Malcolm Gladwell is a cool guy. He unashamedly wears his hair up and funky, he has a biting wit, and his grandfather was a Brethren pastor. He also happens to have written two New York Times bestsellers.
The most recent is "Blink," focusing on how leaders make decisions in a split-second. After tons of study & research, Gladwell makes the case that agonizing over leadership decisions actually complicates your brain, resulting in you making the wrong decision. Much like a cardiologist in an emergency room must make a life-or-death decision in the blink of an eye, so too leaders must come to place where they can make the right decisions in a timely manner through a process known as "thin-slicing."
In creating improv-comedy, a techinque is also used by comedians that is similar to Gladwell's, a "rule of improvisation" that frees the actor to move the scene forward. For Christian leaders navigating through the minefields of life, we also want to see people moving their lives forward at our leading. Ready to improve your leadership?
Rule #1: Yes And.
Rule #2: No Asking Questions.
Yes, there is a time and a place for leaders to ask questions. Questions clarify, stretch, and probe. But when it comes time to make leadership decisions, questions can become your enemy.
In improv, you have no script. Actors are on a live stage going with their gut - an exhilarating freedom. Sometimes it feels like your head is a pinata, other times it's like Flintstone vitamins as a child - pure delight. Asking questions kills the scene's momentum. It puts people in their heads, slowing down your partner & causing you to over-analyze the situation (if you would just "Yes And," the scene/life would move forward!). 9 times out of 10, the correct answer is already within you, you just the guts to courageously spit it out. Questions can become the coward's way of abdicating responsibility. An example:
Person 1: "That is one huge clown balloon coming our way!"
Person 2: "Why is there a clown balloon on this hot, sunny day?"
Person 1: (sweating under stress) "Um... er... that rhymes!"
Person 2: "What?"
Asking Questions places an unneeded burden on your partner; Yes And accepts their gift and heightens the moment, taking things to the next level.
Asking Questions can cause you to get stuck in your head; Yes And releases & empowers you to move things forward.
Asking Questions doesn't make the funny; Yes And makes the funny.
Asking Questions kills momentum; Yes And unleashes potential.
Gladwell would even say that you already possess all the information you need to make the right choice (God raised you up as the leader for a reason, right?). Trust the Spirit and stop asking questions as a cover. Move life forward.
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