Standard Chartered Bank COO Meeting in Singapore

A partner of ours was a clown and Creative Director for Cirque De Soleil for 20 years. He also founded the Clown Conservatory in San Francisco.

On the very first day of Clown School, to assess his student’s capacity for creativity and collaboration, he would give them two feather boas and the instruction to come up with ten tricks involving the boas. Next, he would task his students with individually prioritising their top three tricks. Now shortlisted, he would then ask his students to pair up and combine their top three tricks to come up with a 30 second performance. The final ask was to then perform the act in front of their peers.

Late last year Explore Performance delivered the same activity with the Group COO of a global bank and her top 60 COO’s as an introduction to the topic of innovation. The attached photo tells just some of the story of how things went. Given the time, the space, and the context we are always amazed at how eager people are to get creative. So, if you are still looking for a New Year’s Resolution maybe consider committing to blocking an hour a week for some creative thinking or doing. After all the world needs your best big thinking.