsibilities, prove fatal to him, his country and his daughters. In line with classical tragedies, fate offers no mercy to the king.
Responsibility is also a pillar of a successful consulting process, together with empathy and trust. Responsibility differentiates itself in that more is not always better. The assumption of too much responsibility by the consultant may lead to a loss of autonomy on the part of the client. The aim is to achieve a balance of shared responsibility. The client, who is willing to share his dramatic story with the consultant, finds himself in a situation without the ability to resolve it (as does Lear at the beginning of the play). The consulting process as drama shows that Lear’s initial response, “nothing will come of nothing”, is precisely the attitude that his consultants are helping with most.
For the client and the consultant, the most important thing King Lear has to offer can be formulated as the reverse of this maxim: something can come from nothing.
This article by Erik de Haan, a consultant at Ashridge, is drawn from his book The Consulting Process as Drama — Learning from King Lear, published by Karnac books in 2004.
Dr Erik de Haan is Director of the Centre for Coaching at Ashridge Business School and Professor of Organisation Development and Coaching at the VU University in Amsterdam. Erik can be reached at
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