Touched by Lee Devin
Lee Devin's "Artful Making" workshop is certainly one of the most innovative sessions I have seen. I must acknowledge the bravery of some of the Scrum Alliance team members (I am sure Tobias had something to do with this) in bringing this workshop to SG 2010.
Lee teaches these basic lessons he teaches theatre actors:
- Release
- The EDGE
- Concentration
- Listening
During the session, Lee made us do the exercises he makes his actors do.
Release:
1. Body Tension
- body movements that defy normal behavior
- increase and decrease speed
- Focus on awareness of all body parts
- move center of body around
- Public solitude
2. Mind Inhibition
- vocal noises that defy normal behavior
- "public solitude"
- High EGO + zero Vanity
The Edge:
Practising the EDGE is to reach existing limits and then release into these limits. Being OK with your limits and providing yourself the abilityto acknowledge your limits.
Concentration:
Think of the White Elephant and then unthink of the White Elephant by Thinking of the Pink Elephant
Focus on the tip of your nose and concentrate on the breathe that flows in and out thru this spot. Allow yourself to wander, recognize this wandering and then "bring it back" (by saying "cmon I will bring it back 1-2-3, and I am back!)
Listening:
- active listening
- do not allow anyone to look at your forehead
- look eyeball to eyeball
- see the mind of the other person/s thru the eyes
- listen by repeating the content
Emerging/ Accepting:
Allow the natural and authentic in the other person/s to emerge.
Lee Devin is a Senior Consultant with Cutter's Innovation andSocial Networking practices. Lee's background in theatre brings a unique perspective to the challenges faced by IT managers and managers in general.
Lee is Professor of Theatre, Emeritus, and Senior Research Scholar at Swarthmore College, where in 1970 he founded The Theatre at Swarthmore College and taught the first "studio" courses (acting) ever offered there for academic credit. Lee is also Senior Dramaturg at People's Light and Theatre. He has won prizes and grants (NEA, Mellon, EARPLAY) for playscripts, librettos, and translations that have been published and/or produced in the US, Australia, Eastern Europe, and Canada.
Lee Devin is coauthor, with Cutter Fellow Rob Austin, of Artful Making: What Managers Need to Know about How Artists Work. In this seminal book the authors explain iterative processes used by theatre directors and actors to make plays. They apply theatre lore, principles, and methods to the management of knowledge workers who create business innovations. He has presented the ideas explored in Artful Making to a variety of audiences: he has given keynote talks at the Agile2005 conference, to the Theatre Communications Group, and has been a panelist at the Cutter Summit; he has presented at Harvard Business School's Innovation Seminar and made guest appearances in Harvard Business School classrooms.
Lee is coauthor, with Rob Austin, of "Beyond Requirements: Software Making as Art," IEEE Software, Jan/Feb, 2003; "Successful Innovation through Artful Process," Leader to Leader, Spring 2004;The Economics of Agility in Software Development, Working Paper, Harvard Business School; and "Planning to Get Lucky," Cutter IT Journal, Vol. 17, No. 11, November 2004. In addition, he is author of "An Innovative Frame of Mind," Cutter Benchmark Review, Vol. 6, No. 5, May 2006, and coauthor of "Improvisation and Teaching Negotiation: Developing Three Essential Skills," with Lakshmi Balachandra, Mary Crossan, Kim Leary, and Bruce Patton (Negotiation Journal, Vol. 21, No. 4, October 2005). He is currently at work on "Knowledge Work, Craft, and Calling," with Rob Austin, for Christian Faith and the Global Market, "Artistic Approaches to Management Problems," for The Handbook of 21st Century Management, and Reliable Innovation (Stanford University Press).
Lee earned his AB, with distinction and department honors, from San Jose State College. He was awarded both his MA and PhD from Indiana University.
