Change: Take a Pause for the Cause

This article is the seventeenth in a series about Change from Steve Roesler.

"Logical pauses serve our brains, psychological pauses serve our feelings."--Stanislavski

Watch a really good stand-up comedian. You see pauses between jokes. Sometimes even a pause between syllables.

Sometimes they do it to allow the audience a chance to catch a breath or to create interest about what's coming next.

Why?

Because good comedians are masters of organizational change.

Night after night they move a new group of people from one intellectual and psychological state of being to another.

The Importance of The Pause

Psychological pauses build tension and heighten curiosity.

Logical pauses between words and sentences give an audience the time needed to piece together the key elements of the joke or series of rapid one-liners. When it all comes together, you've got a room filled with laughter.

Make "The Pause" part of your intentional change leadership.

Psychological: When you pause to create a "curious" state of mind, the tension makes people want to listen. That gives you the opening to help them learn.

Logical: Change initiatives mean new information and new experiences. Periodic, intentional pauses allow everyone time to make sense of what's happening and create new context.

Where can you insert intentional pauses in order to become a really good "Stand-Up" leader?

photo source: Wikipedia

Comments

[Jim Stroup]

Steve,

What a great analogy! It's true that comedians - like the best story tellers - aren't so much "setting up" a punchline (or moral) as preparing the audience to appreciate something new, and to come on board with his or her presentation of it.

The pause allows the audience to ingest the cues, absorb the new possibilities they suggest, and to advance forward far enough to be able to recognize the next landmark pointed out.

While a lot of change efforts do turn out to be comical, perhaps they would be less ill-conceived and executed if they were informed by the attentive sensibilities of the comedian.

Once again, an eye-opening and insightful contribution to this excellent series - thanks!

[Karin H.]

Hi Steve

Agree with Jim - great analogy! In view of change and the change process I would 'translate' that personally to: quiet time, reminiscing - perhaps even 'pondering' - then re-grouping to establish if everyone involved did get the 'punch-line' ;-)

Karin H. (Keep It Simple Sweetheart, specially in business)

[peter vajda]

In a word - literally and figuratively - breathe. Allow space to enter into the field. Move away from the head and allow the whole person to engage, the heart and the body as well. Reflect. Be curious. No need to "do" anything. Just allow the "now" to inform you. Be right where you are. No past, no future. And "see" what arises, without any need to control, or "think". A way of be-ing, a presence, that adds a richness and deeper context to one's experience. A pause that, indeed, refreshes - the mind, the body and the spirit. This person, in this state, brings much more to a situation - a vastness, an expansiveness - than simply his/her small, tiny brain molecules.

[Joe Raasch]

Hi Steve,

My first (and fleeting) thought was the prospect of seeing a book on Amazon.com:

"Andrew Dice Clay: Jack and Jill and a Bucket of Change".

My corporate imprint is with GE. The culture there is one of performance - a meritocracy. Moving on to other companies, I was a bit surprised that not everyone 'gets it' the first time. Many people need time to process, to take your ideas or initiatives with their thoughts before replying or commenting.

Another great time to pause is to celebrate milestones in a project or deal. We're so quick to look for the next thing on the list, we don't stop to reflect, appreciate, laugh, and THEN move to the new deal.

Thanks Steve for continually challenging us to hone our views and clarify our thoughts!

Cheers, Joe

[Galba Bright at Tune up your EQ]

Hello Steve:

Stop the changes, I wanna get off. Only joking :). Your series is searching and it just goes from strength to strength. Thank you.

You were kind enough to comment on the series of guest posts for Brain Based Business, where I told the story of the power of the fcilitator's pause. It's the ability to be in the moment that enables that to happen IMHO. Part of my argument was:

"During a meeting with the officials of that Ministry, I somehow found myself slowing down and really listening to them...I realised that slowing down had enabled the people that I was “trying to change” to reach their own conclusions. When they were given this space, they made up their minds, we ended up with the same understanding of the problem and they initiated a series of positive changes."

Pausing helps a facilitator to listen and understand. S/he can leave people the space to sell themselves on the change.

Comedy and change management both involve drama. Maybe the comedians are more deliberate and dedicated about their craft than those of us who facilitate events and meetings. Perhaps the performance standards and measures are more explicit for comedians.

Last night I saw a Les Brown DVD. I was struck by how he repeatedly shifted his audience's mood. He made a number of deep, insightful comments and then began to laugh at himself and crack some jokes. He produced a different kind of pause. It shifted the mood without undermining the fundamentals of his message. Do you think that high emotional intelligence is a prerequisite for succesful comedians?

[Steve Roesler]

Hi,Galba

Well, as for stopping the change, I think I can't change right now; maybe I need a pause:-)

Your work with the Ministry came to mind while facilitating a group of managers today who are intent on learning how to become more effective at communicating changes. We were talking about metaphors and personal stories; the metaphors were puzzling to some. So after giving a few examples I left them alone. Fifteen minutes later they all had "gotten" it by talking with each other. The "Aha!" happened in my absence.

As for your question regarding high EQ amongst comedians: my understanding and some personal experience indicates that that is true. I have seen research regarding that but don't have the source handy. Will try to dig it out of the archives.

Finally: Les Brown is one of those speakers who I could watch quite often. Part of that is not the content; it's the dynamic that you describe.

Thanks for ALL of that, Galba...

[Galba Bright of Tune up your EQ]

Hello Steve:

The "ahas" are interesting. I feel that giving people the space is a more brain based approach. Those of us who see the value of this approach have an "interesting" task in promoting it.

With Les Brown, I get the sense that a real, sometimes vulnerable human being is talking. That makes him that much more believable to me. (I speak as someone who is sceptical about motivational speakers). I have an amazing DVD of him doing 100 push ups straight after delivering a 70 minute talk. An example of "walking the talk" if ever I saw one :)