Talking a bit more on improv today. For background knowledge, Greg Revak and I wrote sister posts earlier this year. They are linked here:
Now that you’re up to speed on improv, let’s dive into this week’s post.
There’s a common response in pockets of Twitter where if someone tweets about a problem, someone will often reply, “Bitcoin fixes this.” Some examples are absurd…
Others are less playful:
Now that you understand both the point and the joke…
When I started studying and practicing improv and seeing how impactful it could be with players, I started to think for every problem, “improv fixes this.”
Improv doesn’t have many rules. But the rules they do have mostly deal with improving teamwork.
“Make your teammate look good” is one of the rules.
Saying “yes, and…” is one way to accomplish that rule.
One Major Problem of Today
We suck at communicating. And we are getting worse. Every topic is getting more and more polarized. We stay on our side of the fence and plant our flag instead of sitting on the fence with the other side and having a chat about it.
We have replaced “yes, and” with “no, you’re wrong because…”
Anything that starts with “no” closes the door on opportunity. It ends the conversation before it starts. “No” kills:
Curiosity
Exploration
Open-mindedness
Ability to take new information on board and perhaps…
Change our minds
Around great coaches you hardly ever hear the word “no.”
-Fegus Connolly, 59 Lessons
Why?
Because “yes, and” doesn’t lead to all the bad shit on the list above.
How “Yes, and” Helps
When you’re in a conversation. Your conversation partner is your teammate. Your job according to improv is, “to make them look good.”
The goal of the conversation should be one or a combination of:
greater clarity
greater understanding
deeper connection
exploring and curiosity of another point of view
And two heads are better than one, so this dance should benefit both parties.
Generally speaking, most of society has lost the plot on this…
So treating your conversation partner like this and trying to “make them look good” is a competitive advantage in today’s world. You will stand out like a snowman in a Texas summer.
Half-Life the Piece:
Related Article: 2 Questions to Become More Open-Minded