In an era dominated by artificial intelligence (AI), the human ability to think laterally, come up with disruptive ideas and have genuine 'aha' moments remains unparalleled. While AI can rapidly process data, it lacks the spontaneity, warmth, and humour inherent to human interactions.
Neil Mullarkey, co-founder of the renowned Comedy Store Players, drives this point home in this video interview. Drawing parallels between the world of theatre and business, he underlines the unpredictability of both. For instance, while his world of comedy might consider other comedy clubs as rivals, in reality the competition extends to home entertainment giants like Netflix and Deliveroo. The question is: why venture out when comfort awaits at home?
The implications of AI in our day-to-day lives, from predictive texting to calendar scheduling, are undeniable. Yet, when it comes to true creativity, rapport, warmth and agility AI still has a long way to go. Mullarkey recalls an enlightening conversation with a software firm executive who, despite acknowledging the vast capabilities of AI, conceded that robots still can't replicate genuine humour or the art of effective listening.
Central to Mullarkey's philosophy is the art of improvisation – a practice grounded in attentive listening and one he discusses in his latest book In the Moment. It's about treating each spoken word as an 'offer,' a chance to build upon a narrative together. He has witnessed first hand the transformative power of this approach in his workshops over the last 25 years.
The term VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) aptly describes today's world – one that mirrors the unpredictable nature of an improv scene. As leaders, accepting this unpredictability paves the way for a mindset that's both challenging and liberating. It's about guiding teams while also being receptive to their needs. Sometimes, leadership means setting a direct course of action, and at other times, it requires collaborative co-creation.
Another takeaway is the power dynamics in brainstorming sessions. Traditionally, louder voices dominate, often sidelining introverted contributors. But improv levels the playing field. By adhering to a "yes, and" approach – akin to 'plussing' at Pixar Pictures – ideas are built upon rather than dismissed. Such an approach ensures that all voices, not just the loudest, contribute to the story.
Mullarkey champions a world where we actively listen without filters, treating conversations as opportunities to learn and grow. Whether it's about embracing unpredictability in the workplace or navigating the vast potential of AI, there’s a wealth of insights to be gained from his perspective.
Intrigued? Watch the interview above and then dive into the full podcast episode to unlock these gems of wisdom and more. It’s a masterclass on how improv can reshape leadership and collaboration in today's ever-evolving world.
About Neil Mullarkey
Neil is a communication expert based in London, UK. He has delivered hundreds of keynotes and workshops to various organisations across the world in 25 countries and counting including Microsoft, KPMG, WPP, Saatchi & Saatchi, Vodafone, EY, Google, Deloitte and GSK. He is a guest speaker at London Business School, London Business Forum and Bayes Business School.
He is also a prominent comedian. He performs weekly with the Comedy Store Players, Europe’s top improv troupe which he co-founded in 1985 and often appears on TV and radio shows such as QI and The Pentaverate. He has also appeared in two Austin Powers movies. He is author of In the Moment: Build your confidence, communication and creativity at work published by Kogan Page.
Listen to our podcast with Neil to discover how to practice improvisation, what an ‘in the moment’ mindset is and how to use appropriate humour in the workplace. Check out the Work’s Not Working… Let’s Fix It! podcast.
TRANSCRIPT
Can robots have emotions?
As far as I'm aware most artificial intelligence (AI) can only deal with what's been put in. So ChatGPT can look at every website in a millisecond and write a proposal, an answer, but, as yet, the lateral thinking, the disruptive idea, the 'that's so weird it might just work', the 'of course, why not?' moment, the aha moment, I think so far is uniquely human.
Animals, herds, tribes, flocks. There are so many metaphors in nature where the group is stronger than the individual. And so far robots are millions presumably of microchips working together. I don't know if they work better when they go, 'Hey, I like you', 'hey, I know we're on the same team', 'hey, I'm better at this than you' . As yet I'm not quite sure where the emotional life of the robot is.
Who’s eating your lunch?
I always ask my clients, who's eating your lunch? Ie, who are your rivals? And they're not always in the same sector. For example, I come from the world of theatre and our rivals are Deliveroo and Netflix. Why would I go out to see comedy or theatre or even the cinema when I can stay home? And so it's not always the other comedy clubs that are The Comedy Store's rival, it's actually the whole sense of why should I go out?
So who’s eating your lunch. Now, AI is great. I use it all the time. Predictive texting is AI. Filling in my calendar is AI. What have you done before? Let's do a bit of that. It's obviously going to save us time in some areas. But this general sense of what will robots or artificial intelligence be able to do that we can't? And I think there's still plenty at the moment.
I sat next to somebody once at a charity dinner and explained that improv is about creativity and it's about rapport. And he said, thank goodness you're in the right job, because he used to run a software firm and he said, pretty much a lot of stuff can be done through AI and why wouldn't we? You know, spreadsheets, even now, essays, proposals.
But we still haven't yet, as far as I'm aware, got a robot that knows how to be properly funny, how to be warm, how to be engaging, how to be agile and move off the script. And also perhaps to not talk when necessary. How to ask the right questions.
And the improv thing is all based on listening. Listening. What is it she has said? Treat what he said as an offer. And that's why I think this has plenty of power and certainly that's what I've learned from all the people who've come through my workshops over the last nearly quarter of a century.
Improv in the VUCA world
VUCA – the world is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous and every improv scene has all of that. At any moment you think it's going to go that way, it might go that way. In hindsight, you can think, oh, I can see that. And sometimes we're bold enough, a beginning bit doesn't work so well but something else emerges.
So once people kind of accept that you'd be foolish to imagine the world is predictable and that there aren't uncertain moments, then you begin to think, oh, right, so my job is harder and yet simpler. It's just to keep people afloat, to keep people within a guide rail such they may find new things but also they kind of know what they got to deliver by Friday
And I think the job of a leader is almost to find out what each individual feels comfortable with. The servant leader and all that. And I was at Google the other day and we were talking about this and this guy said, yeah, actually there are times when some of my teams say to me, just tell us what to do.
And I can see that when coaching people with improv being a parent, just sometimes this is what you've got to do. Let's save time. This is the way. Do it. Oh, good, fine. And there are times when you've got to think about grow models and coach and you set the agenda and we can co-create something which you then run.
And that's wonderfully enabling for some and slightly scary for others. And so that's why I think what I'm offering, or what improv is offering, is not that radical at all. It just makes sense. Which is, why would you stick to a script when the world is changing?
Yes, and… or plussing
Again, the research on brainstorms says that we tend to have the loudest voice heard. Nothing gets actually decided on.
The quieter person thinks this isn't for me. But this is where improv comes in because we say in improv there's only one story. We're all contributing to the same story. So actually it's not this idea, this idea, that, and Pixar Pictures make those wonderful movies - I call it, yes, and. They call it plussing.
You can't critique somebody else's idea unless you have a constructive way of moving it forward. So you accept the offer and move it forward. So we've only got one story in the meeting, if you like. It's not somebody's saying, I've got a crazy idea. Forget what you said. What about chickens? And the facilitator is you know, thank you, Nigel. That's great. Now chickens is good. Good. Well done. And somebody's thinking can we not do chickens? What about the idea that got lost a minute ago? And that's where reincorporation can come back.
So it has to be well facilitated. And again, we're not particularly good at teaching facilitators and leaders to curate that kind of environment where people do feel involved, do feel supported and the right voices are heard at the right time.
How to start
Basically you can do this from now. Listen without a filter. When you hear somebody say something, think that's an offer. Where could that go? Ooh, for a moment, I'll just suspend what I'm thinking and say, tell me more about that.
And treat what people say as a gift to enhance your life, shall I say. In improv we say, how is your character altered? What does she learn in that scene? And if you thought of every conversation as a time to learn about that person, about life, even about yourself.
So this just a simple idea of, if I was YES, ANDing or plussing, what would it look like? We're very easily trapped by saying, building on that, but actually do build on it. I'm going to the shops. The shop? Tell me more about the shop. I'm going to get some cheese. Cheese? We can have a cheese sandwich.
So consciously think, can I just use one word they've given me and lob it back to them that helps them build a story.
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