Trick And Treat??

Well, here we are at All Hallows’ Evening, better known of course as Halloween. Maybe it’s me ageing, but the whole thing seems to have grown beyond all recognition since I was a lad. Ah, the memories! We used to carry around rather sorry looking scooped out turnips with a candle inside struggling to stay alight against the elements and the dampness inherent inside of a recently hollowed out cheap vegetable with a mouth and eyes cut into it. Well it was scary enough for us, anyway! These days kids arrive at our front door wearing all manner of scary masks and expensive costumes, expecting to receive money, sweets or both! But what is it with masks particularly and human beings’ attraction to them?

Greek and Roman theatre actors used them, so we know something about their longevity and effectiveness over thousands of years. And that’s where we come in. A line we’ve often referenced when discussing drama forms here at 2macs is from the great writer and wit, Oscar Wilde:

“Give a man a mask and he’ll tell you the truth.”

It’s why we always set our drama scenarios in fictional organisations, rather than your own. Yes, we can create a pretty much identical version of the working world your people know and love, but the key to it really working is to fictionalise it just enough to enable them to be truthful about the behaviours they commonly see. The mask of unreality is just enough to get to the bottom of what actually goes on every day. From then on, trust is established, we can weave in the fun that’s central to what we deliver for clients everywhere we go, and begin to instil the process of positive cultural change. Perhaps swapping out the sad mask for the happy one.

Using drama to learn new ways of being – it’s a neat trick and can deliver a treat.

Harry is Head of Behavioural Safety an can be contacted on harry@2macs.com