Using Live Theater to Create an Unforgettable Company-Wide Ethics Workshop

An off-site meeting of the top 120 leaders of a New York-based financial firm began with the CEO saying "This could be the most important meeting you will ever attend at this company." Next, a group of actors began performing live examples of typical workplace situations where employees were behaving poorly. After a while, the employees in the audience could stop the action for discussion or ask the actors to model a different behavior. The exercise led to a lively conversation about what the firm's values mean in practice. The theatrical elements provided vivid examples of the new behaviors and attitudes the leaders needed to encourage throughout the organization. Several participants remarked afterward how accurately the scenes depicted what happens in their actual business life day-to-day.