#50: Affectionate Anarchy
I had such a great week last week. AND one of the reasons was that I had the joy of time by video with such a dear friend Polly Labarre who I met, egads, eighteen years at a think tank in San Diego. I have learned so much from her. She was a creator of Fast Company which was one of the CRITICAL forces that encouraged me to think business could be such a powerful positive force in our world. Imagine THAT idea/message penetrating a hard-nosed sharp-elbowed Wall Street investor like me!! She also wrote Mavericks — core training for being in business into the future.
I have been so lucky to be included into so many gatherings Polly has so gracefully created such as the one where “leadership” was taught by participants (like me) sitting scattered amidst a 60-piece orchestra. Mind blowing. I also met Keith Yamashita through Polly as she featured Keith and I was like “HOLY COW!! Polly can I meet that guy!??” Mind blowing.
What Polly taught me more than anything may be that when people gather it is important to design that space so everyone participates. That “little” point alters energy so so massively. Polly created the first couple Sundance gatherings with me — I am so thankful for that Polly. How fun.
“You are the program."
Mainly though, it was just so nice to have the time to spend and hang with you Polly.
It is always a joy.
AND… she has a note here about the Muppets and community… way neat.
pip
Polly Labarre pollylabarre@gmail.com
Affectionate Anarchy
I had one of those driveway moments a couple days ago—listening to Frank Oz interviewed on the New Yorker podcast about his new documentary, “Muppet Guys Talking.” Oz was the voice of iconic muppets like Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Cookie Monster, Bert, Grover, and Animal. He also brought a little character called “Yoda” to life. He’s also directed a dozen or so feature films (Little Shop of Horrors, Bowfinger, The Score).
He spoke with a Yoda-esque wisdom, if not diction, about the joys of creative collaboration—and brought me right back to Friday nights as a child when my sister and I would plop on the end of our parents’ bed to watch “the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational” 30 minutes with Kermit & Co. (And then we’d segue right into Dance Fever, but that’s another story).
Oz described the secret sauce of the Muppets as “affectionate anarchy.” Affectionate anarchy—what a gorgeous phrase, and also, an apt tagline for the nature of a thriving community.
Affection is the ground—the caring and compassion, the connection, the alignment that grows out of shared purpose. Anarchy is the propulsive force—the energy, creativity, audacity that pours out of unfettered humans.
Unlike so many of our institutions (which are more about “cold compliance” than “affectionate anarchy”), community—as an organizational form based on voluntary affiliation, peer-to-peer relationships, intrinsic rewards, norms & values—seems to transcend the tradeoff between alignment, connection, communality AND creativity, individuality, diversity. A community at its best is able to enroll and mobilize people to act together around a shared passion—and also a haven for the heretics, misfits, rebels, and outlaws who question the defaults, defy the status quo, and create genuine change.
I think we love the Muppets because they wear their human-ness on their sleeves. We see every permutation of humanity in them—and no judgement or pecking order. Oz said the Muppets teach us: “just because you’re not perfect and you have problems doesn’t mean you’re not valuable”
My favorite muppet was always Animal. What’s yours?
Polly's first-person bio:
I think and write and work on making organizations fundamentally more human, creative, and resilient. I’m a co-founder of the Management Lab, where we do real-world, large-scale experiments on changing how organizations change and creating the capacity to innovate and adapt. I am also the mother of a little human who teaches me every day about meeting every moment with wide eyes and wild enthusiasm. I find the biggest joy in my work when I see someone “switch on” to their power—to create and make a difference.