Improvisational comedy is a unique environment for problem solving and creativity that can provide us lessons for high-performance sports. I’m a big believer that some of the core tenets of improv are useful in our consulting roles with athletes, teams, and organizations.
Improvisational Comedy
Even if you don’t know what Improv comedy is, you’ve likely laughed at it many times. It’s the foundation of training for countless amazing comedians and actors. Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Keegan-Michael Keys, Jordan Peele, Tina Fey, Bill Murray, and many more.
Improvisation:
a performance which an actor, musician, etc. has not practiced or planned
— — a blues/jazz improvisation
— — There are classes in movement, dance, and improvisation.
when you make or do something with whatever is available at the time
— — I’m afraid we don’t have all the necessary equipment, so a little improvisation might be required.
Improv comedy is based on creating something in the moment. Not necessarily preplanned.
If you’ve ever gone to an improv comedy club, you may have been amazed at what the actors can create out of the blue.
They dont come with a plan or a script. When they go on stage, the audience. They make it up a scene on the spot as they go along.
The results can be hilarious, with everyone in the audience in tears of laughter. Which leads to a question; how did they manage this act of spontaneous creation? Creatively solving a problem on demand and under the pressure of the spotlight?
Is this just some exceptional talent? Does the cast have ESP to read each other’s minds? What is this voodoo you’ve witnessed?
Improv Comedy Is A VUCA Environment
I’ve shared my outlook on today’s world in general, and the high-performance sports environment as VUCA before. VUCA is an acronym that stands for; Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous.
When the audience names random things, and the performers are tasked with creating a humorous skit, that is VUCA.
VUCA stands for Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous.
The nature of improv is that it’s volatile. Volatility is the rapid rate of change in the environment. During an improv skit, there is volatility. The storyline changes rapidly as cast members add new ideas, and as the audience reacts.
It’s Uncertain what the audience will find funny and what the other cast members will add.
The interaction of humans creating a story and the audience’s reaction to it are a Complex mix of psychology, sociology, artistry, communication, and theatre. And there is a lot of Ambiguity, not knowing what you dont know about those things.
So, if these actors can make it work in a VUCA environment, maybe there is something we can take away as well for ours.
Improv For Coaches
I was introduced to using improv as a tool for coaches and athletes by actor and communications expert Steve Shenbaum well over a decade ago. He founded a company called Game On Nation to use this tool to help athletes and coaches learn how to communicate with the media, perform better in job interviews, and communicate with each other.
When Steve led some typical improv learning exercises for our coaching staff, I saw the power first-hand.
Coaches who had a hard time relating, or listening, quickly improved.
Over the last decade, improv exercises have been a foundation for us building influential individuals and teams. From the coaches and therapists to our sales and customer service staff, improv exercises have a tremendous impact.
Core concepts of communication, teamwork, and creativity can be made both visible and visceral through Improv exercises. They allow people to practice and explore these skills so that when they are “put on stage” in their professional roles, they have tools and experience to fall back on.
Five Improv Concepts Help Our Consulting
Some of the core concepts from improv help drive my approach to work with clients. When I say clients, that could be an athlete, team, or organization to whom we are providing consulting. It could also be when in a full-time embedded position as part of the staff. Even then, the management and leadership above, and the athletes around you, can all be looked at as clients.
I think looking at what we do as consulting can be incredibly powerful. It fits in the private sector because people are asking us to help them reach their goals. Their sport, body, effort, and mind are their company assets, and in the end, we are in charge. They are.
They have to agree to the means, and they give us consent to guide them.
Even in many performance roles that are “jobs” in an organization, you may look at parts of your role as consulting. After all, if somebody else is ultimately in-charge, and part of your responsibilities is likely to give solutions to problems and options for someone to decide on. That’s basically consulting.
Yes, AND…
“Yes, And…” is the most well-known rule of improv. This is a concept of acceptance and contribution. It’s the cornerstone of successful improv.
See, during a spontaneous skit, actors contribute an idea by making a statement, and the others accept that idea and build on it. Accepting it is “yes” while adding more to continue the scene is the “and.”
For example, the actor on stage playing the plumber may say to another playing the priest, “here is the taco you ordered Father…” Nobody determined ahead of time that the plumber was going to give the priest a taco.
Maybe the actor as the priest had already thought of a hilarious storyline. The actor playing the priest could respond by saying, “No. That is not a taco; it’s a wrench.” By doing that he has said “NO” to the other actor’s contribution and tried to take the storyline in the direction he wants.
The same holds true in sports with-in your integrated support team. In a VUCA sports world, you need innovation and creative problem-solving. “Yes, And” drives this.
Often a team’s first reaction to ideas is to point out what’s wrong with them, why they won’t work, or why another is better. It’s not personal; it’s just the nature of many people and many environments.
Instead, with a Yes, And mindset, you set aside other ideas and critiques and try to build on what the other person is offering.
Contribute by Making Statements
Making statements as a contribution builds off the implied result of AND. Keep driving the scene forward with contributions. If one of the actors in a scene responds to everything with a question, they leave it all on others to build the scene.
I’ve definitely had the experience of being in a meeting, and someone does nothing but question everything. It can put a damper on suggestions and moving the process forward.
In fact, I’ve been that person. I wasn’t trying to stop creativity or make it a personal challenge to every idea; it was just my own internal dialogue spewing out loud.
Questioning is a critical step, but the problem is that it doesn’t contribute to the process and can put others under pressure. If all they are getting is questions, many people will feel challenged and negativity.
When you have the knowledge or a position, state it. Positively, with Yes And, in mind, but be a contributor to the process, not a spectator or judge. Sharing ideas, being transparent, and contributing will others trust in you to help the team forward.
Make Your Partner Look Good
Making your partner look good sounds great, but what does it really mean? It seems different improv teachers have ascribed different meanings to it. For our approach to consulting, it means dropping your personal agenda and trying to help the team.
In a consulting meeting, one of our team members may go down a line of thinking or questioning with the clients. At times, you may have a different line of ideas, but if the client is engaged, you probably need to drop your agenda for the moment and follow your teammate.
The worst thing that can happen is that our team members are fighting for control of the dialogue or trying to dictate the solutions. If a client (manager, coach, athlete) sees this, we are at risk that they may lose a bit of trust and/or respect for us. Ultimately that can undermine our goal of providing solutions to them.
No Mistakes, Just Opportunities
This is how we grow, innovate, and learn. During an improv scene, it’s pretty common for one of the actors to contribute an idea and take the scene into a direction that just didn’t work.
Sports are an outcome-based environment. It’s great to say there are no mistakes, but when a player throws the ball outbounds instead of getting to the open player in the last seconds of the game, it was a mistake.
Of course, there will be those mistakes. However, if there is more time on the clock, another game or another season, we have an opportunity to improve.
If we are ok with that basic premise, then we have a chance to improve. And if we can focus on the opportunity, we create a culture that focuses on problem-solving, and continued improvement.
Mistakes lead us to ask questions like; Why did the error happen? What is the result of the mistake? Can that result be used differently? Can there be changes in the process or the environment to reduce the risk of that mistake in the future?
Improv Lessons To Be A Stronger High-Performance Consultant
Improvisational comedy is a unique environment with some of the same VUCA elements as high-performance sport.
Skilled improv comedians create a scene on-stage, under the pressure of an audience, and in the spotlight. It’s an amazing feat to witness.
They rely on shared “rules” as guiding principles for teamwork, creation, and collaboration. We can also use these rules in our high-performance teams to successfully create solutions.
