Avoid Burnout Through Play

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Applied Improv colleagues Gary Ware and Jeff Henry are interviewed for an article by Jyoti Jani Patel about how play reduces burnout.

Ware says, “It’s due to the low-stakes nature of play. Engaging in playful activities together creates a sense of psychological safety which results in enhanced collaboration, and a more open, communicative culture.”

Sometimes, the word “play” centered on work activities scares leadership. If that’s true in your organization, substitute the word “game” or “games”.

Here’s the full article, and it’s a good one:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jyotijanipatel/2023/11/27/playfulness-at-work-is-the-solution-to-burnout-we-want-and-need/?sh=132451404654

What Improv Gives You in a Real-Life Business Setting

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I kicked ass at work today on an ass-kicking level not normally achieved by mere mortals. And I owe a lot of that to CSz Portland and CSz Worldwide, and every improv instructor or coach or facilitator I've had, and especially to Patrick Short for opening that door.

I was on a 3+ hour call with my manager and two experienced, senior developers, while I walked through automating a software upgrade with their guidance. I can't even begin to express how intense and stressful it is to have folks watching everything you type, every decision you make, as you go along. They were, of course, there to provide guidance and assistance, but every little step along the way was out there in front of everyone to see and watch as it unfolded, from the big decisions to constant typos to trying to logic my way out of problems as they occurred.

Improv training meant not having a meltdown in the middle of this. Remember to breathe, take your time, listen, and more importantly, don't be afraid of making mistakes. It is amazing how well this translates to the real world.

- John Mechalas

Leadership Training Works Better When You Create Community First

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In this article in Forbes, Lynette Winter and Nir Megnazi talk about how they created a program, at a Fortune 50 company, where Leadership Training became less about teaching and more about community (first) and then coaching.

Here is an excerpt detailing the impact of the program:

With over 250 global leaders across 26 cohorts in a Fortune 50 company, the participants reported an average revenue or cost savings increase of $22.37 million per participant. Reduced attrition yielded a cost savings of $40 million over three years. Participants in the cohorts had a 2.7X promotion rate compared to their counterparts.

Notably, the participants' employees were surveyed and reported a much higher frequency of observed desired leadership behaviors. Consequently, overall employee engagement increased. These compelling business results showed that a leadership development program with community and coaching at the center positively impacts leader behaviors and the bottom line.

Here’s the fun and exciting part of this for us at CSz: we were a part of the front-end community-building in these cohorts. Improv for business is real and it can help deliver real results.

Here is a link to the whole article at Forbes.

NPR on What You Get From Improv

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A very nice, concise article that covers the basics.

It turns out there are several mental health benefits of performing this art. According to a 2020 study published in the journal Thinking Skills and Creativity, researchers found that doing just 20 minutes of improv a day can increase creativity, decrease social anxiety and increase our ability to tolerate uncertainty.

Read the whole article here: https://www.npr.org/2022/10/19/1129907651/improv-can-build-confidence-heres-how-to-apply-it-to-your-everyday-life

From Senior Executive: How Improv Can Improve Learning and Development

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  • One important skill needed to succeed in both leadership and improv: active listening

  • Good leaders and improvisers look to build on ideas to keep the team’s momentum going

  • They also know how to quickly recover from any stumbles

Jordana Cole is an improvisor and facilitator (previously with CSz) who leads training and development at Custom Ink. Here’s a link to the article - there are some great lessons here!

As a bonus, here’s a link to Jordana Cole’s Masters Thesis, Utilizing Improv as a Tool to Enhance Workplace Relationships.

Wool&Prince Founder Finds Value in Applied Improv from CSz

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13 people from Wool&Prince gathered around CSz Portland's Patrick Short. There are lots of smiles.

Photo by Mac Bishop

Mac Bishop, CEO and Founder of Portland’s Wool&Prince, writes about his company’s experience with our Basic Improv Skills Workshop:

I'd like to share our recent team building experience. We hired an improv coach (Patrick from CSz Portland) to guide us in a workshop. I had a vague idea of the listening and communication games we'd be playing, but didn't know how advanced we'd get in a two hour workshop. Thoughts of "am I or someone on the team going to say or do something embarrassing or regrettable" were running through my mind before we started. However, in our first activity, these fears quickly dissipated and even felt irrational. The game started easy but became hilariously impossible and resulted in everyone making mistakes. The core lesson: we're human, everyone makes mistakes, don't be so hard on yourself. We tend to believe that others notice and care about our mistakes far more than they actually do. If only we could treat ourselves as generously as we treat others when they make mistakes.

By the end of the workshop, my jaw hurt from smiling so much and it ended up being one of the most rewarding Wool&Prince experiences I've had in ten years. Perhaps it was the last two years of minimal group activities due to COVID or that we went into the event with mixed expectations, or what it actually was — just an incredible shared experience of growth, laughter, and team building.

View Mac’s original post (and learn more about the great clothing) from Wool&Prince here.

How Teamsnap Embraces Improv at Work

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Andrew Berkowitz has played and coached with CSz Portland since 2001 or so, and he’s also the founder of Teamsnap, great software for keeping sports teams and other groups organized and connected.

In this article, Andrew talks about how his CSz improv experience has informed how Teamsnap operates.

Here’s the complete article: https://blog.teamsnap.com/editorials/pirate-or-penguin-how-improv-makes-teamsnap-more-nimble-and-effective

Podcasts featuring CSz Portland - Patrick Short & Ruth Jenkins

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One of our folks suggested we collect our podcast appearances in one place. We said Yes.

Applied Improv is even in Forbes

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Slowly, but surely, Applied Improvisation - the practice of using improv skills to improve business function and culture - is moving into the mainstream.

Now, there’s an article in Forbes. That is mainstream.

Pros:

  • It’s in Forbes.

  • It gets some of the concepts correct and acknowledges that there is more to it

  • It’s a quick read

Cons:

  • Of course the photo shows someone at the microphone, because even if the writer knows what improv is, the editor and/or designer did not.

  • It’s a little heavily focused on Presenting. That’s OK, because improv helps a LOT with Presentation Skills - ask us - but there’s way more.

“Improv has become part of our daily nomenclature. It’s part of our culture. We now embrace the unknown and face any challenge with confidence, professionalism, tact and a whole lot of laughter.”

Wouldn’t that be sweet at your company?

Read for yourself.

New Promotional Video for Applied Improv Training

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Yes, it's a promotional video.

Here's why it matters:

  • Our values: Collaboration, Inspiration, Gratitude and Fun
  • CSz Worldwide has trainers in many locations in the US and Europe who can deliver consistent content to your many locations - even simultaneously, if that's what you need.
  • We've worked at this for a long time. This is way beyond someone you know who's taken a few improv classes and performed in a few shows sharing what they've learned. We've honed our methods over 30 years.

Have a look and let us know what you think. 

Bobsled.

10 Disadvantages of Applied Improv Training for Your Company

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Let's set the scene.

YOU are excited to bring in our company to provide improv-based training in Customer Service, Leadership, Design Thinking, Team Building or Communication Skills. You've heard some great things, it looks good on the web, and our conversations have helped you shape some meaningful goals.

And then:

The naysayers start in. It's too terrifying, risky, too touchy-feely, it puts people on the spot, it's abstract, interactive, fun; it's play; it's not serious. Worst of all, it's UNKNOWN.
 

Let's talk.

  1. It's Terrifying.

    Anything you've never done before has an element of terror in it. We understand that. Part of our introduction addresses this. You can sit out of any exercise that you are physically or emotionally uncomfortable participating in. You just can't lure anyone else out or comment on what you haven't done. Fair?
     
  2. It's Risky.

    Anything valuable is a risk at some level. But what are you actually risking? A few hours of your team's time? That's valuable. Your reputation? Maybe, but take a look at the list of clients we've served (and it's a very partial list). Every time we engage with a new client, there is risk for us as well, but we are competent enough to take the risk. You are, too.
     
  3. It's Touchy-Feely

    As our owner, GM and lead facilitator, I guide all of CSz Portland's business training offerings. This next bit may surprise you: I hate touchy-feely stuff in professional settings. While we aren't sitting at tables watching Powerpoints, we're not into creepy activities, either. There's a balance between fun and weird, and we tilt heavily toward the fun. I am as inspired by sports teams as I am by the theatre. We're different, and we're safe.
     
  4. It's On The Spot

    Many people associate improvisation with performance and comedy. This is improvisation APPLIED to business. We don't make people perform in our workshops (with very few exceptions, cleared with you beforehand, almost always during advanced work). No one will be put on the spot.
     
  5. It's Abstract

    So are concepts like accounting and marketing, until we decide what they mean. Everything we do is tied to your goals during our reflections. Your team decides what the exercises mean. At a recent Nike workshop, a participant (in the final reflection) said, "I was blown away with how each game was a metaphor for the things we face [at work]."
     
  6. It's Interactive

    Trust your team. We do. It turns out that most people are really smart (and also kind) when given the opportunity to learn in ways that they help control. Education as a top-down model is changing. We're part of that.
     
  7. It's Fun

    How much do you remember from in-class education from your K-12 or even college years? How much do you remember field trips, after-school clubs, drama, music and sports? I think I've made the point. Fun is learning.
     
  8. It's Play

    As children, most of our learning about teamwork and communication came from play. Adults don't get enough of a chance to do this - we're always putting people in leagues, keeping standings and setting up competitions. In Applied Improv, we play. Everything has meaning, and every moment is a fantastic opportunity to learn.
     
  9. It's Not Serious

    We're very serious about what we do. People "play" sports. Think they can't be serious about it? Of course, they can. We find the balance - our work is fun, and we take the meaning and value seriously.
     
  10. It's Unknown

    This ought to scare you (if you've read this far). 

    We always prepare diligently for our engagements and create syllabi for each client.

    In 30 years, I've followed a syllabus point by point maybe 5 times. What happens is that each engagement reveals what is needed to us, and, keeping the goals in mind, we change our plans constantly.

    In other words, we don't know exactly what's going to happen, either! We only know that we are competent to improvise within our prepared frame and that every client discovers important things along the way.

Does this give you the ammunition you need to survive the gauntlet of NO?

If it doesn't, please contact me and I will help.

Based on a presentation by Drew Tarvin - the 10 Disadvantages are his; the replies are mine. Here is Drew's presentation to AIN2016 on this very subject!

 

How CenturyLink Misused "Yes, And"

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In 2016, the regional telecommunications company CenturyLink (formerly Quest and formerly US West) began running a series of commercials promoting their Prism TV offerings. The spots featured the actor Paul Giamatti playing himself, somehow stuck in a house with a family who uses Prism TV, and are, therefore, "Hollywood Insiders".

One of the commercials, titled Improv, portrayed the family as improv experts who know all about Yes, And. Watch it here:

"By saying Yes, And," the father says, "We are accepting the reality created by our comedy partners, Paul."

Um, no. No, you're not...  Dad. And thus, CenturyLink (and their ad agency) misstate what Yes, And is all about. Yes means we honor what you have said by treating it as real. The And is supposed to come from us, not something thrown back at the person who initiated the interaction.

All four family members treat Paul with a lack of respect in this spot. Improvisation is based in respect.

The lack of respect is also representative of how our company has been treated by CenturyLink since they bought Quest and become our telephone provider. At the time this commercial ran, we were down to one landline, used for faxes. After I saw this commercial for the second time (and was sure of what it said), I canceled the landline and set up faxing on our VoIP system.

There are reasonable debates about how to implement Yes, And. I'm not sure how this script got shot the way it did with no one questioning the fallacy. It did get produced, and it fits very well into the Prism TV series of a terrible family treating a good actor badly.

Again, improvisation is based on respect. It requires engagement, empathy, focus and cohesion. Improv doesn't need jerks. Actually CenturyLink, the first rule of improv is be nice.

 

From Enemy to Ensemble

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Written the day before the 2016 Election; exhausted from the tumult. Is there any way that improvisation could help save our national discourse?

Jonathan Rossing is the Chair of Communications Studies at Gonzaga University, in Spokane, WA. He's also a ComedySportz player, formerly with CSz Indianapolis. His recent article in the Gonzaga Bulletin helped me answer this question - with a yes, of course.

Are we listening at all? Just waiting to speak? Listening for ammunition? or Listening to understand?

Are we listening at all? Just waiting to speak? Listening for ammunition? or Listening to understand?

"If we commit to a “Yes and” ethic, we might start to discover ways to build consensus and to cooperate rather than simply standing toe-to-toe shouting “No!” It may challenge us to say “Yes” in moments of intense disagreement where we’ve been trained to see nothing but an impasse. Yes does not mean whole-hearted agreement; instead it signals one’s willingness to honor an idea, to give it space to be heard. “And” signals a commitment to add something new that builds on the previous idea. It doesn’t mean we forfeit all our needs and values, but it calls us to the challenging work of respectful cooperation, collaboration and listening."

We need to bring Yes, And into all parts of our lives. It may be easiest to start at work, yet it may be even more valuable elsewhere.

Here's a link to the full article: From Enemy to Ensemble

Let's Fight About Making Mistakes. Or Let's Not.

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Another mantra in the performance improv world is the celebration of mistakes.

In our classes, we want to get people past the point of editing things, and worrying about their ideas and just get them to go - to make a decision, to make a move. To that end, we "celebrate" mistakes. Participants can take a circus bow, saying, "I Failed!" and everyone will applaud wildly. This comes from a simple need: if we wait for the perfect thing to say, nothing will ever be said. Let's practice on going with our first idea, and if the idea turns out to be terrible, so much the better. We laugh about it and move on.

In our own performance ensemble, we laugh and often roll around on the floor at mistakes made within scenes or games. Even better, sometimes these mistakes result in new ways of doing things and new game ideas. Mistakes are opportunities for laughs and sometimes for growth. We love mistakes!

So, naturally, we carry the concept forward into Applied Improvisation.

Almost everyone who teaches in Applied Improv brings this "celebration of mistakes" forward into their work. This seems like a great fit, especially as people are just figuring out how to work in the games and exercises. It starts to become (or at least seem) less of a fit as our clients think about applying the lessons of the workshop to their work lives. "We can't be making mistakes all of the time," one told me recently.

Paul Z Jackson, President of AIN is trying to get practitioners to ease up on the celebration of mistakes: "People keep telling me they learn from their mistakes.  And I’m pretty sure they are mistaken." Read Paul's blog post here.

I've worked with more than a few clients who bluntly tell me they cannot make mistakes. Some of them, like 9-1-1 operators (that's 9-9-9 to our friends in the UK) and front line employees at a blood-testing laboratory service, are probably right. We don't want avoidable mistakes in their work - the results could literally kill someone.  

In those jobs, the time for making mistakes is in practice (or training).  Once the whistle blows, and we're on the clock, we need precision and error-free work.

I look at mistakes in Applied Improvisation the same way. Our workshops are practice, where people can learn new skills and figure out that errors won't kill them, or even hurt them at all. My teaching is that mistakes are part of the process of learning new skills. You can't learn something new without messing up a lot. Our workshops are a great place to mess up without consequences. "In life, we are the players who live with the consequences of the actions," says Paul Z Jackson, "Context is so important."

When we're afraid to fail, we can become paralyzed.

When we're afraid to fail, we can become paralyzed.

We want to learn to be OK with ourselves for making mistakes, but often, we're still not supposed to make them in real life. Lots of "people and organizations create high stakes environments across the board, rather than leaving room for learning and innovation. It seems like skillful leaders are those who can be purposeful about creating spaces/processes where mistakes are valued." (Jim Ansaldo, Director of Camp Yes And at Indiana University)

When is a mistake not a mistake?

"We've seen numerous scientific and technological discoveries that were the unintended consequences of other pursuits. In the Design Thinking world, the concept of "rapid prototyping" suggests that a trial and error process using stakeholder feedback is the quickest route to operationalizing great ideas." (Jim Ansaldo)

Perhaps the word "mistake" isn't even the right word for every instance of unintended results.

So, what ARE we teaching?

In Applied Improvisation, I think we are actually teaching people to be better to one another. We know mistakes are a part of doing business, so let's minimize their impact on people on our team.

My Five Pillars of the Improv System are:

  • Listening
  • Accepting
  • Supporting
  • Taking Competent Risks
  • Letting Go of Mistakes

Mistakes are going to happen, but are we going to let our team become dominated by them, or could we:

  • Own and accept it
  • Fix it as soon as possible
  • Share it so others learn
  • Move on

If we create a culture where we own it, fix it, share it and move on, we'll spend less time and energy and reduce the paralysis that comes from fear of making mistakes. Wouldn't that be a more pleasant place to work? Wouldn't that also make our customers happier? (In a Design Thinking environment, we might substitute "use it" or "analyze it" for "fix it".*)

The key thing for me in our vendor relationships is what happens when something goes wrong. It's easy to provide "good customer service" when everything runs smoothly. The response when something doesn't go right is what separates great vendors from the rest. Own it, fix it, share it and move on.

In the operational side of our own company, I'd like to be one of those great vendors, providing value and keeping things simple, but when something goes wrong, own it, fix it, share it and move on. 

Of course, we don't want to see the same mistake over and over. We don't want people deliberately messing things up. What we really want is for people to forgive each other easily for mistakes, make the problem right, have the organization learn and move on. We also want to stop the paralysis that fear brings to teams.  The world is changing too fast to let fear hold us back.

Applied Improvisors struggle to get clients to take the leap of faith to work with us. Part of the struggle might be significantly reduced if we stop "celebrating mistakes" and tell you what we're actually talking about.

It's all in the context. It usually is. It's also in the words we use to tell people what we do.

Just to keep the controversy alive, Patrick Short would like to include this list of 40 Things You Can Learn From Mistakes. He would also like to thank Jim Ansaldo for helping to cut to the heart of the matter.

The Yes, And Controversy

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Yes, And has been the mantra of the improvisational performance community for a long time. By default, it became the mantra of the Applied Improv training community, too.

Along the road, improv performers discovered that what they know and the theories they put into practice are desirable in business, so we began offering what we knew to the corporate world. Many companies are trying to find the best ways to put improv into their own practice; the benefits are numerous:

  • People become more adaptable
  • People become more cohesive members of their teams
  • People develop more empathy
  • People treat each other better
  • People treat customers better

And so on. Each company that embraces it discovers how improv culture and skills have a positive impact on their people, in many different ways. These impacts can result in better employee engagement, lower turnover (which saves a ton of money), happier customers, better products and services and more money made. Sounds great.

Most of this training revolves around (or at least includes) the concept of Yes, And.

With Yes, And, we say "yes" to whatever our partner says, and then provide the "and", building on their ideas. They say, "yes", to us and build on what we say.

Improv nirvana results. Except when it doesn't.

Like everyone else, I fully embrace Yes, And. I teach it in performance improv classes. It's a centerpiece of many of the corporate engagements I lead. Yet, both my understanding and teaching of it have evolved.

On the performance side, I teach that PERFORMERS need to play using Yes, And. The CHARACTERS they are playing do not.

By that, I mean if their character thinks an idea or offer is misguided or wrong, they can say, "No". Performers don't have that right - they don't get to judge what another player is doing in the middle of the scene. What that player has offered is REAL and needs to be played with, even if that "playing with" means "NO, I won't do that".

I got quoted by author, blogger and teacher Pam Victor in her discussion of Yes, And, in which she claims that she doesn't even teach it any more (I think she does, but terminology IS important):

In a discussion online, General Manager of CSz Portland, Patrick Short, helped me further refine this subtle distinction in my mind when he said, “A character may say, ‘No,’ if that fits their character in that situation. The PERFORMER should not say no, which usually comes from panic, pushing their own agenda, or ignoring others' ideas.” 

I love this differentiation between the improviser’s mind and the character’s mind. The character can say no, if that’s honest to their point of view. The improviser must say yes to the reality of the moment – this is exactly what “Yes, and …” means to me! (I bold faced it, so you know I mean it.) But saying yes to the reality of the moment is a subtextual, unspoken affair; which is why a blanket, out loud “Yes, and …” to every offer is so clumsy and ineffectual, because... it is like a dentist using a hammer as her only instrument.

The whole Pam Victor blog, a bit NSFW, can be found here.

So what does this mean on the Applied Improvisation side?

Yes, And means something different than "You're right!" My favorite distillation of the meaning comes from Sue Walden, who, in a workshop, summed up Yes, And as RESPECT (Yes) and INSPIRATION (And).

  • YES = I respect you as a person and I respect your idea(s)
  • AND = I will be inspired by your ideas and build on them

The power that our Yes, And training gives companies is that their people are very well-trained in "No" and "Yes, but...". Like our improv-performing friends, co-workers often respond with "No" out of panic, fear of the unknown, politics, status battles and agenda pushing. Working in Applied Improvisation training gives groups a chance to exercise their "Yes" muscles. Most of us are really ripped and toned with our "No" muscles. Yes, And gives us a chance to work on our "Yes" muscles. (Thanks to Andy Crouch for that analogy!)

And here's a wild thought:  There's a time and place for Yes, And.

Design Thinking folks use a double-diamond chart to define a process.  Starting from a point, they ideate and widen the diamond to discover the challenge. Then, they narrow it to define the problem. Development of potential solutions are another widening of the diamond, followed by a narrowing as we deliver the product or service.

The periods where we EXPAND the diamonds are the times for Yes, And. Accept all ideas, no matter how off the wall or wrong they may seem. You never know when one of those crazy ideas spurs a much better idea in another team member's head.

When we have reviewed our ideas, and are narrowing them down, we don't need to invoke Yes, And directly, except the connection to respecting our teammates. Companies are sometimes afraid of Yes, And turning into GroupThink and sending them over a cliff because no one will say, "No!" That's reasonable. There is still a place for standing up against bad ideas. It's just not in the Discover and Develop phases.

(The chart is from a cool article on design empathy, from Business 901. Check that out here.)

Yes, I still teach and lead with Yes, And.

On the performance side, working in CSz 101, I want to use Yes, And to help people get past the panic of "my mind is blank". Yes, And focuses you on responding to your partner. Saying yes first gets you started and away from the blank mind. It's also cultivating an attitude that your scene partner is a huge set of gifts to you (and you to them), just by being there and focused on THEM.

In Applied Improv, we need Yes, And just to get to a place where we are truly listening to and respecting each other. Past that, why not use Yes, And as our code of recognition? We can be secret agents representing a new way of thinking and getting things done. We can be Heroes.

Patrick Short has worked a lot recently with companies involved in sustainability. Because, Portland.

 

Bananas and Fishing Poles - Design Thinking & Improv

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Can Improv training teach skills that help in design thinking?

Of course, WE think so. This is what we do. It does bolster one's case when an Intel professional feels the same way, and succinctly tells what he learned :

"Elevate the Team, not yourself.

Don't plan too far ahead.

Own your failures.

Listen completely.

These are a few of the insights I’ve taken away from my experience with improv. There are many more. Learning the basics of improv took me way out of my comfort zone (there were times when I couldn’t even see my comfort zone), but in the process I’ve become much more comfortable in my own skin, a better presenter and communicator, and more confident in my ability to deal with the surprises. Practicing improv is a great way to bring teams together and is a perfect complement to any team that needs to be creative and innovate on a regular basis."

How does improv culture, specifically Yes, And, help in Design Thinking?

"When product innovation teams are ideating to address user problems/opportunities, the ideas must be allowed to flow. “No” or “but” can put a stranglehold on ideation. It’s evaluating ideas before you need to do so. Most early ideas are just stepping stones in a larger journey — if you don’t acknowledge the stepping stones, the team will never be able use them to get to the BIG IDEAS. Once you’ve gotten a solid set of BIG IDEAS, then you can begin evaluating."

Don't get locked in too far ahead.

"Of course your business plan must start with a powerful idea and market to pursue, but if you only build and launch what you planned from the outset and don’t iterate with your users or be open to new directions based on their insights, how confident are you that you are really going to meet their needs? Some of the best ideas can come from your customer as they respond to the bad ideas you put in front of them.  Trust that your team can ride the insights to get to the right product, instead of hoping you can figure out every detail at the outset."

Roger Chandler's complete blog post can be found here:

Improv: What Do Bananas and Fishing Poles Have to Do With Design Thinking?

 

I Was Used For Design Thinking Purposes

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Shimon Shmueli set me up.

He’s the leader of Touch 360, a “strategy, innovation and design” company; he’s got a high-tech industry resume several times longer than my arm, and he was getting ready to speak at an Applied Improvisation Network regional gathering in Portland.

My contribution was to lead a series of warm-ups to the evening focused on design thinking.

I was walking to the front of the room, and Shimon took me aside and told me he thought I should lead the group in Sun and Moon.

Sun and Moon is a simple and profound activity. Participants stand in a circle, and are asked to pick a “sun” and a “moon” from among the other people. They are not to let on who they’ve picked; it’s a secret. When the game starts, they are to move quickly to “become equidistant” from their sun and moon, as fast as they can, and if their targets move on them, they have to keep moving. Chaos ensues. (There’s also a second round, but it’s not germane to the story.) Shimon had seen me run the game at a Portland State University class he teaches on entrepreneurship.

We ran the game, it was fun, and the very bright group of participants completely got the “jolts” of understanding that Sun and Moon offers.

Following another exercise, Shimon started his presentation, Creativity by Emergence and Leadership.

I can’t completely do his thesis justice, but let me try:

Doing something truly new requires intentional creativity.

Improvisation is great for

  • scenario playing and interaction prototyping
  • brainstorming via emotional uplift and allowing failure
  • demonstrating

But if a new product or service or other innovation is a story, does improvisation do the job?

Improvisation is:

  • Process, not product
  • Limited in its resources
  • Sequential, not parallel

Shimon compared improvisation to the TV show Survivor:

  • no overall leaders
  • simple rules
  • safer in large groups
  • steer toward consensus
  • unpredictable, internally and externally
  • players avoid “visibility” (they don’t want to stand out from the group – publicly)
  • common objectives fall apart fast

For design, and true, intentional creativity, you need a story line – setting the stage, anchor points, climax and the end – along with coloration.

Shimon also compared improvisation to swarm theory, and showed us videos of a very large, very active flock of birds.  If it’s “beautiful” or “cool”, it’s because we (the observers) are applying those values.  There is no creativity in what is happening inside the flock. The birds are each reacting to the moves of a group of birds in their immediate vicinity, and are continuously adjusting to aim for the center of that group.

It’s just like Sun and Moon, said Shimon, where the individual participants where simply responding to a couple of simple rules and the moves of their “sun” and “moon” (the birds in their immediate vicinity).

And that’s why we needed to play Sun and Moon. I was used.

Is he right? Is what we do just a series of responses that do not indicate intentional creativity?

Sometimes, yes. But I like to think there’s more to it than that.

Add a few constraints to improv, including some rules, styles (coloration) and a goal, and you can tell a story.

Even if improv performance is not your goal, accepting an improvisational mindset is a great way to lead to intentional creativity – build a great team and turn them loose – with constraints and a goal.

If all you are doing is reacting to the people nearest you, maybe you are just flying around in a flock. Or playing Sun and Moon. It’s fun, it might look beautiful, but it’s not creating anything.

I was used.

Status

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The great improvisational teacher Keith Johnstone pioneered the idea of using status as a tool in improvisational theater. Human beings give each other physical and verbal cues to establish status. If someone has high status, they’re calling the shots; if someone has
low status, they’re the peon.

Status is a seesaw, Johnstone explains—you push one end down, the other end pops up. You can raise my status either by saying “I’m smart” or “You’re dumb.”

If you’ve ever walked toward another person on a sidewalk, or in a hallway and had to do an awkward little dance to figure out which side you’ll pass each other on, you’ve experienced one of the simplest example of a status battle.

We use the tool of status onstage to make our scenes more dynamic. We find that equal status situations aren’t very interesting to watch. It’s interesting that in real life, equal status (or near equal status with give and take) gets positive results.

These on-stage status battles aren’t too far removed from reality. In many organizations, maintaining one’s status is more important than getting anything done. We teach it to business people to help them understand the sub-textual power struggle at work in any human interaction.

Caught in a status battle? See what changes if you match the other person’s status. See what happens if you raise their status. Since status attacks are often the work of insecure people, try a little flattery.  And look how status games connect to bullying.

In our work, we’ve found Status to have profound effects on Customer Service. We’ll post more on that soon.

Excerpted from Jill and Patrick’s Small Book of Improv for Business. Thanks to Jill Bernard for her essential contributions.