PROFIT IDEAS

Improvisational Skills Enhance Leaders

By Dave Wendland

When I first participated with a performing troupe of improvisational actors, I never realized how the experience might someday apply to the business world. I saw the tools that we learned ¾ such as taking risks, accepting each others’ ideas, exploring them and moving them forward ¾ were exactly the tools that people in the business world have to develop to foster their ideas and bring innovation to the market. 

It is now clear to me that these simple tricks of the improvisational trade are essential tools for business meetings, new product development and staff management. My conclusion: improve skills are predominantly the same skills we all need to strategize and manage in a shifting environment. 

What can improve teach a business professional? 

Let’s start with a definition. To “improv” or “improvise” is a way of doing things, a methodology that involves paying attention, responding supportively, and acting constructively. Sounds strikingly similar to what most business professionals must do each day. 

Unfortunately, too often in business we’ve been conditioned to believe failures are bad and must be avoided at all costs. Improvisation believes in the opposite. In improv, failure allows an individual to challenge oneself to take chances in pursuit of their goal. It must be recognized that failure happens. Mistakes happen. The trick is to learn from failures and mistakes. If we don’t take chances and fail, how else will we ever feel the pleasure of learning? 

During various improvisational workshops and rehearsals (yes, even though it was improv, we did rehearse); we would often practice how to move past mistakes. It involved learning from what got us into an uncomfortable circumstance or scene, then quickly moving on, trying not to repeat the failure. 

Will improvisation enhance leadership skills? 

Not everyone can be a leader all the time. Yet, in business, I believe we must learn to lead or get out of the way. There is interdependence in business ¾ much like there is in improvisation ¾ where no one person leads all the time. Instead, everyone leads, helping to make the best scene possible. 

Leaders can enhance their skills by looking at the big picture, keeping their eye on what isn’t working and why. Merely concentrating on what is wrong may cause a leader to miss the hundreds of things that are going right. Great team leaders are champions at seeing the detail of what everyone is doing well, doing right, doing on time. 

Good improvisational skills will enhances a leader’s trust in others. In business and in improve, trust is critical to making things happen. It is vital that we trust others will deliver on time, on budget, and on strategy. And during my improvisation performance, it was important to always trust that the other actors were working together to make things happen in a particular scene. 

How can you get off your ‘buts’? 

I’m sure that we’ve all been in ideation sessions where we have been told that no idea is a bad idea and that we should leave our yeah-buts at the door. We had no room for “buts” in improve. If someone threw a curve ball in the middle of a scene, we were conditioned to respond in a much more positive, trusting and less ego-driven approach by simply saying “yes … and.”

“Yes, but …” creates conflict. “Yes, and …” builds and nurtures an idea in a very collaborative and inclusive manner. Try it if you don’t believe me. Replace your “buts” with “ands” and you will be amazed to see the difference. 

But will it work in your situation? 

Contrary to what you may think, improve is not about acting … it’s about reacting. Business improvisation is the ability to perform creatively under pressure. As a skill, improvisation is a valuable asset for leadership, sales or virtually any circumstance where real time execution is paramount to success. 

Although many people are familiar with improve through the television show “Whose Line Is It, Anyway?” few know this interactive communication form has been highly valued for its ability to empower people to respond immediately and inventively to each other and their environment. It originated in Europe in the mid-1500s. And it has long been used to foster collaboration. To succeed in business and put improve into the work culture, everyone should feel empowered to interactively discover his or her inherent creative potential. 

Remember, some of the best business inspirations come from lessons learned entirely outside of business. 

04/04/10

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