One of the favourite meals of a leopard is a baboon. At night, by using his extraordinary eyesight and his agility to climb trees he finds it easy to catch a scrumptious meal. The poor baboon is at a distinct disadvantage as he really struggles to see at night, and usually sleeps in a tree for his safety.

During daytime, the roles are reversed. Baboons can see very well during the day and always have a lookout, usually pitched high up in a tree, to warn them of any approaching danger. For obvious reasons the baboons hate leopards, and if the lookout spots a leopard the troupe of baboons will hunt the leopard and kill him if they catch him. A favourite strategy is to chase the leopard up a tree, and if he tries to get down they will attack.

Producers of theatre for entertainment purposes (dramatic theatre) know they are successful by looking at how long their run is and size of the audience they draw. Achieving positive reviews from theatre critics about the performance is also very important. The outcome that is measured from the perspective of the audience is the level of enjoyment or entertainment, if it is a comedy then a measure of success is how much the audience laughs. If this type of theatre with the above mentioned objectives is performed in a company or any business environment, then it is as foolish as the leopard who tries to hunt baboons in the daytime.

Dramatic theatre and industrial theatre differs like day and night. When theatre or drama techniques are applied in the workplace, a very different set of outcomes exists. The fact of the matter is that the philosophy regarding the outcomes of theatre is totally different if one compares dramatic theatre with industrial theatre. For example, a performance of Romeo and Juliet is deemed to be successful if the plot is portrayed with quality acting and some level of interpretation from the director. On the other hand, an industrial theatre production is successful when learning takes place. The perception that theatre cannot achieve measurable outcomes is based on the assumption that theatre equals entertainment. This may be true for dramatic theatre, but is totally invalid for industrial theatre performances that are based on a philosophy of learning which measures success in terms of learning achieved.

There are a number of learning outcomes that is achievable by industrial theatre interventions. On cognitive level better understanding can be created for a company’s vision, mission and values or a number of other topics. This is an educational approach and the level of understanding of the new information can easily be measured.

Inappropriate or outdated mental models, beliefs and assumptions can be revealed and more relevant mental models can be introduced. This is crucial for issues such as organisational culture and managing diversity in the workplace. The measurable outcome relevant here is change in behaviour and belief systems.

Employees often resist change and transformation initiatives. Apart from resisting change due a lack of understanding, this resistance is usually very emotional. By learning to deal with these emotions during change through industrial theatre, employees are mobilised to accept the changes. The measurable outcome is the shift from a negative attitude to a positive attitude towards the change.

These outcomes can be integrated with a competency model, for example the competency of Change Management usually includes an element of learning to deal with change effectively by managing yourself and helping others to deal with the changes.

Obviously, the learning is much more powerful if the learning outcomes are designed for a specific theatre production within a specific company. (Please refer to the case study.)

So remember – if you are in Africa and see a big spotted cat, then it is a leopard. If you are in South America and have the same experience, you are probably looking at a jaguar. These spotted cousins look a lot alike, but they live in different worlds. Therefore, entertainment is the world of dramatic theatre, and relevant measurable outcomes about learning are the world of quality industrial theatre.