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The Transformative Failure Bow (Part 1 of 2)
The Failure Bow has a long and treasured history in the world of improvisational theater. Recent research demonstrates that there’s a life-changing reason why. This two-part post will show you how the...
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The Transformative Failure Bow (Part 2 of 2)
The previous post discussed the history and varied application of The Failure Bow, a well-loved improvisational theater technique for returning to the present moment after a seeming mistake. This post,...
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Mindset 101
Trying to get a glimpse of your own mindset is like inviting a camera to see its own lens. Or like asking a fish to see the water it swims in. It’s tough to gain perspective on something we’re embedded...
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The Bay School Model of Mindfulness
Every so often a sweet little synchronicity opens doors of exploration. Just this past week, one such moment led me to a small school intertwining themes of mindfulness and mindset, right here in San...
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Queen of the Hill: Punishment or Principled Practice?
In general as a coach, I choose to avoid using punishment as a motivator. The method reeks of domination, intimidation, and fear, all of which poison the waters of learning. While punishment may...
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The Diversity-Unity Double Helix
Teachers at Northfield Mount Hermon met this week to work through concerns about equity and justice raised by our faculty of color. While at times difficult, the honest conversation opened up some...
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Another Iteration of the Failure Bow
Folks love the Failure Bow. It’s a simple exercise, and it can be goofy, but its implications and ramifications go deep. Thanks to his TedX talk in Bellevue, Washington, Matt Smith’s message keeps...
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The Wisdom of Mistakes
If you want to succeed, embrace failure. A year ago, I would have expected such paradoxical advice to come from a Taoist monk or a Jedi master. Now, after a sabbatical year away from school, I find...
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Under Pressure (The Wisdom of Mistakes Follow-Up Interview)
Shortly after the previous post, The Wisdom of Mistakes, appeared in the Northfield Mount Hermon School alumni magazine, a trio of students in the Video as Visual Art class asked if they could...
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A Visionary Victory for Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks: How a New Way...
Pete Carroll had heard it for years and right up until Super Bowl game time. The ridicule. The doubt. The derision. Pete Carroll’s too much of a players’ coach. That rah-rah style might work at USC,...
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When Wrong Becomes Right
Look, Ma, no steering wheel!Moving around Edinburgh with my friends Carolyn and Stuart regularly had me shaking my head in befuddled amusement. Right after leaving the airport, I got into their...
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Leading Beyond Dualisms
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing, there is a field. I’ll take you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase...
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Dolphin Training (part 2 of 2)
(This post continues from the previous one. To read that entry first, click here.) Why not go with dolphin training insights? The Dolphin Training game shows us how much fun–and success–we can have...
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Faster, Higher, Stronger
I stepped off the train in London three days ago into a wave of energy. Granted, I had just come from the open wind, dunes, and sea of the northern coast of Scotland. The tall buildings and bustling...
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Smaller Than A Baguette Box
We are creatures of comfort and of habit. Sometimes it takes stepping out of the box–or into a smaller one–to realize the limitations of our entrenched patterns. Eurostar to Paris. Melissa and I were...
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Helping Goldilocks Grow
Goldilocks knocks at the door of learning.…“The New Winston Primer Manual” by Sidney G. Firman and Ethel Maltby Gehres. Published by The John C. Winston Co., 1928. Illustrated by Frederick Richardson....
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Some Questions About Praise, Performance, and Privilege
What to do with talent-based praise?—Courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net Offering praise for inborn talent feeds a fixed mindset that can trigger self-doubt, weaken resolve, and reduce resiliency. In...
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First Idea: Forego or Follow?
Ideas galore at Stanford’s d-School. I heard several provocative guidelines for excellent design when our Applied Improvisation group toured Stanford’s graduate Institute of Design (d-School). One...
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Monster Baby Podcast #1: Intro and Relationship to Failure
A Monster Baby podcast is born! In this inaugural episode, Ted and Lisa introduce themselves and offer the Monster Baby origin story (1:10) and talk about how mindfulness and improvisation relate to...
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Monster Baby #2: Defining Mindfulness and Impulse vs. Pause
In this second episode, Ted and Lisa dive into defining (or at least describing) mindfulness (3:37), discuss what mindfulness is not (16:53) and then explore how improvisation amplifies or differs...
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