sightlines.usitt.org: Shortly after I was named theatre department chair in 2005, I walked past our main acting studio before evening rehearsals and noticed the trash can was overflowing. I knew the building janitorial staff would not be back until morning, so I grabbed the can and took it out to the loading dock to empty into the dumpster. As I carried the full can out, I ran into a student who asked me a question that has stuck with me ever since.
He said, “Hey Mark, do you have to take out the trash because you are the new department chair, or are you the new department chair because you take out the trash?”
14 comments:
Yes, there always is something else to do. I think as managers we notice that more than anyone else because our job is to be the ones to notice tasks that need to be done and helping to finish them with our crew. It is important to always remember that the trash may need to be taken out but you don’t have to wait for the right person to do it, you can do it in the matter of 5min. Never think you are above doing the basic jobs. This summer I reminded myself how important it is to do these “menial” tasks ourselves as stage managers. I would wait for my crew to arrive to have them sweep the stage but then I realized I was arriving early anyways and could get a head start and do it. What I came to see is that we were able to get things done more efficiently and on time when I focused on sweeping and the crew focused on their special pre-show tasks. It also became my time to relax and do something mindless and just be in the space by myself. Don’t underestimate the power of doing the “small” tasks, it can be rewarding in the end.
I think one thing that often holds our production processes back at CMU is, as Lia mentioned, the fact that we wait for the right person to do things. Or, what's worse, we don't - but then act as though the person assigned to the task was supposed to be an expert anyway. On thing I think we could all remember is that no job is too little or too big for anyone so long as those with knowledge are willing both to impart it and to set it aside. I have watched on countless crew calls as pride and ego have stood in the way of learning, and it makes me angrier than showing up to a call at which my crew heads have nothing for me to do. It's seems so simple: if someone is struggling, help them. If you're struggling, ask someone for help. If everyone were willing to do this, crew heads could assign tasks blindly - sure, things may take longer, but so what? Budget in time to take out the trash while your freshmen learn to focus a light and suddenly we're all doing educational theatre again. A big head throws everything off balance.
This article has a really important point, not just about theatre, but about working as a human being in the world. You should be a person willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. There is an element to this that we cannot accomplish here at school because in the process of learning, if you take someone else’s job away from them, you are taking away a learning opportunity (even if it means they did it incorrectly in the end). That being said, you can be a decent human being here and in the workplace at large, and if you see someone struggling to finish something or a singular task that did not get finished up at the end of the night, offer to help or do the job yourself. Keeping the hallways in Purnell clean so that people setting up for events or rehearsals in the rehearsal room do not have to pick up weird stuff, throwing away your trash and finding a different trashcan if the current one is full, offering to help someone who is carrying a lot of stuff, and generally being a generous person even when busy could go a long way to helping us become better leaders in the future.
While I think it’s great that Shanda is willing to take out the trash and I love the model that there is always more to do, I think we have to be careful not to take it to extremes. We should always try to start the next task, push forward, and make progress, but sometimes certain tasks are hurry up and wait tasks. We need to stop and wait for the next task to be done, before we can continue. It can be hard to balance the two energies; the stop and wait with the go as fast as you can. Sometimes when you get into a mood, you want to go and keep going so it can feel annoying even though it's important to let the other task happen. We need to be able to balance the stop and go as well as ask for the next task.
I think the most important lesson in this article is not to always assume there’s something else to be done because for some people that would put them in a state of being constantly stressed out, but to broaden your scope of what you assume is “your job.” If you only see a very limited definition of what you are responsible for and turn a blind eye whenever anyone else needs help you are not participating in theatre in the collaborative spirit that it is meant to be done. I think this of always looking for ways you can help is a good way to not only exist in your workplace, but in the world. As Mr. Rogers said “Look for the helpers” but I think you should not only look for the helpers but be one of them. Be willing to lend a hand to large ways and small to help someone else, because in this great human experiment the work is never done. In times of crisis like the world is experiencing right now, we need the kind of people in charge who are willing to “take out the trash” both metaphorically and literally.
This article reminds me of the book we read for PTM, An Astronomical Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield, especially when he talks about if nothing else, don’t be the problem and doing acts that don’t necessarily get rewarded, much less than acknowledged. I feel that sometimes people get the wrong idea about theatre, that it is all glorious and fame spawning, and when you are in theatre it is a race to who can get the first Tony, Oscar, etc. But really it is not, as Shanda writes, it is collaboration, and every person is both important and insignificant at the same time. So in that confusion, the best thing you can do is help others do well. And god, let me thank all those who take out the trash, and those who sweep up in 33. We are already in there for most of the day, so you could image how tall the trash piles up, and then image if no one helped to take out that large pile of trash, because of a wasteful thing like arrogant pride. AS theatre people, environment is most important to us, and doing anything to maintain to its semi-clean state ends up effecting everyone.
I really liked this article. It reminds me several a major philosophies at Publix Supermarkets. There is a rule called "Don't pass it up, pick it up" which is a mentality by which team members are instructed to, in their regular duties, if they see trash or something out of place, to fix it or take care of it. Don't walk by and assume someone else will take care of it, take care of it and get it done yourself. Another principle is that there is always "something to do" and you are never allowed to "not be busy." Customer Service staff, for instance, couldn't sit down if they weren't seeing any customers. You had to straighten up the aisles, clean your register, find *something* to do and really hope a Manager doesn't find you doing nothing. I believe this mentality is a great one to have and Publix builds fantastic employees as a result. I also found it quite ironic because we have the saying in theatre that tech is like "Hurry up and wait" but the article is right--there is always something to do and I think people who have a tendency to find work to do or to get stuff done are naturally more effective and more sought after.
"How many times have you seen a production crew get assigned a task and that group works effectively to get that portion of the job done, but then just stops and waits?" This is too familiar as I was often one of those people during crew calls. Being on crew in different departments are completely different experiences, not only in terms of what the jobs entail, but also in terms of how the crew heads work/assign work. Some give you a list of all the things that needs to get done, and once you finish them, you can leave. This makes everyone on crew way more focused and efficient, because we know what needs to be done. On the other hand, there are crew calls where once we finish a task we wait to get assigned the next. Although I think this method is less efficient in terms of the time it takes to get the job done, it can allow crew members to do the small tasks that aren't on the list if they are observant and attentive.
Honestly the question raised in tis article is pretty deep. It also kind of goes back to the elementary school mindset of help everyone out, the whole mentality of you’re only as strong as your weakest link. If the trash is full even if every thing else is tip top, but a student has to miss even more pats of class to go find a new trashcan, you have made an unnecessary mistake just because you ruled something off as not your job. I know a ton of theatres I’ve been involved with and I’ve asked if we were going to do a specific task, usually stuff like put this away or go back and turn off the lights and lock the doors, only to be told “that’s not our job.” But why not you know, if it needs to be done and you have time to do it why isn’t it your job. Theatre is a collaboration at its roots.
Yes. This article makes an excellent point about not only going the distance, but also learning to think about the needs of others and then using that thought process to actually help. This is an important professional skill (everyone wants that person on their team,) but it is also an important life skill. I do think, particularly out in the professional world, that you have to be careful when offering assistance or ‘just taking care of things’ that you’re not stepping on union or an individual’s toes. You also have to be careful, in being proactive in offering help that you also don’t take on more than you can handle. It all boils down to a deeply felt understanding that production teams are all “in it together.”
As a manager, learning to actively think about what all members of the team need is a part of our training, but I think it’s a skill set that is valuable for all collaborators to learn.
This is a good article. It is important to keep in the mindset of "the work is never done," sometimes, because then, like the author says, you can have the constant moving goal of the best production (or other thing you are working on) possible. But, while I do not think the author was trying to say this, there is also a dark side to that mentality that a lot of us younger students are struggling with.
For a lot of projects I have had in my life, I have had a very hard time stopping. Especially things like an art piece or an idea for a set or blah blah blah. I have had a hard time deciding when it was finished. This led to me overworking and overthinking and overstressing the simplest things, and in some cases, almost ruining the project. While I think there is always more to do, there is also a point where you need to walk away. Now this is more for philosophical ideals, obviously this doesn't apply to not taking out the trash. But I have seen a lot of talented people careen into the ground because they get far too into their own head to get themselves out and look objectively at the work. I think that is something we should emphasize here more. Learning when to take a few steps back and separate yourself from the work.
With this day and age, I agree that you do so several people just get away with trying to do the bear minimum amount of work without wanting to go further and beyond. I like to see a project through to the end, and do my share and pick up trash along the way. It is almost like a pet peeve of mine. It doesn’t end there though, While it may only be a small thing, to have to do someone else’s work is more of an irresponsibility on them. I find the need to get the job done no matter what. If it means I have to clock more hours, I’ll do it. It’s not how I thought I would spend my time, but I don’t like to see someone or something fail when it is a collaborative effort. It’s something like this that is currently happening now, but what a way for the year to transgress.
Certainly, there is always more to do. In Purnell, all I have to do is walk through the theatres and through any of the various production shops to see that there are plenty of things that can be done to make life just a little bit easier. An infinite list of small helpful things, such as the outlined taking out of the trash, taping down cables, sorting hardware, putting equipment and hardware back where they are supposed to go, etc. At least for me, sometimes it is easy to get frustrated by the amount of small nitpicky tasks that seemingly get avoided. But I get it, everyone is tired, everyone wants to go home. So sometimes, even when it is out of my wheelhouse, I will do that "extra thing" that might pay off in the long run. So when the scene shop is running around looking for cable cutters, they are actually back in the rigging box where they ought to be... I certainly agree that the most powerful mindset to implant in students, not just in our program, is that there is always something else to do!
I absolutely love this article. It makes an important point, that there is always something more to do, but I think it makes an even more important distinction about character. Success will come to those strong in character, and being strong in character often means looking around and seeing what you can do for others to keep the production or the company or the whatever moving in the right direction. Actions like taking out the trash (I think) are what separates the people who work because it's a job, and the people who work because they truly care about the project. When you really, truly want to see something done successfully, you don't say "Hey now, that's not my job, someone else will do it." You simply say, "Oh, that needs to be done, let me get that." It's about picking up other's slack when they may be dealing with something else, it's about understanding that people are human and let things fall to the wayside, and it's about respecting yourself and your position in the company and KNOWING that that means not isolating yourself to your specific tasks, but always doing your personal best to make the company a better place, the project a better outcome, the show a better experience.
Take out the trash. You aren't above it.
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