In this episode, we welcome Belina Raffy, founder of Maffick (which means to 'boisterously celebrate'​), where she offers innovation & business improvisation consulting, coaching, inspirational talks and workshops to help us, our organisations and the planet to thrive. Belina also empowers social entrepreneurs, scientists, experts and activists to do Sustainable Stand Up, while editing and publishing her book 'Using Improv to Save the World (and me)'.

Tune in to this delightful conversation with Belina to learn more about how an improvisation mindset can be a healing lens to look at life, and can bring lightness and joy to challenges in our life and those of our planet. Here are some highlights from this episode:

1. Improv & humor as a tool to empower action. In challenges so serious as climate change, we can feel incapacitated by the scary statistics. The power of humor and improvisation can be used in this contextual environment where innovation and creativity are essential to finding a solution. There is something powerful about being present and connecting in joyful ways to innovate productively instead of being disconnected and fearful.

2. Bring improvisation mindset to help for transformation. The core capabilities of improv: letting go, noticing more and using everything, are practical to anyone tackling sustainability challenges. Letting go of ideas and behaviors that don’t serve us, noticing more of our own resourcefulness, and using it to move forward. The improv mindset helps to bring a lens of lightness to the challenge of climate change, to suspend judgment from ourselves, and to notice more.

3. Biomimicry example  for a thriving planet. What would be different in your organization if you really wanted life on the planet to thrive? Perhaps biomimicry infused with improv comedy could provide an answer. A healthy forest can help us design environments where people can have time and space to replenish and connect in a joyful way, especially after a pandemic where people are experiencing Zoom fatigue from back to back online meetings.

4. Startup founders should try standup comedy too. Too many times we hear talented entrepreneurs doing pitches that are too scripted and with no humor. It is refreshing to see someone brave enough to feel at ease with themselves and use genuine humor in their pitches. Improv comedy helps develop the much-needed resilience, so founders can bounce back easier, find joy in the startup journey and bring about positive change.

Episode references:

“Using improv to save the world (and me)” book by Belina Raffy

More about Maffick

4 S’s of healthy attachment by Dr. Dan Siegel.  The 5th S, ‘sense-making’ is by Peter Fonagy, talking about epistemic trust.  Blog by Dan Siegel:

The stand-up comedy set by the lady who doesn’t eat cows

The stand-up comedy set by the Feminist

The stand-up comedy set about being morally inconsistent in sustainability

More about Mister Rogers

The Frontier Development Lab USA and Europe

Credits:

Intro-outro song "Sparks" by Ian Preece