How to Fail

Building creative teams through collaboration.

In rehearsals we are ugly and boring and graceless. For actors and directors, who work as an ensemble to invent brand new work, rehearsals is the where we fail – all the time. It’s where our ass hangs out.

“How to fail” uses the experience of ensemble theatre-making and applies it to the board room, the away day, the brainstorming session or the strategic planning meeting. It creates the environment of the rehearsal room and equips the participants with the tools for safe, productive, healthy failure.

This workshop is based on the assumption that a group of people are more creative than its most creative member – that people simply perform more creatively in collaboration. However, what if the individual potential is being hampered by group self-consciousness and overthinking? What if people are withholding their creativity until they feel the idea is a “good” idea or until it’s a “finished” idea? What if those unfinished, bad ideas don’t ever get a chance to become good, finished ideas because people are filtering out their first impulses?

“How to fail” gives a series of exercises and skills that recalibrates a team’s relationship with failure. It takes practical steps to create a culture that allows for accidents, allows for one stupid idea to spark another good one, to say “yes, and…” or “no, but…”, encourages team members to speak before they know what to say, and erodes the concept of the ownership ideas in favour of a collective ownership.

“How to Fail” takes the long standing principals of collective theatre-making and packages them in a way that gives your organisation the creative edge that you’re seeking in a competitive marketplace. It takes your creative people and turns them into a creative team.

If you’re a Managing Director, CEO, Human Resources Manager or Team Leader and you’re interested in this workshop, you can contact me at [email protected] to meet and discuss your particular needs, with no obligation to continue.

With every client I tailor the workshop to fit their needs, schedule and budget.