The Improvisation Edge: Secrets To Building Trust And Radical Collaboration At Work
by Karen Hough /
2011 / English / PDF
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To help readers experience a whole new understanding of the importance of trust, "Yes! And" introduces the reader to the practice of radical collaboration based on the tenets of improvisation. The collaboration found in any highly successful improv troupe requires deep trust. In an improviser's world, all participants completely commit themselves to the success of the show. Such commitment is incredibly risky, because we all succeed or fail together. Yet ironically, even if we fail, wetrust our troupe to bring us through, complete the show and always, always go out and try again. In truly high-performing corporate teams, these same behaviors are evident. Professionals feel valued, flexible, challenged and an integral part of a great team of people that they trust and admire. Readers who adopt an improviser's mindset perform better at work, are happier in their relationships, speed up their successful interactions and eliminate waste. The book provides leaders, managers, trainers, and even front-line employees a practical methodology for adopting the improviser's mindset. It leverages all of the elements that make improvisation so entertaining: story, surprise, connection, and interaction. It outlines how these principles work for improvisers by pulling readers into a performance and allowing them to experience the adrenaline and uncertainty of improvisation. Each "secret" is demonstrated and then explained so that the "how" and "why" of improvisation becomes clear.The book then ports the learning over to a corporate environment. The improviser's mindset, and the trust it brings, can change the way that we work on a day-to-day, task-by-task basis. The real message of the book is that we can speak and act like improvisers without having to play games. Sure, the games get us thinking in a new way, get us unstuck, but it is the improviser's mindset that makes the difference. When people begin to have conversations, run projects and collaborate on the levelof an improviser, business and trust can speed up exponentially. "Yes, And!" provides both case studies from ImprovEdge clients who have embraced these new ways of working and exercises for individuals, pairs and teams. These exercises are immediately applicable, hands-on activities that make the learning real and meaningful to the reader. That, too, is a critical component of improvisational success. Doing it not just thinking or talking about something, but having guidelines to practice it, up on your feet. These improvisational behaviors transform the people using them. They become walking, talking examples of trusting, collaborative behaviors for the rest of their colleagues to observe. That example is followed and soon collaboration and trusting communication becomes something that can be seen in an organization. The book will provide real stories and examples of how the "secrets" of improvisation create trust between individuals and teams.
