[OSList] How to prepare to be surprised?

[Harold Shinsato]

Thanks for so many wonderful responses and food for thought. It was very 
cool to see it inspired a video from Alex Iglecia. Clearly a lot of 
years went into getting to that level of understanding the mind/body 
elements that guide his recommendations about how to prepare to be 
surprised.

I especially enjoying the poster tip. It seems a very simple way to get 
people in the right mood. I was wondering if there were any good artwork 
for such a poster that I could do for my next Open Space - but Thomas' 
upside down seems elegantly simple.

Improv came up several times. I love improv! I think it's interesting 
that one of the leading improv gurus, Keith Johnstone, wrote a book 
called "Don't Be Prepared". He's more famous for "Impro", but I cracked 
open the book that seems to eschew preparation and came upon the 
beginning of a chapter titled "BEING THERE":

    My first students seemed quite normal until I asked them to
    improvise; many of them would then become 'over-strong', banging
    violently on tables, or patting their partner's shoulders with flat
    hands that did not yield to the contours that they touched.

    If I walked into a scene when they were 'acting' they often failed
    to observe me, and their muscles felt as hard as wood. A player who
    tried to join a scene in progress was always likely to be ignored. [...]

    I began interrupting improvisors in mid-flight to ask them what they
    were doing (I'd never acted so I need to know). Always they'd use
    the past or the future tense. "I just came in the door," they'd say,
    or: "I'm about to sit on the sofa"; no one ever said: "I'm wondering
    where to sit!"

    I realized that my own mind moved into the past or the future
    whenever I felt insecure (Should I do this? Should I have done
    that?), and that when I seemed to be 'listening' to someone I might
    actually be thinking up something clever to say. My students were
    showing an extreme version of this behaviour.


What's interesting to me is that it does not seem normal to be able to 
improvise well. It appears to take a lot of practice being flexible, 
limber - keeping the body and mind stretched. Keith Johnstone's book is 
filled with preparations to make it possible to not be prepared. Just 
one more quote from his book - under "Paradoxical Teaching":

    ... if you want students to master the art of 'not-blocking' ideas,
    ask them to 'block' ideas (because then they'll recognize blocking
    when it occurs inadvertently); and if you want them to act well, let
    them have fun acting badly (this helps them shed a lot of fear).


     Harold


On 4/6/12 3:27 PM, Thomas Herrmann wrote:
>
> One way I do, that may be of assistance, is that I write those words 
> at the entrence -- and SURPRISED I write upside down -- clear message J
>
> Cheers
>
> Thomas Herrmann
>
> *Från:*oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org 
> [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] *För *Harold Shinsato
> *Skickat:* den 4 april 2012 18:39
> *Till:* oslist at openspacetech.org
> *Ämne:* [OSList] How to prepare to be surprised?
>
> Searching through the archives there were many many postings about "be 
> prepared to be surprised". But "How to be prepared to be surprised" 
> returned 0.
>
> Any tips on how to prepare? It came up as a question today for me in 
> conversation with someone - and I can't believe I've never thought 
> about it before. How do you prepare to be surprised? Any thoughts, tips?
>
>     Thanks!
>     Harold
>
>

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