Applied Improv

Have you ever been to an improv comedy show? If you have, you’ve probably walked away from it amazed at how quickly the actors can think on their feet and work off of each other. Well, guess what? Comedy shows aren’t the only place that being able to improvise is a necessity.

There is no winner in improv despite what you may have thought in the past. You are not the most important part of the scene. Everyone else is.

In 2006, Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report gave a commencement address to the graduates of Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. The advice he gave to these lucky students was a bit unconventional.

This famous Eleanor Roosevelt quote resonates with me. It doesn’t mean you have to do something to risk your life every single day – it could be something as small as trying a new food or talking to somebody who intimidates you. Or, letting your guard down, getting silly, and giving improv training a whirl.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines esprit de corps as “the common spirit existing in the members of a group and inspiring enthusiasm, devotion, and strong regard for the honor of the group.”

Before Lakshmi Balachandra started teaching Improvisational Leadership at the MIT Sloan School of Management, she was an improv comic. When she went to MIT to study an MBA, it was there that she realized how much she was actually using her improv skills in her new business career.

Improv techniques help keep the employees at Method “weird, creative and humble.”

It’s been fun AND effective.

The original founders of the improv troupe, the Upright Citizens Brigade – Matt Walsh, Ian Roberts, Matt Besser and Amy Poehler – have written a manual on the art of improvisational comedy. It doesn’t only apply to acting, though – it applies to any situation where individuals must work together.

When you ask someone what they know about improv, most people will say something about Whose Line Is It Anyway? Which makes sense, this past summer, nearly 2 million people watched WLIA every week.

But what most people don’t know about improv is that the same skills Ryan, Colin, and Wayne use to make millions of people laugh are also the same skills that can build relationships and increase productivity.