Improv Advice in Translation
I have found that most advice is worthy of thorough examination. Often advice pertaining to one discipline – with just a bit of translation – has meaning in other disciplines. This translation process allows for more perspective and greater insight.
As a case in point: the more I study improv, the more parallels I see to other areas of my life. What follows is some improv advice in translation.
Improv advice: In an art form as social as improv, being easy to work with is nearly as important as being talented or funny.
Personal advice: Never underestimate the importance of likeability.
Improv advice: Play a character whose worldview you completely disagree with. Playing an earnest opposite will push you and make for good theater.
Life advice: Learn to replace judgment with curiosity. Seek to understand different perspectives.
Improv advice: No one on Earth has mastered improv. Even the best have bad shows from time to time. Don’t think about quitting after an off night.
Business advice: No one on Earth has mastered leadership. Some days are brilliant, and some days you want to bang your head against the wall. Don’t think about quitting after an off day.
Improv advice: If you’re doing good physical improv and being emotionally expressive, silences can last forever and still be compelling theater.
Business advice: There’s a reason silence is golden. Not every discussion requires input; not every thought should be shared out loud.
Improv advice: Insulting someone else’s comedy will not make your comedy better.
Life advice: Take the high road; there’s a lot less traffic on it.
Improv advice: Whether you’re paid to do it or not, improvisation is as professional as you make it.
Business advice: How you do anything is how you do everything.
Improv advice: Be specific: “Mom, I wrecked your car” is fine. “Mom, I accidentally drove your Honda Accord into the pool” is better.
Business advice: Specific and timely communication matters. In the absence of either, people will create their own storyline. And it probably won’t serve you well.
Improv advice: There is no failure in improv. There’s just stuff that didn’t go the way we thought it would.
Personal advice: Failure is a harsh word – we should be careful what we assign it to in life.
Improv advice: If a scene needs a kiss, kiss.
Business advice: If someone needs to do something (standup for the underdog, mentor the intern, rally the troops, clean the restrooms), by all means, be that someone. Follow your gut instincts.
Improv advice: Be the support character more often than the main character. Make the story about someone else.
Life advice: It’s not all about you.
Improv advice: Just bring a brick. Together we’ll build a cathedral.
Business advice: You don’t have to have it all figured out. Just bring your best self and your best ideas, merge them with the best contributions from others, and watch amazing things happen.
Improv advice: Don’t try to be the most clever person on the stage.
Business advice: Listen more than you talk. You may be the smartest one at the table, but you’re not the only one at the table.
Improv advice: Do what is natural, what is easy, what is apparent to you. Your unique view will be a revelation to someone else.
Business advice: Not everything is rocket science. Simple, plain, elegant – that’s what works.
Improv advice: Listen to what you are given. Focus on what is being offered, not on what you want to say.
Life advice: The mind that is occupied is missing the present.
Improv advice: Enjoyment is a way of approaching an activity, not the activity itself.
Business advice: Some assignments will suck. Really suck. But your attitude and your approach to the assignment does not have to suck.
Improv advice: In the end the thing of most value is you bringing yourself to the stage.
Life advice: In the end the thing of most value is you bringing yourself to your calling.
Here’s the funny thing I’ve noticed: the more parallels I see to other areas of my life, the more I want to study improv. Which brings me full circle. How’s that for an insight!
Ancora Imparo… (Still, I am learning)
15 two-word lessons to my 20-something self
I believe that life has a way of turning out the way it is supposed to. “What is” is what’s supposed to be, otherwise it wouldn’t be.
I never put myself in a state of anguish wondering what might have been…could have been…should have been. Rather I think about the lessons I’ve learned that have shaped me and placed me exactly where I’m supposed to be. Doing the exact work I’m supposed to be doing.
But if I could go back and tell myself the lessons that will define the shape of my life and identity - that would be incredible. Not to mention incredibly comforting during the most trying of times.
So I offer up 15 two-word lessons I’d go back and share with my 20-something self.
Be weird. Find out who you are and do it on purpose. And then let your weird light shine bright so the other weirdos know where to find you.
Life’s unfair. Spoiler alert – life is unfair. And the sooner you make peace with that notion, the sooner life will open up for you in completely unexpected ways.
Believe harder. Society works really hard at making you believe you are continually coming up short. That is a lie. No one can make you feel (insert negative word) without your consent. Don’t give away your personal power.
Embrace fears. You have to make peace with your fears. Walk towards what scares you and embrace it. If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you.
Be Curious. People see things differently, and they see different things. And you will too once you learn to replace judgment with curiosity.
Step back. The problem is not the problem. The way you see the problem is the problem. And once you’ve reframed it, the impossible suddenly becomes possible.
Yes, and. Positivity beats negatively hands down. It’s also contagious, collaborative, and curious. And the “and” part takes positivity to the highest level. It’s a foundational principle of improvisation and it’s a foundational principle of a happy life.
Stay connected. Hang on to everyone’s phone number. You’ll likely need them one day. The universe operates on the power of human connection.
Be kind. There is a certain amount of civility that makes the world go round. Good manners will open doors that the best education cannot.
Favor simplicity. Not everything is rocket science. Plain, simple, elegant – that’s what works.
Say no. “No” can be a complete sentence. Really. You can only say yes to the right stuff by saying no to the wrong stuff. Say it. Mean it. Own it.
Move forward. When bad things happen in your life, you can either let them destroy you, define you, or develop you. Development is the only choice that moves you forward.
Stop worrying. There are things that you can control. There are things that you can influence. But the rest – give it to the universe. Karma is real.
Lighten up. When the punitive arbitrary rules you’ve created for your life no longer serve you well – change the rules. Being serious and structured will serve you well. So will being spontaneous and playing hooky. Life is push and pull, so push and pull on life.
Never done. Stop trying to get it all done. There is no place called “done”.
Ancora Imparo… (Still, I am learning)
15 people on speed dial
What I know for sure is that getting through life takes a village. Humans weren’t meant to go it alone. The road is long and the tests are hard. We need others and others need us.
I thought I would share the 15 people that I keep on speed dial. Not so much individuals but rather perspectives that I rely on as I navigate the journey that is called life.
The Artist: Art is passion. So much passion. And commitment. The Artist is not just a creative force, but a voice that reminds you to honor what stirs your soul. We can’t truly be at our best without passion.
The Outlier: This is the non-conformist or the misunderstood. If all I ever do is walk to the beat of my own drum, how will I ever know what the other drums sound like…? I’m only an insider to me.
The Truth-Teller: There is the hype and then there is the truth. The truth may very well hurt, but at least the truth doesn’t lie. And the truth shared with grace and elegance will hold you accountable to your highest self.
The Dreamer: The anthem of The Dreamer is to just imagine. What if…? Why not…? How come…? When you find yourself getting weary, The Dreamer will remind you of your greatness – and how much your efforts matter. Just imagine that.
The Genius: Book smarts, street smarts, tech savvy, or the polymath. When you can’t see the forest for the trees, The Genius can. And that’s the genius of The Genius.
The Storyteller: The writer has words, the musician has lyrics, the photographer has pictures. Storytelling is said to be the center of the human experience. The Storyteller will help you see the arc of your own story.
The Connector: The universe operates on the power of human connection. If it is as simple as six degrees of separation, The Connector will know people that can help you in your journey.
The Philanthropist: The universe also operates on the power giving – the giving of money, time, love, forgiveness, grace. Your heart expands when you see the world through this lens.
The Optimist: Hopeful, enthusiastic, joyful. There is no downside to the upside. Walk (maybe run) toward the person who shines like the sun.
The Sage: With age comes wisdom and a sense of calm in a world that is constantly in flux. Having a perspective on perspective is the best perspective of all.
The Therapist: Credentialed or not, having an empathic, non-judgmental perspective matters more than ever in a society that is continuously telling you that you don’t measure up. The Therapist will unequivocally remind you that you are good enough.
The Well Traveled: They go out there. They’ve changed time zones, comfort zones and continents. They’ve wandered and pondered. And then written about it in journals. The Well Traveled offer wisdom from countless cultures and places.
The Bridge Builder: Negotiating, making peace, building consensus with others, holding hands. Bringing people together is an extraordinary gift.
The Devil’s Advocate: We tend to argue like we’re right, but we should listen like we might be wrong. Debate requires you to see the world from another point of view.
The Seeker: The eternal quest to know more – to understand more – to be forever curious. This is the original philosopher. And the philosopher will help you ask the right questions.
Yes, the road is long and the tests are hard. And what I know for sure is that it takes a village.
Ancora Imparo… (Still, I am learning)
Maps & Globes
I’m a big fan of Seth Godin’s work. Seth is an author, entrepreneur, and most of all, a teacher. His one-liner bio simply reads “30 years of projects”. He’s written 18 bestselling books and has over a million readers for his more than 7,000 daily blog posts. Think about that for a minute. Every day for nearly 20 years he’s published a blog post. That is extraordinary. While he muses about any number of things, he mostly challenges the status quo. And I think that’s why I’m drawn to him so much, for the challenge. Because he’s forever wanting us to think in broader terms. Not just in terms of what’s in front of us, but what it means in terms of the bigger picture.
I like this blog post titled Maps and Globes: “If someone needs directions, don’t give them a globe. It’ll merely waste their time. But if someone needs to understand the way things are, don’t give them a map. They don’t need directions, they need to see the big picture.”
I keep this maps and globes analogy top of mind. It’s the reminder to think in terms of context rather than just the deep dive of a discipline. Or said differently, what’s the frame of reference in relation to the field of study.
There’s currently a big push in education to pursue certain (hard) STEM disciplines at the expense of other (softer) arts and humanities disciplines. Going back to metaphors and navigation, the current narrative suggests that when you come to the fork in the road – that deciding moment when a choice of majors is required – you should move towards all hard skills. But what if it’s not a fork in the road but rather a T...? At the T you’re deep in your chosen discipline (vertical), while also understanding the broader context or implications of your discipline across various fields of study – meaning, the horizontal viewpoint. The T design suggests all disciplines are necessary. The hard skills and the soft skills; STEM and humanities. Go deep (vertical) in the discipline that drives your natural curiosity and fuels your soul. Go broad (horizontal) in a range of fields so that you can understand your discipline in terms of the broader context.
The T analogy makes much more sense to me. It highlights the value of having a frame of reference in relation to your field of study. It enables you to think in the broadest terms possible. We have what’s in front of us, and what it means in terms of the bigger picture. It’s maps and globes. The map is the way; the globe is the context.
Far too often this education discussion becomes an either/or contest. Go left or go right at the fork. We pursue one path at the expense of another. We’d be far better served if we thought in terms of interdisciplinary connectivity. Learning application at the intersection of the T. By combining our discipline specific knowledge with the perspectives from multiple fields of study we achieve higher-level understanding because our application crosses boundaries. And if there’s one thing we need more of in this hyper-connected world it is more understanding of what lives at the intersections. In the T model, maps and globes coexist.
Ancora Imparo… (Still, I am learning)
Where the magic happens
I am a big fan of the sciences. I’m an even bigger fan of the arts. And I’m fanatic about the intersection of the two because that’s where the magic happens.
Perhaps some context is needed.
My background is in big business – I spent nearly 20 years at Walmart in the Logistics Division. There, I devoured data and metrics and devised systems and processes. While some people find that work tedious, I was exhilarated by it. I still tend to become giddy about anything that involves a spreadsheet.
My connection to the arts is more recent. Nearly 10 years ago I signed up for an improv class in hopes of finding a way to deal with my aversion to change. As I fondly tell others, I’m the female version of TV’s Sheldon Cooper – only not as hip. Not only did improv help me more positively navigate the unprecedented amount of change coming at me in the world today, it offered me an entirely different perspective on understanding how others are wired (personality science) and what is absolutely essential in a collaborative environment.
My immersion in this craft was a game changer that solidified my long-held belief that the best skill development is realized in a marriage of polar disciplines – a blended approach. Ying and yang. Duality. Two disparate parts coming together to produce something far better than either could on their own.
Focusing on technical disciplines will make you one kind of smart. Immersing yourself in the arts (and humanities) will make you a different kind of smart. And while being smart is essential, being differently smart is a force multiplier.
With “disruption” being the new business-as-usual, it’s essential that individuals and organizations develop more holistic thinking. Interconnectedness drives humanity, business platforms and globalization; ignoring that connection puts us all at peril. Competencies such as creativity, innovation, collaboration and communication are more critical than ever in a world that depends on interconnectedness.
Here’s how one facet of the arts (improvisation) intersects with a few highly desirable business imperatives:
Creativity and innovation: Innovation does best in environments where ideas simply flow. It’s about the unencumbered asking of what if…how come…why not. In improv, there are no wrong answers - there’s just stuff that didn’t go the way we thought it would. These are the moments of absolute brilliance that you stumble upon while you’re busy making theater out of thin air.
Storytelling: Storytelling is a nuanced art. And it is quite possibly the center of the human experience. There is almost a visceral sensation when you come to understand the world of someone else through his or her story. Our personal perspectives often shift because these narratives change how we see the broader context of the world. In improv work, I remind others that it’s never the what; it’s always the how. In every scene you’re telling a story – how you tell it matters the most.
Collaboration: Collaboration is a horizontal construct that operates across business units throughout an entire enterprise to create seismic shifts in business thinking. (Collaboration differs from teambuilding; teambuilding is a vertical concept because the handoffs occur up and down within a unit, operating in unison, and delivering contained value.) The very essence of improv is collaboration. Everyone on stage brings a brick, and together they build a cathedral.
Speed: There is an unprecedented rate of change rocking businesses today. The pace of disruption is massive, rapid and turbulent. Perhaps never before has the need to work from the very top of your intelligence been greater. How fast can you think on your feet? How well do you shift, morph, evolve? These are the quintessential skills that improvisers learn to embrace. Scenes are unscripted, unrehearsed and unexpected. You endlessly practice responding to what you can’t predict. You have no other choice but to become an expert at thinking faster and faster on your feet.
Too often “the sciences versus the arts” conversation is relegated to an either/or proposition. It’s not an either/or question, it’s a both/and imperative. We need the sciences. We need the arts. But what we need most is the genius that lives in their marriage. Because that’s where the magic happens.
Ancora Imparo… (Still, I am learning)
Serious comedy is not an oxymoron
All hail the arts!
And rightly so. With thought leaders such as author Daniel Pink (A Whole New Mind) boldly stating that “the MFA is the new MBA”, the movement to recapture the value of the arts in an academic platform has emerged.
Pink’s pivotal book (published more than a decade ago) predicted that forces in the world economy would shift society from left-brain thinking to right-brain thinking as the dominant thought pattern. In retrospect, that is precisely where we’ve landed today. Think about the relevance of storytelling, our desire for product design, a resurgent demand for all things handcrafted, or how individuals are searching for greater meaning in their lives. It’s all foreshadowed in his book.
Thankfully the arts (literary, culinary, media, visual, performing) are being heavily leveraged in many of today’s marketplaces. Particularly interesting is the more recent merging of art forms (right-brain) and business thinking (left-brain) to drive value propositions. A perfect example of this blended thinking is storytelling – ones ability to share compelling stories. There is a science to effective storytelling, yet it is also very much a nuanced art. Currently organizations of all sizes are embracing storytelling to sustain organizational culture.
Improvisation is another blended-thinking approach. In full disclosure, I should probably mention the following: I practice improvisational comedy, I perform in an improv troupe, and I teach from a platform of applied improvisation. So perhaps I’m slightly biased. I see the value of the performing arts play out on stage all the time. From personal learning’s (emotional intelligence, divergent problem solving, executive presence) to business imperatives (innovation, creativity, collaboration) – it’s all there.
But don’t just take my word for it. Thought leaders around the world are chiming in on the discussion, and they are staunch supporters on the value proposition of applied improvisation.
“Improvisation should be taught in every business school in the country. It is a terrific way of learning the powerful creative competence of reframing. Improv also teaches you how to play in a team. It’s ‘ensemble creativity’. Think music or sports.”
- Bruce Nussbaum, professor of innovation and design at Parsons The New School for Design (New York), and author of Creative Intelligence (CQ).
“The future now belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind. The era of ‘left-brain’ dominance is giving way to a new world of artistic and holistic ‘right-brain’ abilities...the progression is towards a society of creators and empathizers, of pattern recognizers and meaning makers.”
- Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind
“Improvisation…involves people making very sophisticated decisions on the spur of the moment, without the benefit of any kind of script or plot. But it isn’t random and chaotic at all. It is an art form governed by a series of rules. In life, most of us are highly skilled at suppressing action. All the improvisation teacher has to do is to reverse this skill and he creates very ‘gifted’ improvisers. Bad improvisers block action, often with a high degree of skill. Good improvisers develop action.”
- Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
“Some people misunderstand improv…it seems that improv is all about being funny. But it is not. Improvisation is about being spontaneous…about being imaginative…about taking the unexpected and then doing something unexpected with it. The key is to be open to crazy ideas and building on them. And funnily enough, that is exactly what is needed if we are going to make our enterprises more creative and agile.”
- Paul Sloane, author of The Leaders Guide to Lateral Thinking Skills
“Improvisation is probably one of the two or three cardinal skills for businesses to learn in the future.”
- John Kao, studied philosophy at Yale, received an MBA from Harvard Business School, held faculty appointments at Harvard, Yale and MIT
If creativity is becoming the currency of the 21st century, then we would all do well to place our spend on the arts. Literary, culinary, media, visual, performing – take your pick. Organizations that find a way to infuse the arts (right-brain thinking) with the logic of business (left-brain thinking) stand a greater chance of creating more intuitive and holistic enterprises.
Ancora Imparo… (Still, I am learning)
Employee Engagement is the Wrong Question
I never expected I’d write about employee engagement. Fundamentally, I dislike the discussion for one simple reason: I think it’s the wrong question to be asking the workforce.
Gallup, with extensive research dating back to the late 1990’s, is regarded as the authority on the topic and created the Q12 survey. Annual statistics report employee engagement percentages across three spectrums: actively disengaged, not engaged, and engaged. The 2015 Gallup numbers came in at 17.2%, 50.8%, and 32.0% respectively. I find that the numbers fluctuate only a couple of percentage points from year to year. So for all the talk on the topic, not much changes.
From my perspective, here’s the miss. “I” am the fundamental equation in the question, and yet no one is asking me about “me”. Engagement surveys don’t inquire about personal well-being or my individual level of happiness. Shouldn’t the individual be the primary conversation…? I think so.
Generally speaking, engagement discussions tend to get lumped into a couple of buckets. All worthy conversations, but secondary ones.
The role of the organization
Engagement commentary overwhelmingly implies that the organization is at fault for poor results. Apparently the organization must bear the burden. That seems unbalanced. Does the organization play a role…? I believe it does. Is the role that it plays primary to a more engaged workforce…? I believe it isn’t. I want to see organizations excel in all the ways that matter to its particular workforce, but I find it unlikely that individual engagement will be solved by the collective actions of the entity. Engagement is an individual decision that I make, or don’t make.
The influence of leadership
After pointing to organizational gaps, another common thread is the overarching statement of, “leaders hold the key to employee engagement”. I could go along with that statement if “leader” meant “self”, as in self-leader(ship). But that’s not what it means. The statement suggests that I’ve acquiesced control of my personal engagement to another party. If I were genuinely happy, would I send in my vote by proxy…? I don’t think I would.
The financial impact
Studies are quick to point out the negative financial impacts resulting from the nearly 70% of the workforce that is categorized at actively disengaged or not engaged, targeting front-line productivity to bottom-line profitability – and everything in between. Yet there is wealth beyond the P&L statement. There is untold wealth that happiness has the potential to create for mankind. The quest for individual happiness has far greater staying power. Organizations will continue to come and go over time, but humanity endures.
For me, in the end, what is missing is all this cacophonous conversation on employee engagement is the truest, deepest, most basic human question of all: am I happy…?
And please don’t dilute that question. It’s not “am I happy at work”, it’s not “am I happy with my boss”, it’s not “am I happy with the vision of the organization”, but – as a human being – am I happy with myself, am I happy with who I am, am I happy with the life that I lead…? Happiness is the driver to a life that contains engagement. Happiness begets engagement, not the other way around.
And maybe, just maybe, we’re starting to make progress on the happiness front. Greater numbers of people are embracing contemplative practices (mindfulness, meditation, centering) and creating simplified lives (less stuff, more experiences). There is a deep yearning to understand what truly brings joy and how that joy can be central to a life. I have to believe that once we get a real sense of what makes us happy, we gravitate toward work that matters, in organizations where we flourish, along side people we are genuinely excited to see every day. Once I’ve made those decisions, then ask me if I’m engaged. Actually no, don’t ask me that. Ask me if I’ve come alive. Because what we need is people who have come alive.
Happiness is an individual decision; a choice I make. And happiness begets engagement. Let’s get to the root of the discussion. What we need is for the human race to discover happiness.
Ancora Imparo… (Still, I am learning)
Understanding how you’re wired
While no personality assessment can perfectly analyze all the behaviors that make you uniquely you, that’s still no reason to shy away from these insightful tools. In fact, I would encourage you to take several of them. The cumulative results from taking multiple assessments establishes credible data points and provides trend markers (positive correlation from assessment to assessment) - which can provide a fairly accurate description of who you are overall.
Here’s what I’ve learned, and keep learning, as a student of behavioral sciences: An increased understanding of your personal preferences, or more simply, “how you’re wired”, gives you a better understanding not only of yourself, but those around you. These insights into human behavior are invaluable. Understanding how we tick allows us to put ourselves in the place of most potential. Understanding how others tick drives human connectivity.
The format of assessment data varies widely from instrument to instrument. Colors, charts and commentary all serve to convey pieces of behavioral blueprints. While the design of one instrument may appeal to you, the narrative language used in another may resonate more strongly. This blending of data from multiple sources gives you the most robust view of your personality.
How we use behavioral data is varied as well. Certainly it helps us to better understand our core personality. It also provides significant insights into how others differ from us, what we can do to expand our effectiveness, and what we really mean when we talk about perspective.
To expand on that a bit:
Self:
Understanding how you’re wired takes patience; being comfortable with what you discover takes grace. The best version of who you are lives along side the worst version of who you could be – which is equally frightening and freeing. After all, we are who we are. Behavioral assessment data simply brings clarity to both sides of that equation. And once we have clarity of self, we can begin to see others in a more generous light.
Others:
We live in a time of unprecedented human connectivity. Therefore the ability to understand self in relation to others has never been more important. “Me” behaviors must learn to coexist with “you” behaviors. While we still need everyone contributing to the greater good in a way that works for them, we also need everyone developing an understanding of that which is different from them. The brilliance of personality assessments is that they start a conversation – a conversation about how people are different. We are all wired differently. We have different interests, different needs, we prefer different environments, we enjoy different interactions, we express different emotions. Different. We are all humans. We are just differently human.
Range:
Humans have an enormous capacity to exhibit a wide range of personal behaviors. We just tend to gravitate toward our personality preferences. The challenge is that sometimes we need a behavior that we don’t own (that means a behavior that is not a preference). Learning how to “borrow behaviors” increases our effectiveness in navigating a wide array of situations and interactions. Essentially, it’s learning to be comfortable stepping outside of our comfort zones. A wider range of behaviors creates options and choices. And choices are powerful.
Perspective:
Assessment data begs the question “is ‘that’ normal…?”. Unwavering response: “no”. There is no normal. Normal operates on a relative continuum. Our personalities operate on a similar continuum. Perspective takes us far beyond the simple dichotomy of “I see it this way” and “you see it that way”. It introduces the notion that between two ends of a scale, there is a spectrum of understanding. Perhaps ultimately, we learn to replace judgment with curiosity. In the words of Dr. Wayne Dyer, “If we change the way that we look at things, the things that we look at change.”
The behavioral sciences landscape has the potential to change even more. What we learn from the BRAIN initiative could impact the way we view personality. Science has recently discovered that the brain changes throughout life, which suggests we have the potential to learn, unlearn, and relearn. And that changes everything. “How you’re wired” may become the basis for every other conversation.
Ancora Imparo… (Still, I am learning)