Page 8 of Love ad Lib
‘Yes, but they had a key so they went in.’
‘Yes, but all the shelves were empty.’
Henry looked at Troy, seeing his own frustration mirrored back at him.
‘Okay!’ Libby called out, silencing the room. She strolled between the groups. ‘So, how did the two exercises compare? How did they make you feel?’
No-one spoke, despite her encouraging expression. Henry had the overwhelming urge to jump in and save her even though he knew full well she didn’t need any help.
‘The first one was fun and the second frustrating,’ he said.
You’d think he’d invented a cure for cancer by Libby’s response.
‘Yes!’ she exclaimed as she high-fived him. ‘Go, Henry! That’s exactly right! “Yes, and” builds, opens and affirms the other person, however, “yes, but” negates what they have to say and closes the discussion down.’ She threw her arms wide. ‘This is “yes, and”,’ she said and then brought her hands together as if squeezing the air into nothingness. ‘And this is “yes, but.” What kind of person do you think you are? How do “yes, and” and “yes, but” work in your life?’
Silence.
Henry had the sudden and horrifying thought that he might be one hundred per cent a “yes, but” person.
‘Yes,’ James began. ‘But—’
Carl laughed.
James scowled at him, and turned back to Libby. ‘You can’t say yes to everything.’ He looked at Carl. ‘Unless you’re Carl’s sisters last night.’
‘Fuck off,’ Carl replied.
‘Yes,’ Libby replied. ‘And, James is right. Sometimes you need to be a “yes, but” person. If you’re a surgeon, there might be moments when you have to shut down an idea. But if you’re trying to build something and inspire collaboration and creativity you need to be a “yes, and” person to get things going.’
‘This morning,’ Claire continued, ‘we’re practising taking risks and being comfortable when we’re vulnerable. Once we remove our filters, we get to be creative and express our authentic selves.’
Henry wasn’t entirely sure he knew what his authentic self was. He’d spent most of life with more filters than a social media app as a direct response to parents who didn’t seem to possess any at all.
Libby shifted a table into the middle of the room. On top was a cardboard box decorated with coloured stars and sequins. It had a hole in one side.
‘Ta da! Welcome to the box of infinite possibilities!’ She lifted it to show everyone there was nothing inside. ‘Gather around, marvellous people. Now, you’re going to take it in turns to reach inside the shiny box and have a feel around—’
‘Said Carl’s sister,’ interrupted James, prompting laughter.
‘Then take something out and tell everyone what it is,’ she continued. ‘You don’t have to be clever—’
‘You’re safe then, Foxy,’ James added.
‘Just whatever comes to your mind,’ Libby finished with a smile as if James didn’t exist. ‘Troy!’ She took his hand. ‘You start us off.’
Troy reached inside the box. He looked unsure as his eyes met those of his colleagues. He pulled out his hand.
‘It’s the proposal from HR about the new commission scheme. Ha ha.’
‘Fantastic!’ Libby enthused. ‘And now I want you to pull out five things really quickly. Go!’
He reached back in. ‘Er, a tuna sandwich, a pen, erm, my desk, er, a holiday… Fuck! Er, my mom!’
‘Go, Troy!’ Libby yelled, high-fiving him as the room dissolved into hysterics. Troy looked relieved.
‘Fuck your mum?’ James said. ‘Already have, mate.’
‘Carl!’ said Libby. ‘Up you come. Now you have to pull out six things as fast as you can.’
