S3.C22. IMPROV EXPLORATION AND THE NORTH STAR
Real Life Discussion - Documentary
Chapter 1 : Daniel’s Anthropology and Improv
Daniel greeted warmly, “Hey! Good, and you, LIN91?”
LIN91 smiled, “I’m good. So, I’m waiting for my colleague DAV79 to join us.”
Daniel nodded, “Alright! Anything new from your side?”
LIN91 explained, “So, you know me already. I’m LIN91, and I’m here today with my colleague DAV79 from Singapore. DAV79 will be here mid-June because we will run the bootcamp at the end of June. Today’s meeting is just to introduce you both, get to know each other, and set some plans moving forward.”
DAV79 joined in cheerfully, “Hi, Daniel! A very good evening from Singapore — not very far, I think we’re almost on similar time zones.”
He introduced himself: “I basically do behavioral research — not clinical, but from the business perspective. I study how people behave at a process level, how collective behaviors change work efficiency, productivity, creativity. We’ve worked with military officers, then moved to senior executives, and now, increasingly, into universities and schools across ASEAN and the Middle East. We’re focused on shifting mindsets, which is hard but crucial.”
Daniel responded excitedly, “Amazing! I’ve been connected with what you shared, and the material LIN91 already sent me. I was just telling her how I was thinking of connecting improv with psychological approaches to workshops — helping people understand themselves better, self-development, and education. It’s like the perfect timing on both sides.”
He added, “My background is in anthropology and history, so understanding humans is part of my education. Even though my early professional life wasn’t focused on anthropology, I found the tools incredibly useful, especially when managing university publishing in Colombia.”
Daniel reflected that his background in anthropology and history gave him tools to understand human systems — and in particular, the challenges inside education. He observed that although education is often seen as the sector meant to deliver avant-garde or advanced thinking, its internal structure is extremely conventional.
He said directly:
“Education is one of the more traditional sectors, even if they are the ones that provide or try to provide the most advanced thinking. But the structure is so, so conventional that sometimes these kinds of new ideas are hard to break through.”
Daniel’s experience as a university teacher, a school teacher in Hanoi, and a manager of publishing houses in Colombia made him realize this gap firsthand. That realization led him to seek a big shift in his own life — a “180-degree change,” as he put it — and he found improvisation as one powerful way to start breaking those rigid patterns.
He saw improv not just as performance, but as a practical tool for transformation:
“Improv gives the possibility for self-development and for education that is not just formal, but more related with soft skills… and with the same idea of being a global citizen — realizing the country is not the only country in the world, amplifying the idea of all the possibilities of a human being.”
Daniel explained why this fit mattered to him. “Education is one of the most traditional sectors — they aim to provide advanced thinking, but the structure is often so conventional that it’s hard for new ideas to break through. That’s why I see this partnership as really promising.”
DAV79 agreed, “Yes, it’s rare to find people dedicated to this. One of our core philosophies actually comes from someone with a background like yours — have you read Homo Sapiens?”
Daniel brightened, “Yes! That book really resonated with me.”
The conversation turned toward practical plans.
LIN91 outlined, “From now until the bootcamp, there are several events we’d love you to join, Daniel, so you can understand the nature of our activities. For example, on June 1st, we’ll do an online parents’ talk show on using AI to stretch the mind. We’d love to invite you.”
She continued, “Then, the weekend before camp — June 21st and 22nd — we’ll run two full days of training for our student ambassadors in Hanoi. You can join at your convenience, even just periodically, since many activities will be casual and improvised.”
Daniel nodded, “Sure! Please let me know the timings so I can plan and program myself to attend.”
DAV79 added, “It doesn’t have to be full days for you. Even if you pop in and out, we can bring you into the walkarounds, the exploration.”
LIN91 reminded, “We also need you to start thinking about what you’d like to contribute on the last day of the bootcamp.”
Daniel shared his thoughts: “I was checking the program, and I see it’s really aligned with researcher skills — planting the seed of curiosity, but formalizing investigation methods to produce many outcomes, not just holding on to one idea. So I think a good storytelling piece would be to recap what was covered in the first two days, then connect it to emotions. That’s powerful — helping the group recognize the emotions that led to their curiosity and sense of belonging to the questions they explored. It’s not just knowing for the sake of knowing, but knowing to solve, to feel peace, to help their group.”
He continued, “We can design the first part of the improv workshop to help them recognize these emotions and the emotional drivers behind their curiosity.”
DAV79 appreciated the direction. “That fits perfectly. I think your idea is great — we can plug it in toward the end. Let’s coordinate around June 7 or 8 after your exams, when we can sit down and run through this module together. I’ll be in Malaysia, and our partner from Indonesia will join too.”
Chapter 2: An Alignment
As they closed, everyone thanked each other warmly, recognizing the rare alignment of missions, expertise, and timing.
DAV79 shared details to help Daniel understand the structure and scope of their work.
He explained, “We have two entities — actually three, but the third one in the Middle East is not fully active yet.”
He continued, “We have an entity in Singapore that’s essentially the research engineers coming in now. Alongside that, we have a research entity in Singapore, holding all the intellectual property and programs. Some of our mentors are from MIT, and others come from top-notch universities around the world. All of them contribute their notes into this system.”
Then DAV79 highlighted, “We also have an operational wing in Vietnam, under the group called ‘Why Not.’ This operational unit supports all the work we do, handling on-the-ground logistics and execution.”
He clarified the organization’s focus: “Our entire entity is focused on mindset transformation. We work with three main client groups: schools, where we engage with the full ecosystem — students, parents, teachers, and administrators; then we have leadership programs; and finally, we have military clients, like those we worked with in earlier phases.”
To help Daniel see the practical implications, DAV79 added, “For example, we run Project Infinity, a sustainability initiative fully sponsored by our team. It’s an experimental platform where we test our frameworks, run evaluations, and refine our measurement tools. We work in a five-stage approach that gradually builds participants’ mindset capacity.”
DAV79 didn’t shy away from mentioning the difficulties. He said, “We’ve faced cracks, failures — and part of that comes from being extremely rigid on our North Star, our purpose. For example, when we worked with a school that said they wanted to improve, we soon realized they just wanted a superficial badge. That’s not what we do. We are not interested in surface-level compliance; we aim for real behavioral and mindset change.”
On the operational challenges, he was candid: “When we work in places like Vietnam, things are more complex. In Singapore or Oman, systems are clearer, processes are followed, but in Vietnam, it’s a gray zone. People navigate based on convenience, and we have to accept that. We build flexibility into our approach. We are ready for trials, for failures, and we work to acknowledge and correct them. Our leadership stays consistent on that.”
Daniel responded thoughtfully, “Yes, I completely understand. That’s why we need to get to know each other better, start working on projects together, and practically figure out how we match. More than trust, it’s about aligning the perspectives joining the journey.”
Chapter 3 : Next steps
They discussed regular meetings and planning checkpoints.
DAV79 suggested, “Let’s plan to meet after your June 7 exams. We can sit down on June 7 or June 8 and walk through the module again. I’ll be in Malaysia, and our partner from Indonesia will join as well.”
He continued, “We’ll stagger preparations across the following weeks, with status updates one or two times a week. There will be articles, notes, and reflections to review, which will help everyone get aligned on the project goals….meanwhile -
Please join in for the session on Jun 01 - Stretching your mind with AI - bring your friends in as well
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We will attempt organise a meeting for the Boot camp - we anticpate that on Jun 7 or 8. ”
Daniel confirmed, “Perfect, that sounds great.”
By the end of the conversation, Daniel had a much clearer picture of the company’s framework — a layered, research-backed system that wasn’t afraid to admit its failures but remained fiercely committed to deep, meaningful change.