Flexibility 101

I was hired to perform my Interactive Comedy Magic & Mindreading Show at a country club in Columbus, Georgia a couple of weeks ago. Upon my arrival, I discovered the stage was in the center of the ballroom. Theater "in the round" is popular because it allows the audience to sit closer than if the stage was at one end of the room. But in reality, one third of the audience is always looking at the performer's back at any given moment!

A performer working in the round is expected to constantly turn to face all sections of the audience. For a magician of course there are additional challenges, not the least of which is... well.... keeping our secrets... secret! Now I'm not saying that if you watch a magician from behind that you'll see all their secrets, but let's face it, along with sleight-of-hand, clever repartee, and all the other "tools" in our magical arsenal, magicians do need to hide certain things from the view of our audiences to effectively entertain them.

When confronted with the reality that I had to entertain 200 people seated at banquet tables surrounding me on every side, I was shocked. I wondered how many magicians would call their agent in anger to ask why they had not been told about the room layout ahead of time, and even to state that they can't work this way without advance knowledge of the environment.

But, if I've learned anything in this business, it's that flexibility is key to a good performance, a happy client, and a repeat customer!

Fortunately, I had arrived about two hours early, so I sat down and quickly revised the contents of my show to accommodate the circumstances. The lesson here is... make it work! Whatever "it" is. As I say during my motivational presentations -- "Don't be the problem. Be the Solution!"

Who is happier... the person who complains about a circumstance, or the one who accommodates a difficult situation with a smile on their face? The one who presents problems, or the one who provides solutions to problems? After revising my show to accommodate the situation, I was quite pleased with the results. I enjoyed the accolades from my client about how flexible I had been, there was post-show conversation about future performances at his country club, and my agent got a great report.

Last week while on vacation with a group of friends, when discussing where we'd have dinner, what time we'd go, and who would ride in which car, I made the decision I'd be a flexible team-player regarding every decision. I consistently said "whatever you guys want is fine with me". The smiles I witnessed as an instant response to one less person adding confusion to the mix made not getting my way more than worthwhile.

If you think about being more flexible next time you are confronted with a challenge at work or in your social life, how can you be more accommodating to others? Let me know what experiences you've had where flexibility has paid off for you.