d. Theatre

Photo by Suttonhoo

Imagine for a moment if a theatre company put together a season like this:

It is not a static process, but an approach to creative problem solving. Each team and individual develops their own process as they work on a problem, adapting and adding to it as they go. The key element is being mindful of how you work, not just what your outcome is. Regardless of the steps you take, the elements underlying the process are the mindsets of empathy, an attitude of prototyping, collaboration, iteration and feedback.

This is the approach taught at the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford, or "d. School" for short.

Imagine not writing or directing, but ideating; not rehearsing, but prototyping.  Imagine audience engagement as the first consideration, not a happy by-product of the production process.

I have been listing in this sort of direction for a while now.  A chance discovery of the latest issue of STANFORD Magazine, featuring a cover story about d. School has left me spellbound.