Rule 9: If it's broke, fix it.
In 1911 Nevil Maskelyne and David Devant, two of the premier magicians of the day, published Our Magic. In the first section, The Art in Magic, Maskelyne outlines 20 rules for magic performance. After well over 100 years, are these rules still relevant, and do they apply to more than magic?
Rule 9: Always remember that a plea of justification is, ordinarily, an acknowledgement of error and, consequently, demands every possible reparation.
Have you ever had to do a performance review at work? I used to hate them. I mean full on, panic attack hate. I’d ask them to skip the bits I did well and just tell me anything I needed to fix so I could get out of there quicker. Hopefully I’m in a tiny minority on this but I never found them useful and never felt supported through them.
Yet they continue to be popular and used as a tool to support team members around the world. In essence they are a structured, formulaic version of this rule; without blame or shame, let’s work out what’s going wrong so that we can fix it.
As I said in Rule 8, when we’re dealing with a performance or presentation we’ve created, this can be hard. We get defensive, even towards our own criticism. There have been plenty of times when I’ve tried to justify defects when, in reality, I was making excuses. This in turn prevents me from making changes that will better my performance.
Here are some excuses that I’ve used in the past that are my attempt to justify avoidable defects:
| What Happened | What I said as Justification | Lesson I Should Have Learned Instead |
|---|---|---|
| I got a much less favourable reaction to my show than I am used to. | “They were a bad audience.” | Some audiences take more work from me. |
| My pen ran out/trick didn’t work/many other things. | “It’s not my fault that x didn’t work.” | I need to at the very least do a mental checklist before each performance to ensure I have everything I need and that it is all in working condition. |
| Because a volunteer did something unexpected or unnoticed, my routine failed. | “The volunteer didn’t do what I expected.” | Volunteers need to be closely watched and, if an effect needs them to act in a specific way, they need to be well managed too. |
These are quick and off the top of my head, I’m sure I could think of plenty more (which in itself is a little troubling).
It’s hard, but every now and then you’re going to have to take a big drink of coffee and a look in the mirror. Don’t worry, you can do it! It’ll only make your work better!