Big Data vs. Big Emo

Big Data refers to voluminous amounts of structured or unstructured data that organizations can potentially mine and analyze for business gains.

Big Emo refers to the voluminous amounts of unexpressed feelings that get buried alive living in a world strictly focused on data. 

Improv is an important expressive tool in these days of electronic, remote communication. iPhones, iPads, laptops, desktops, etc., redefine how we communicate with each other. But when it comes to really getting your feelings out of your system – downloading them from your physio-emotional warehouse - there’s nothing like a face-to-face session of improv.

Improv is live, in-person. Real time. Eye to eye. With other people in the room. And their attitudes. And the vibes they give off. And the sweat from their pores. And the itch in their nose. And the funny way they sneeze.

Before or after or even during an intense day in the data mines, there’s nothing better than laughing your head off from the spontaneity of theater games. The buildup of emotions deserves to be released. In a safe place. In a conference room at work.

Let’s get beyond the excuse that improv is kid’s stuff, that it’s just silly play, that there’s no room for such immaturity in the adult working world. Yes, but businesses don’t need employees expressing their feelings. Businesses need employees to leave their feelings in the car and get to work crunching numbers.

I professionally and maturely disagree.

Technology is exciting. But we’re directing our excitement through our fingers - especially our thumbs - onto screens through abbreviated messages. We’re inputting data and waiting for the return of data as if our lives depend on it.

Such intense brain work leaves our vineyard of emotions out to dry. These luscious, grapy feelings we possess end up drying like raisins. Reduced in the heat of prioritities.

“Technology has been shown to reduce eye contact in social interactions, which can result in decreased emotional connection." (Carolyn Gregoire, Huffington Post, 2013)  First, eye contact gets reduced. Then ear contact. Then we never touch each other. Handshakes outlawed. A sign of aggression.

Let me be clear here: I’m not anti-technology. I’m pro-expressing your feelings. I want to promote the use of the natural talents we were born with. We each are housed in quite a bio-emotional machine, wouldn’t you say?

I propose a new definition …..

Big Improv refers to voluminous amounts of unstructured play that business people participate in on a regular basis to maintain their emotional clarity in a data-driven world.

With improv, results are immediate. When you focus on the spontaneous moment that develops right in front of you, you say what needs to be said. No thinking involved.

Your natural algorithm takes over. You have a visceral reaction. The words you say, the actions you take come from your childlike – not childish – ingenuity. From that part of your brain data can’t touch. If you wanna get technical about it, check out these brain details:

• Mathematical and analytical skills require a system of interaction between the temporal lobe, the prefrontal region and the parietal lobe, which is near the back of the brain at the top of the head.
• The interaction between the left and right inferior frontal gyri, which is the lower back portion of the frontal lobe on each side of the brain, facilitates creative thinking. (livestrong.com/article/145593-parts-of-the-brain-associated-with-thinking-skills/)

Improv is a form of play, and play, according to Jaak Panksepp, a researcher at Washington State University, activates the whole neo-cortex.

And I will descriptively add that when your neo-cortex activates, your body ignites with a new attitude – call it ignititude!

Goosebumps cascade down your body. Your mind frees. You expressed yourself in a way that your Big Data work doesn’t call for. It feels good. It feels simple. It feels natural. It feels improvisational … cuz it is.

The virtual, data-driven world is making the real world boring. I say no. Let’s seek a balance between the technology we create and our offline, real time creativity. Let’s keep the Old School notion of "social" alive through improv!