Bill Gates Admits Mistake. Headline Worthy? Really?

So, here's a headline: "Bill Gates admits Contrl-Alt-Delete was a mistake, blames IBM". 

Wow.  From the article, found here: "It was a mistake," Gates admits to an audience left laughing at his honesty. "We could have had a single button, but the guy who did the IBM keyboard design didn't wanna give us our single button." 

"An audience left laughing at his honesty…"  So, we have a headline that one of the richest men in the world, who built an empire based on experiment, innovation, and development (alright, Mac lovers, that's another conversation!) admitted a mistake in front of an audience, and they were left laughing by his honesty. 

In the improv world, we do a lot to train ourselves to celebrate failure, and to find the inherent possibility in our mistakes. Mistakes happen. In improv parlance, they are offers.  They are part of reality, and a critical component of any learning/development process.  But somehow, out there in the rest of the world, the admission of a mistake has become a novelty--has become, in the case of a famous man, news. Worse, I think, is the fact that we, the non-famous millions, even fail to admit mistakes to our close associates, our partners, our loved ones. Mistake= weakness? Is that the issue?  I propose to you that admitting a mistake should actually not be worthy of a headline. It should be, in fact, a widely accepted, simple tool for success. 

I recommend an excellent book: Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts by Carol Tavris.  Let's consider the headline again, and then Ms. Tavris' title: "Gates admits…mistake, blames IBM."  Mistakes...but not by me. Yep. 

I imagine that Bill Gates has actually learned the importance of admitting his mistakes, at least in-house, long ago. But in our public culture, admission of a mistake is a big no-no.  Is it so rare that Mr. Gates admits mistakes to the public that it is worthy of a headline?  Is this merely because of the perversity of the press, or is something deeper going on? 

I am not Bill Gates. Granted, I run a small company, but its assets would probably not even account for a day's coffee-stirrer budget for Microsoft.  I make mistakes---who knows how many in a given day--dozens? So, why is it hard for me to admit one? What invisible (and non-existent) press corps do I fear? What headline do I imagine they would write, if I admitted a mistake? Would it be news, or would it be a moment for learning and growth? 

In improv, we call the little voice in our head that calls for the non-admission of mistakes the Censor. In coaching parlance, the Saboteur. Whatever you call it, it's a voice that can stunt your growth. Today, I am going to try to write a new headline: "Burns admits mistake, learns from the experience." 

I offer free sample coaching conversations. If you are interested, please contact me at michaelburns@mopco.org. 

Coaching and improv: more musings.

Coaching and improv--the parallels and overlapping techniques keep on coming. 

Last night, my improv pals and I started rehearsing for this year's run of Spontaneous Broadway.* In this improvised musical format the actors improvise eight or ten songs in act one, then the audience votes on their favorite song.  Act two is a 45 minute improvised musical comedy play that includes a reprise of the winning act one song.  

Improvising a play, musical or not, demands a high level of presence and awareness on the part of the improvisers. We have a basic plot formula to help put together a workable structure, but, since the play is improvised in real time in front of the audience, it can get confusing--an actor may not realize at first that she is the protagonist.  Or a different actor may think that he is, and then realize  that no, he isn't…adjustments must be made almost constantly.  Consider an actor in the wings, who has an incredible idea.  He may get excited, he may relish it and focus on it for a few seconds, but then, because of this turning inward, he loses focus on the onstage action. Just for a few seconds.  a twist of dialogue renders the great idea useless---if the improviser isn't listening, holding on to this preconceived idea and embellishing it, he can make a serious boo-boo. 

Style is important.  If one actor is broad, over the top, and the other is subtle, nuanced---the scene probably won't work.  The actors need to be aware, and adjust to each other---in improv terms, make each other look good. 

There's also the pitfall of "over offering."  An improvised play must begin very simply, because everything--everything! is an offer. In a good piece of theatre, there should be nothing that is extraneous. In fact, playwriting teachers will tell you that the vast majority of scripts by new playwrights are attempts to squeeze two or even three plots into one play.  So in the improvised play, we, the writer/actor/directors, must learn to let go of impulses to over offer, and instead focus on receiving what is already there and working with it. 

So it is in life, eh? Essentially, we are all writing, directing and acting our own improvised plays. Our scene partners are our families, friends, and co-workers.  How often, as we go about our day,  do we miss an opportunity to maximize our life by being too focused on our old ideas, instead of being fully present and working with the real interaction in front of us---now? 

Knowing, here and now, what scene we are in, and whether we are the protagonist or a supporting player--is crucial to success in real life situations. 

Yes, I hear you---"aren't I always the protagonist?" Well, in the grand story arc of your life, yes. But in a given scene--a little one act play-within-the-play, you may serve your goals better by being a spear carrier.  Or you may miss the call to play your finest scene because you didn't get the cue. It's all about awareness…

The coaching session can be like a little breakout vignette, a little offstage interview, if you will, where the coach and client can examine the action creatively, and perhaps come up with an adjustment that will make the next act work better. A good coach can help a client recognize the times when the client's awareness has drifted away from the important action happening now. Or perhaps, to separate a lesser plot structure, and set it aside, so that the really juicy important plot, the client's success, can be better served. The client/coach relationship is improv, on the stage of life. It's as creative as anything that happens on stage. And in a good coaching relationship, there is always the potential to produce a hit. 

I am offering free sample coaching conversations. If you'd like to explore coaching with me, drop me an email at michaelburns@mopco.org

*Spontaneous Broadway Is a service mark of Kat Koppett and Freestyle Repertory Theatre.  Used with permission, all rights reserved.