Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 2021 - 14

risks come to fruition. As shop managers
(anyone responsible for budgets and
schedules), we are required to embrace
the question, " What could go wrong? "
and then communicate our findings.
But our ability to communicate potential
risks regarding scope management is
complicated by the reality that we are not
simply relying on facts but also on our
best instincts and expert judgment. What
we require from upper management and
the generative part of the artistic team
(the director and the designer) is to engage
with us in a productive conversation
about alternatives, early in the process,
when there is time to make thoughtful
changes that protect the artistic intent of
the show.
It can be mind-bogglingly frustrating
to work with a design team that refuses
to engage in meaningful or effective
conversations regarding scope control.
When this is the case, shop managers are
not being accepted as part of the artistic
team. Rather, we are relegated to subservient
roles whose main responsibility
is to blindly produce what has been designed.
But to perform our duties within
this paradigm would be an abdication of
our responsibilities and extremely detrimental
to the health of the organization.
Expert judgment is a critical part of
the risk assessment process. Some aspects
of the bidding process (materials,
for instance) can be estimated to a high
level of precision, while others (like labor
costs) can be trickier to predict. Because
we process information based on both
explicit (codified by data-driven information)
and tacit (data based on our beliefs,
insights, and experiences) knowledge
project management guidelines, this
blending of facts and instincts can make
it challenging to discuss estimates and
forecasts because of a desire for hard
facts, which do not always exist. In the
absence of those facts, we will need to
trust the instincts of those with whom
we are collaborating. Unfortunately, trust
can be difficult to achieve if the views of
all sides are not heard and valued.
Even after employing project management
tools like Work Break Structures,
precedence diagrams, and detailed
Gantt charts, the human factor creates a
variable that can be difficult to quantify,
especially when the estimates indicate
prolonged periods of overtime. This uncertainty
can make putting limits on a
design difficult, as it often relies on the
shop manager's opinion and intuition.
However, the difficulty of the conversations
does not absolve us of our responsibility
to have them. In fact, if the level
of discomfort is high, it may indicate a
greater need for the discussion.
No one can see the future, and no one
can control all the elements. As we move
through the planning stage, we make decisions
based on what cognitive psychologist
Herbert Simon termed " bounded
rationality. " People cannot make purely
rational decisions because we have neither
the mental capacity nor the time to
collect and process every bit of information
needed to explore every permutation
to reach such a decision (Campitelli and
Gobet 2010).
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What am I teaching my technical
directing students regarding risk assessment,
scope control, and communication?
Saying no has never been easy
for me. For whatever reason, I felt that
it was my responsibility to be the person
who could get the job done, regardless
of the situational constraints. As a young
carpenter, that sometimes meant doing
things I now see as dangerous because
my manager told me to or because the
organization couldn't afford or didn't consider
the ramifications or the request. In
my early years as a technical director, I
tried to stretch the bounds of reality to
accommodate the needs of the production.
Since those early beginnings, I have
grown as a manager and added to my list
of credentials, yet saying no, even when it
is the right thing to do, can be extremely
difficult. And I see my students struggle
with this aspect as well while they manage
projects. As they become more proficient
in more processes and techniques,
their anxiety wanes, but there can still be
trepidation when confronted with this
situation.
However, " no " does not have to be the
end of the conversation but rather something
that moves the conversation forward.
When used correctly and heard by
everyone involved, " no, " is recognized as
a word essential to the artistic process.
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14 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY | FALL 2021
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Risk Response
The brain's risk response system consists
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