Improv is on my bucket list. It is something I would love to try, so when I saw that the Kennedy Center had a school program that brought the premier, improv group, Second City to DC to give high school students an improv experience, it was a no brainer to bring some of my ICC students to the performance.
I’ve listened to podcasts and read articles recently about how improv principles apply to business settings. As I attended the improv performance, I got to see for myself just how powerful those principles can be for creating something amazing together.
Agreeing to participate
Have you ever tried doing the wave when only half the audience participates? Turns out rather blah, doesn’t it? Yet, when everyone is participating, the energy fills the entire room. The wave works because we agree to participate, listen, and pay attention to one another. It’s the way life works too.
Working together is better
I also learned that we have a choice when we respond to new ideas and situations. We can say:
- No, because…, or
- Yes, but… (which is really a no dressed up in a tuxedo), or
- Yes and…
As the improv teachers worked with the students and guided the audience through activities, we learned just how much better we can be when we work together. Rather than shooting down anyone’s ideas with a “no because,” or “yes, but,” we said “yes and” by using and expanding on the each other’s ideas to create a delightful performance. By working together, we become better together taking an idea and working with it rather than shooting it down.
I teach a course focused on coaching coaches on how to teach students communication skills. What I hear over and over again is how surprised teachers are with how students achieve their success. Usually the coaches think they need to influence students by telling them what to do.
Coaches quickly learn that students thrive when coaches implement the “yes and” response by collaborating with students, celebrating their ideas, and working together as a team, rather than taking a typical classroom approach with the teacher as the expert. We are better together with a yes and….response.
As we near the end of 2017 and anticipate 2018, I hope to make 2018 more of a “yes and” year. What are your intentions for the new year as you ahead to 2018?
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