Breakthrough Bard: Speaking the truth through Shakespeare has been saved
Podcast
Breakthrough Bard: Speaking the truth through Shakespeare
Betsy Sullivan explores breakthrough from the lens of Romeo & Juliet
Shakespeare's works aren't just about dramatic speeches and tragic endings. Tucked away in those famous lines, there are deep lessons about human nature, innovation, and the advantages of not playing nice. This episode explores where Romeo & Juliet went wrong, and which Breakthrough Manifesto principles may have changed their fates, had they been leveraged in time.
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Find out how Breakthrough Manifesto principle ‘Don’t Play Nice’ could have saved Romeo & Juliet
Dive into the timeless work of Shakespeare and discover how human nature, and the comfort and idealism of playing nice, led to the ultimate demise. Had Romeo & Juliet applied principles from the Breakthrough Manifesto, would their story have a different (and less tragic) ending?
To borrow from your Breakthrough Manifesto, the nurse watches the elephant in the room grow, but when she starts to not play nice, it's almost too little, too late. The ship has sailed and she can't save Juliet anymore.
Transcript
Kim Christfort: Romeo, Romeo. Where for Art Thou Romeo?
A famous line. Most of us have probably studied it at some point in school. But what can Shakespeare teach us about Breakthrough? It may seem like an unexpected pairing, but embedded within Shakespeare's plays are deeper lessons on human nature and on one of the harder Breakthrough Manifesto principles: Don’t play nice. In Romeo & Juliet, we witness the importance of getting the truth on the table…before characters meet a perilous end.
Betsy Sullivan: “To borrow from your Breakthrough Manifesto, the nurse watches the elephant in the room grow, but when she starts to not play nice, it's almost too little, too late. The ship has sailed and she can't save Juliet anymore.”
Kim Christfort: That was Betsy Sullivan, a Shakespearean scholar and educator who focuses on physical and virtual immersion and contemporary Shakespearean adaptations with an eye toward how innovations in tech might illuminate new readings of old stories. Today we're talking to Betsy about the deep-seated feud between the Montagues and the Capulets in Romeo and Juliet, and exploring which Breakthrough Manifesto principles were at play, or not, throughout this timeless work.
About Breakthrough by Design
How can you get to Breakthrough? Find out on Breakthrough by Design, the podcast of innovative and engaging conversations with a diverse array of guests: from scientists to CEOs, from actors to athletes. This podcast stems from the recently launched book, The Breakthrough Manifesto: 10 Principles to Spark Transformative Innovation, co-authored by our host, Kim Christfort and Dr. Suzanne Vickberg.
The Breakthrough Manifesto is a collection of 10 visionary principles to obliterate barriers to change and ignite a whole new level of creative problem-solving. Drawing upon decades of experience working with the world’s best-known organizations and their teams, the authors provide practical advice that goes beyond “business as usual” for successfully tackling intractable challenges.
Learn more at www.breakthroughmanifesto.com.
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