AGENDA 1) Origin story: why agon, why now? 2) Competing and gathering, Part 1: Global MBA Admissions 3) Competing and gathering, Part 2: Live Theatre 4) Competing and gathering, Part 3: Here and Now 5) Debrief/Q&A
Lost (and found) in translation “The root meaning of the word agon is “gathering.” (Fitzgerald 1987) “The agon was a motive power known to no other people … victory in the agon, that is noble victory without enmity, appears to have been the ancient expression of the peaceful victory of the individual.” (Burckhardt (trans. Stern) 1998)
Characteristics of the Work • 1 : 1 consultant : client relationships • Highly confidential • Often virtual • Objective is to compete and prevail • Fixed number of available places; expanding number of applicants for those places • VUCA
Enter the Group • ~ 2012: Selected institutions introduce required group evaluations of candidates • 1 : 5 consultant : client relationships • Competition now requires skilled/effective gathering • Group Relations practice becomes explicitly relevant/advantageous
Gathering and the Group in Theatre • “ … theatre is … the most extreme artistic representation of the art of collaboration.” (McBurney, qtd in Lecoq, 2000)
“Impossible Scene, Take 1!” • Spring 2014, The Winter’s Tale • Shakespeare’s stage directions are few; this play contains the most famous of them • “Aha” moment: the work done to realize this “impossible” scene can/should translate into other organizations, artistic or otherwise
“Impossible Scene, Take 2!” • Fall 2014, The Master and Margarita • A production arguably over-ambitious; unarguably under-resourced • First-ever delayed opening due to underpreparation • “Aha” moment: the work done to prevail in this “impossible” situation can/should also translate elsewhere
The Possible Scene: What Made it Work? • Clarity of task: produce a show for our audiences • Clarity of roles: actors, director, crew • Clarity of boundaries: rehearsal schedules, show times • Skilled work (and play) with authority in the here-and- now of rehearsal and performance
For further reading: “… W.R. Bion (Experiences in Groups, 1968) … gives an example of a group not getting anywhere … What he has is a group where everyone attacks the status of everyone else, while pretending to be friendly.” (Johnstone 1979, 34-35)
For further play: “If [Bion] taught them to play status transactions as games, then the feeling in the group would improve. A lot of laughter would have been released, and the group might have flipped over from acting as a competitive group to acting as a co-operative one. It’s worth noting how much talent is locked away … “
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