Pontus Holmgren: Playback in organizations

Big Bang
The world needs collaboration between people and across boundaries more than ever. There is social and economic injustice and awareness about a global climate change is getting stronger every day. More and more people want to align with a vision that can help us live a more sustainable life on this planet.

I believe in, and want to support an on-going paradigm shift that is taking us:

from:                                                               to:

Problem focus                                           Appreciative Inquiry
Planning                                                        Prototyping
“Predict and control”                            “Dynamic steering”
Hierarchies                                                 Functional networks
Directing                                                      Co-creating
Uniformity                                                  Diversity

In this context, Playback theatre is a powerful tool to use in change situations in our communities as well as organizations. Using Playback theatre in an atmosphere of openness and trust gives the possibility to talk about difficult and important subjects where different stakeholder may have contrasting views. According to Theory U we need to deal with the voices of judgement, cynicism and fear in order to be able to co-create, (pre)sense, crystalize and
prototype new ways of being together in this world.

In this workshop we will explore  and share how playback can contribute to catalyse change and dialogue in organisations and society. Helping us in dealing with dysfunctional boundaries
and succeeding in cross-collaborating on the important social, existential and environmental issues that are at stake in this time.

Some questions to explore:

– What are the possible effects of using playback theatre in change contexts?
– How can playback contribute in building a culture for learning based on humanistic values?
– What are the success-factors and pitfalls in doing and teaching playback in change situations?
– In what way can playback be used in combination with Theory U, Art of Hosting etc.?
– What theories and tools about change are good to have and use in combination with playback theatre?

 

Pontus

I have been working with change and leadership Internationally since the beginning  of the 1990’s.  I started to use playback as a consultant and psychologist bringing it into change contexts in organizations in 2002.  The last 10 years I have been involved in using playback in both private and public organizations as well as NGO’s in more than 100 occasions. Since 2014 I have been teaching and giving workshops on the topic of playback, organizations and change in Stockholm, Moscow and Amsterdam and Montreal.

I am a member of the strategic committee of CPT and a trainer in Scandinavian Playback Theatre Studio which an affiliated school. When I´m not doing playback I contribute in other ways to a sustainable world by support organizations in becoming more mindful, innovative and collaborative.