Act, feel, think. An experiential training program to bring "hidden assumptions" into "consciousness."

Unconscious biases revealed through role-playing

Kaito: Mr. Fujita, thank you for meeting with me today. I joined the company as a new graduate in 2019. By the time I joined the team, DDL's approach to unconscious bias and how to engage with it was already fairly well-established ( see previous article ). However, I was struggling with how to communicate that effectively. That's when I learned that

I heard about this musical company called Ongakuza Musical. Apparently, they conduct unique training using a stage direction method called Theater Learning.

This question immediately prompted my trainer to reach out.

Musicals × training? Theater Learning? What exactly was this... My trainer immediately reached out. It's rare for a musical company to offer "training," right?

Fujita: It didn't start with us saying, "Let's do training." To explain its origins, Ongakuza Musical is a company active since 1987, dedicated solely to creating and performing original musicals.

Our approach emphasizes member autonomy in creation, using our unique "Wormhole Project" system. Rather than following a predetermined script or direction, everyone involved collaborates through repeated trial and error to build the work.

※Wormhole Project
In the creative process at Ongakuzamusical, everyone involved—producers, actors, staff, planners—becomes a stakeholder. They exchange opinions, transcending their roles. This unique creative and directing system was developed by Ongakuzamusical's founder, Reiko Aikawa, and named the "Wormhole Project."

Therefore, actors are encouraged to freely share ideas, actively communicate, and "break out of their shells to express themselves." This is by no means easy; it requires building trust through group work, synchronizing efforts in role-playing, and navigating various stages. Through repeated trial and error, methods gradually became established.

Eventually, we thought it might be interesting to let people outside the acting world experience this expression technique as a "method of communication that creates something new." So, we held workshops for musical theater audiences. These were very well-received, leading to the development of "Theater Learning," a training program for companies and organizations.

The training is custom-made to address various challenges. For example, to tackle issues like "developing leadership skills" or "enhancing teamwork," we pick everyday scenes from settings like "school" or "company" and use them in role-playing.

Kaito: So we also got some meeting time and went to hear about it.

Fujita: Before we even got to unconscious bias, I spent about an hour and a half just rambling on about Musicza Musical's activities (laughs). That's when I realized there was a common thread between the themes in Musicza Musical's works and DDL's approach to unconscious bias.

Kaido: The passage from Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince that you shared with us then really stuck with me. That

What is essential is invisible

. Problems caused by unconscious bias also arise because true feelings are invisible, leading to misunderstandings. I felt there were many overlapping points and strongly wanted to create something together.

I always looked forward to every meeting with Ongakuza Musical. As a first-year employee, I was able to produce while gaining new discoveries and insights, overlaying them with my own real-world experiences.

Fujita: The theme from The Little Prince – "Perhaps the truly important things exist in places invisible to the eye?" – is always present within Musicza Musical. That's probably why our conversations clicked so perfectly.

Taking experiences "back home." A program focused on life after training

Kaito: That's when we started developing the training together. DDL's main concern in developing the training was that if we just explained things in a classroom setting, people might think they "understood" at the time, but it wouldn't stick in their lives afterward.

Unconscious bias only surfaces in "interactions and communication with others," so without two-way communication, it's hard to truly grasp.

Therefore, we thought that if we created a training program where participants could experience unconscious bias firsthand, it might leave something lasting in their lives and future. That's why we decided to incorporate the "role-play" element used in theater learning.

Fujita: Before we arrived at that point, we had many discussions and came up with various ideas. The approach that best matched our goals was the role-play method, where participants act out "assigned roles."

Kaito: The program works like this: professional actors from Ongakuza Musical first perform a given situation. Participants then use that as a reference to act out their assigned roles. This role-playing became a major key to "Unbash Dialogue."

By improvising the roles of "people other than themselves" in various positions, participants had to instantly consider what that person was thinking, feeling, and why they spoke or acted that way. I believe this training created a more real, tangible feeling in their hearts than just classroom learning could.

Remote version of "Ambus Dialogue." Actors from Ongakuza Musical performing live.

Fujita: DDL requested an element to "take back" the training experience. By communicating through role-play with others, we hoped participants would carry back a real sense of the experience, allowing them to recall that feeling in their lives after the training.

Another feature designed to help participants take their experience home is the "Ambus Note." At Ongakuza Musical, we routinely use a tool called the "Feel Note" for reviewing rehearsals and workshops. It's divided into four sections: "Action," "Feel," "Logic," and "Next Step."

• "Action" records what was done in the workshop,
• "Feel" records what was felt during the work,
• "Logic" explains why you felt that way,

Writing this down visually structures the idea that "in this kind of situation, I feel this kind of emotion."

Finally, in the "Next Step" section, we write "How will we apply and utilize these insights in future situations?"

After sharing this Feel Note concept, the DDL team customized it into the perfect format for Ambass Dialog. The result was the creation of "Ambass Note."

The "Unbash Note" was created to help participants take home insights from the "Unconscious Bias" training. By comparing the impressions you formed about someone's words or actions with their true intentions revealed during the "reflection" session, you can confirm that "only the person themselves truly knows their inner thoughts" (A, B).

Kaito: The Ambass Note is based on the Feel Note but incorporates "IN" and "OUT" sections, making it a notebook that encourages reflection on a person's "inner self" and "outer self."

In daily life, we often sense something off, thinking, "Hmm, there was a communication disconnect just now." But understanding why that happened and applying that insight later is difficult, right?

Ambus Note aims to visualize the process behind communication breakdowns, making it easier to grasp both intuitively and intellectually.

In Ambass Dialogue, after role-playing, everyone engages in a "reflection" session where they share insights like, "Actually, I was saying that with this intention." By articulating these realizations in the Ambass Note, participants recognize, "I have this kind of bias," and the tool is designed so they can continue using these insights in their lives after the training.

200 first-year employees from the Dentsu Group in Japan experienced Ambass Dialogue!

A scene from the trial version of "Ambus Dialogue" conducted at Dentsu Inc. in February 2020. The setting was "Four teachers discussing a school event." Participants were assigned one of four distinct roles played by professional actors and performed them ad-lib.

Fujita: Mr. Kaido, you actually participated in the trial training session held in February 2020 for first-year employees of the domestic Dentsu Group. What were your impressions?
 
Kaito: Including group companies, about 200 employees who had been with the company for nearly a year participated, and it became a truly memorable training session!

After working for a year, you gradually get used to the company, but you also start making assumptions about seniors, like "They must think this about me," and develop all sorts of preconceptions about those around you.

Like, "That person is smiling, but what do they really think?" or "Did I just upset my senior?" I had my own share of assumptions too.

During the Ambass Dialogue, after role-playing, we all do a "reflection" session. There, a colleague who did the role-play with me on the same team said:

"Actually, I really wanted you to be more direct here."
"I wasn't looking for an answer, I wanted your opinion."

When I received that feedback, I realized my own assumptions were unfounded, and

"Ah, the images I'd arbitrarily held about my seniors and the people around me were just assumptions too."

I began to think.

When I first heard the term "unconscious bias," I thought, "I probably don't have that many 'assumptions'." But it turns out my feelings and impressions toward my seniors and colleagues were also influenced by unconscious bias.

Since that training, I've gradually started to think, "Maybe this person pointed something out because they felt this way." And if I feel uneasy about someone, I can now ask them directly about their true intentions.

Fujita: Since Ambass Dialog has no script, just like in real life, situations happen where "I meant to say this, but it was misunderstood as that." Then, during the "reflection" time, we can confirm that with each other.

Kaito: Plus, since the pairings are randomly selected from 200 people, suddenly finding yourself in a group of four with no prior connection and having to play roles together was incredibly fresh (laughs). When you're with people you're close to, you tend to worry about your character or position, but doing role-play with people you've barely spoken to felt liberating.

The feedback from my peers was really positive too. After the training, I went to lunch with some close friends, and we got excited saying, "Unlike other trainings, this was refreshing and fun!" (laughs). With company training, you often hear "It was useful," but "It was fun" is rare, so in that sense, it became a memorable training session.

Fujita: I'm glad to hear that. The training at Dentsu Inc. was a trial run, so we aimed to try everything possible, resulting in a lengthy program of just under three hours. Based on that feedback, we re-examined the "essential elements" and "elements to shorten," refining the content into the Ambass Dialog we recently released.

Also, during the February trial, everyone gathered in one venue, but after that, due to the pandemic, we also made specification changes to accommodate online delivery.

Kaito: Around July, when the online version's specifications were largely finalized, we brought in Japan Manpower, which handles human resource development initiatives.

Fujita: While Musicza Musical directly sells training programs, we often partner with Japan Manpower to handle sales outreach to companies nationwide. Interestingly, Japan Manpower ( ) also showed great interest in the unconscious bias theme, and they were very enthusiastic when we approached them.

Facing unconscious bias makes everyday life a little easier

Kaito: So in September, we held an online trial session for 50 Japan Manpower employees.

Fujita: The Japan Manpower participants really enjoyed it too. The most common feedback was, "I was surprised by the perspective on unconscious bias." They thought it would be training on "how to eliminate unconscious bias," but it wasn't that. DDL's approach—acknowledging that hidden assumptions exist within everyone and then considering how to act based on that—was incredibly fresh.

Seeing that reaction, I realized again how mainstream it is to treat unconscious bias as something inherently wrong. But unconscious bias is something everyone has; it can't be eliminated. However, if you recognize its existence – "I have biases too" – and can manage them, it actually leads to better communication.

If we simply label it as "wrong," it becomes harder to even recognize. Instead, by honestly confronting our own biases, we gain insights and grow. I hope this message spreads widely through the training.

Kaito: If it had been just DDL, I think the training would have been more like a lecture explaining how-to tips, like "Let's become aware of biases." Thanks to you, Fujita-san and the team, it became a training that conveys not "Communication is difficult," but "Communication is actually interesting." When you become aware of unconscious biases, everyday life becomes a little easier. Thank you again!

Fujita: Thank you so much! I'm really looking forward to seeing Ambush Dialog spread to many companies from now on.