Bobby McFerrin - Notes and Neurons

Comment

Comment by Gaby Agsteribbe on September 9, 2009 at 1:23am

Hi Belina, what a great video of Bobby Mc Ferrin, it really touched me! I also love your other videos, of the commuting in Antwerpen and the documentary about the nature of reality (I saw it a while ago on television, a very original way to make a documentary). Nice to have met you in Gouda last week, bye for now, Gaby

Comment by Karen Dawson on September 4, 2009 at 1:35pm

I'm always intrigued by great performances that not only invite, but encourage the audience to co-create whatever happens. So as I watched Bobby, I was guessing that he was beautifully prepared and rehearsed and (simultaneously) was open to whatever happened. He seemed open to being altered by his audience, and he was eager to have their participation - with no guarantee that they would.

I really like thinking about leadership that way - how can we prepare, rehearse, be brave enough to share our ideas/offers clearly and in a compelling fashion, fully aware that they might not be received or accepted in the manner we hoped...ready to adapt, shift, be changed by our audience?

Comment by Joep C. de Jong on September 1, 2009 at 2:33am

Wow as Karen said. Thoughts that come to mind when I read Karen's questions and your response are that Bobby is having an absolute fantastic interaction with his audience. Right down impressive. The question that comes to mind however is: Is a great performer the same as a great (elusive) leader. And personally I feel some hesitance there. Great performers - like Bobby - do not have the 'pressure' of a continued relationship with their audience like leaders have. Where I do see the relation with leadership is in the space where he builds trust with his audience, as you say it is OK for the audience that they didn't know at times. That is where I guess he makes it safe enough for them to play with the situation, light enough to just go with whatever is there. So here again the question whether it is about light and flexible or whether is is maybe also(!) about trust and safety when it comes to creating a structure where organizational change can take place. Thanks for starting this off, really good!

Comment by Belina Raffy on August 30, 2009 at 12:54pm

Hi Karen, great questions. Here are some of my answers - would love to hear others...including yours!
- Links to improvisation - he creates a very light structure within which people are free to 'opt in' and respond as they see fit. In altering where he stands, he invites them to respond in real time. He then riffs with his fantastic voice around their response.
- connections with organisational change - creating a structure which is light and flexible enough to help people move together as a group in response to change.
- connections to elusive leadership - what happens when he splits his legs apart - people don't know what to do and laugh. How often do conflicting messages show up in leadership? His response was to make it ok that they didn't know what to do...to embrace them and keep them moving with him.
- Bobby's work has me thinking about how to create comparable exercises of light structure and playfulness that elicit similar experiences (without being great at singing : )

Comment by Karen Dawson on August 27, 2009 at 6:15am

Wow. So here are a few questions - I'd love to see your responses:
- What are the connections to organizational change?
- What connections do you see when talking about the elusive topic "leadership?"
- Links to improvisation??
- What does Bobby's work have you thinking about?

Comment by Belina Raffy on August 24, 2009 at 12:12pm

Hi Daniel! Thanks for your comment. Glad you liked it! Bx

Comment by Daniel Knutson-Bradac on August 21, 2009 at 8:27pm

Lovely. Thanks for posting this. It reminds me of Keith's teaching that we need to do the obvious in improv....do what the audience expects. So very pleasing.