The late, great, Michael Warren Powell gave me an enormous gift during an audition. A mentor, teacher, and dear friend, he reminded me to make the positive choice. In theater this means that one’s character must have hope, that no matter how futile the given circumstances, no matter how colossal the obstacles, our character believes they will get what they want, that their intention is attainable. If we give up hope, there is no play, no action, no story.

This is true in life, as well. In order to continue, to persevere, we must believe our goals are attainable, that our dreams are possible. Tillich called this, “the courage to be.”

The day MWP gave me this gift, I was auditioning…Read on.

To have truly generative and creative meetings, we need to put our analytic minds aside and open ourselves up to what scientist and improvisational actor,  Uri Alon calls, “the cloud.” Easier said than done! But there are a few tricks we can take from the world of theater to set the stage for creativity, even in the board room.

1) Set up the meeting by reminding everyone …read on.