Improv AtWork and AtLife

Everything Has a Rhythm

Everything has a rhythm, from the steady beat of rain on a roof to the soft swoosh of the ocean's tides. Our most basic rhythm is the rhythm of life - our heartbeat. Rhythm succeeds where words fail.

The New Burnout

Burnout - not a new concept in business. People like Christine Maslach, Professor of Psychology at the University of California at Berkeley and burnout guru (my term, not hers) have been studying it for years. It used to be that when someone said they were "burned out" they usually meant they were physically tired - too many hours at work with too much to do made them feel worn out. But today, when workers talk about "burn out", it's emotional...about feeling a lack of meaning and purpose in work which leads to job dissatisfaction, stress, lousy moods and - eventually - to workers leaving their jobs. Employee turnover is costly. And while some industries, like the helping professions, feel the impact more deeply than others, there's hardly a workplace anywhere that doesn't face the possible emotional burnout of its workers. So what can a company do?

A lot...and one of the things they may want to consider is drumming. (I said drumming was good for us in my last post. Here's the follow-up - I know, I know, it took me awhile to get there.)

A groundbreaking study published in 2003 demonstrated that a 6 week program of Health Rhythms drumming not only reduced burnout in long-term care workers but also reduced negative moods of workers by 46%. Another study done with first year nursing students found that this same drumming protocol significantly reduced burnout and improved mood states for these nurses. Based on this study's findings, an independent research firm projected that the average nursing school could retain 2 more students a year by using the drumming protocol. Two students a year doesn't sound like much, but losing those 2 students costs the average school about $16,800, which works out to a little over $29 million dollars a year for all U.S. nursing schools. On top of that, another study showed that with certain kinds of drumming, there's an increase in Natural Killer (NK) cell activity, which is one of the mechanisms through which our bodies fight cancer and viral illnesses. These findings reinforce the theory of a mind-body connection that influences the immune system. Okay, my head's about ready to explode with all the stats and stories, but the point is, drumming is good for us - both economically and physically.

I've signed up to become a certified facilitator in Health Rhythms drumming - I'm off to the Salt Lake City area for training later this month. Yeah, I know - I don't exactly think "rhythm" when I think of SLC either. I'll let you know how it goes. In the meantime, pick up a drum and find some folks to play with.

Banging the Drum

I just finished beating my drum...literally. I'm into drumming and drum circles. I'm drawn to percussion, maybe because I don't have any real musical ability and anyone can get sounds from a percussion instrument. Before anybody gets bent, I wrote "sounds". Nothing that would compare to the greats like Buddy Rich, Art Blakely, John Bonham, Buddy Miles or Ginger Baker (to name only a few because how much time do I have really?) but percussion instruments, including drums, are accessible to anybody. Including me who, as I admitted a couple of sentences back, have no musical aptitude...which really stinks and something I plan to remedy the next time around if there is a next time around.

Back to drum circles. Simply put, a drum circle is just a group of people who get together (usually in a circle) to make music with percussion instruments. It can be a few friends in your living room or a bunch of strangers in a park or team members at work. It's spontaneous, improvisational. Rhtyhm is a language we all understand and creating the circle together helps build a sense of community because we create something that belongs to all of us. It's also, it turns out, good for us. More about that next time.

Zorbing

Talk about thinking outside the box. Have you heard of Zorbing? It's a new "sport" where Zorbonauts strap themselves into a big inflatable ball (called a Zorb) and careen down a hill. Actually, you've got a choice - you can either get yourself harnassed inside the ball or try running it in like a hamster in a wheel. (I'm all for adventure, but I'd opt for the harness. I'm not anxious to give anyone more ammunition to refer to me as a member of the rodent family.) You can also go "hydro-Zorbing" which amounts to nothing more than throwing a bucket of water into the ball and having it slosh around as the Zorb rolls. (I'd pass on that, too. I don't need any help in having a bad hair day.)

The Zorb is the brainchild of 3 guys from New Zealand. Some argue they've got too much time on their hands. And some say Zorbing won't catch on in this country because it doesn't fit into our traditional definition of a "sport" - it's not competitive and there aren't any rules. I say the heck with tradition and who needs competition when you've got a chance to hurl yourself down a hill in a big plastic ball doing 30 miles an hour? Anybody out there tried it?

Cracking Creativty

Did you know that a classical male singer who routinely sings using the falsetto is called a countertenor? A male contemporary singer who makes heavy use of falsetto is called Chris Martin of Coldplay. This is what happens when I let my mind wander to wherever it wants. Ah well.

Back to creativity. I've been trying to get through the book "Cracking Creativity" by Michael Michalko. This is one of those books that I keep telling myself I "should" spark to but in reality I just don't. I admit I've now become obsessed with identifying why I don't spark to it. After all, Michalko's touted as a leading creativity expert and he unveiled the secrets of creative genius. I suspect that may be one reason I don't spark to him or this tome - I'm clearly not a creative genius and I'm having trouble accepting that about myself. However, I am drawn to an exercise he has in the book called Random Words where you force as many connections as possible between a list of 5 random words. The exercise is too long to detail here, but if you'd like more info on it, drop me an e-mail. I'm off to be random now myself.

Ideas

"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of old ones." John Cage

Unlike Cage, I get why people are frightened of new ideas. We're not sure where they're going to take us and going somewhere unknown can be scary. That doesn't mean we shouldn't go there. Take a risk. Unleash a new idea.

Sing It, Stephen!

"To be successful, we must live from our imaginations, not from our memories." Stephen Covey

Problem Solved, Right? Not So Fast

When it comes to math, there's only one answer to the problem of how much two plus two equals. But what's true in math isn't necessarily true in life and all too often, we stop looking for solutios as soon as we hit on something that works. And the something we hit on can many times turn out not to be the best solution to the problem. The next time you tackle a problem, don't settle on the first solution that seems to work. Give yourself permission to explore possibilities and write down everything that comes to mind. Then take a break and do that all over again. Now sit down and look at all the solutions you generated. Still want to go with your first one?

Believe You Can Do It!

There's a term that's been floating around for a few years - "psychosclerosis" - which means hardening of beliefs. When we're hardened in what we believe, it keeps new ideas from developing. And when we shut the door on new ideas, we shut the door on creativity. How does that work exactly? Consider this. What if I said you had to cover 50-80 miles on foot a day, every day. You'd say no way, right? Most of us believe we couldn't do that and wouldn't even try. But what if you were a member of the Tarahumara tribe living in Mexico? The area in which they live is rugged. The only way to travel is by foot. And since the Tarahumaras are nomads, they often travel long distances every day. In fact, it's no big deal for them to run (you read that right - they run) 50-80 miles a day, every day. And they do it at a mile and a half above sea level. How can they do that? Because it never occurs to them that they can't! Challenge yourself to think about how you can do things rather than how you can't. Get out from under hardened beliefs and open the door to creativity.

Creativity - What Are You Doing About It?

Warren Bennis said that "The organization of the future will increasingly depend on the creativity of its members to survive." For those of you who don't know who Bennis is, he's known around the world as the pre-eminent expert on leadership. I have no problem arguing with the world, but in this case, I agree with its assessment. My only quibble would be that organizations now - not in the future - depend on creativity to survive. So what are you doing to strengthen your own creativity and that or your organization?