Context Matters

We’ve all seen an online video clip that looks completely different once you see what happened before and after it. The clip didn’t change. The context did.

Context matters in learning, too. At Engage Unscripted, we use exercises rooted in improvisation to explore communication, listening, collaboration, adaptability, and how people work together. But the point isn’t the game. The point is what the game allows us to see and discover.

Take an exercise where people are given different roles in completing a task. One person provides direction. Another can only ask questions. Someone else has to do the actual work. Another can provide coaching and feedback. It can be chaotic. It can be frustrating. And, yes, it can be pretty funny. But we're not doing it just because it's fun.

What happens during the exercise gives us something to talk about. Maybe the person giving directions realizes they weren't nearly as clear as they thought they were. Maybe someone discovers how valuable questions can be when you aren't allowed to simply provide the answer. Maybe the group realizes they started working before everyone understood the goal. Or maybe someone notices something completely different. That's important.

I may introduce an exercise with a particular idea in mind, but that doesn't mean everyone will, or should, take the same thing from it. That's where context comes in. What happened before or what happens after matters? What ideas and preconceptions did people bring with them, and what are they leaving with matters?

For me, there are four parts to making these experiences useful: Experience. Reflection. Connection. Application.

The experience gives us something real to examine. Instead of talking theoretically about communication or teamwork, we actually communicate, work together, and see what happens.

Then we reflect. What worked? What didn't? What surprised us? What did we do that helped? What got in our way?

But reflection by itself isn't enough. We need to make a connection. Where does this show up for us? Maybe it's something I recognize in myself. Maybe it's something that happens on my team. Maybe it's how different groups across our organization work - or struggle to work - together. Sometimes an exercise connects directly to a real problem people are already dealing with. Other times it creates a little self-reflection: Huh. I do that. And sometimes it helps us see an opportunity we hadn't recognized before.

That's also where my experience matters. After nearly 30 years working with teams, leading people, facilitating change, teaching, coaching, and improvising, I've seen a lot of these behaviors outside the workshop room, too. That doesn't mean my job is to tell everyone what they just learned. Quite the opposite. My experience helps me recognize patterns, offer a real-world example when it helps, and ask better questions.

Sometimes the most valuable moment in an exercise is when someone says: “I do that.” Or, “Our team does that all the time.” Or, even better, “What if we tried this instead?” That's the connection.

And finally comes application. What do we do with what we just discovered? Maybe I ask another question before making an assumption. Maybe I listen a little longer before jumping in with my answer. Maybe our team gets clearer about roles before starting the work. Maybe we change how we involve another group in a decision.

It doesn't have to be a huge change. It just has to leave the room with us. Because if everyone participated, laughed, and had a good time, that's great. There's nothing wrong with a fun hour. But that's not what Engage Unscripted is there to do. We're not trying to create improv performers or put on a show. We're using improvisation to create experiences that let us see ourselves and the people we work with a little differently.

Experience gives us something to examine. Reflection helps us understand it. Connection makes it relevant. Application asks us to do something with it.

The exercise may be where we start. But what happens after the exercise is why we're there.

That's why context matters.