Ep.16 - What improv skills can teach us about communication in organisations, with guest, Neil Mullarkey (and did we mention Austin Powers star?)

In Episode 16, The Occupational Philosophers chat with the very talented and very funny, Neil Mullarkey. Neil co-founded the world-famous improvisation group The Comedy Store Players in the UK with Mike Myers, later appearing with him in the fabulous Austin Powers movies. He has appeared on TV over many years, including Have I Got News For You, Whose Line Is It Anyway, Saturday Live and QI. He has also won awards for his alter ego - L. Vaughan Spencer, (L-Vo for short), A Life Coach, Self-Help Guru and Gangsta Motivator. Neil has become highly accomplished in the field of management training, running many workshops and hosting conferences for a wealth of private and public organisations where he uses the techniques of theatre improvisation to inspire business people to embrace their creativity and enhance their communication skills. In this episode, they explore: How Improv comedy can teach us how to work more effectively in teams and organisations Why listening is the critical skill we all need to master Why constraints and restrictions can liberate our creativity What leaders need to do to provide the extraordinary leadership required in today’s VUCA world Who in your business needs to take responsibility for ensuring meetings have impact And what to do when faced with an electric drill and a wombat As always, there are some great thought experiments such as: What’s in the box? Listeners Dilemmas Links https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilmullarkey   Learn more about Neil: http://neilmullarkey.com/ http://www.improvyourbiz.com/ http://succeeedy.com/ https://neilmullarkey.com/sevensteps   References http://www.provocativetherapy.com/ https://almosthappy.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Rogers https://www.seenandheard.org/ https://gestaltcentre.org.uk/what-is-gestalt/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Wilhelm_Friedrich_Hegel https://chimpmanagement.com/ https://hbr.org/2015/02/how-to-revive-a-tired-network https://www.leadershipcentre.org.uk/artofchangemaking/theory/complexity/ https://comedystoreplayers.com/