BROADCASTS.com

What Does Improv Have To Do With Business? With guest Kelly Leonard from

www.secondcityworks.com

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The ability to thrive amid change requires 4 things:

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\xb7\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 The ability to recognize where you are in any given moment

\xb7\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 The flexibility to choose a new path

\xb7\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 A willingness to collaborate on a solution

\xb7\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 The freedom to take a risk\u2026and to learn from failure

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Great tenets for doing business, right? But these just happen to also be the very same skills we employ in our arena. Improvisation is an art form developed from a need to enhance assimilation, empathy and collaboration.\xa0 We didn\u2019t seek out this connection\u2013the findings found us, to say the least. To be honest, we\u2019re kicking ourselves that we didn\u2019t see it sooner.

\xa0In fact, existing academic research and data already points to the power of improvisation. Here are a few of our favorite examples:

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Divergent Thinking \u2013 \u201cImprovisation encourages people to break away from set patterns of thinking.\u201d \u2013Carine Lewis, Peter J. Lovatt; University of Hertfordshire, UK

Negotiation \u2013 \u201cCooperative improvisation yielded more successful negotiations.\u201d \u2013Paul Ingram, William Duggan; Oxford Handbook of Critical Improvisation Studies

Decision Making \u2013 \u201cWithout improvisation, emergency management loses flexibility in the face of changing conditions.\u201d \u2013David Mendonca, Giampiero E.G. Beroggi, William A. Wallace; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Problem Solving \u2013 \u201cImprovisation shows us creativity in action. If shows that \u2013 in art, as in life \u2013 failures and mistakes can be turned into chances for original and unpredictable achievements.\u201d \u2013Alessandro Bertinetto, University of Udino

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How do we achieve all this? With two little words that can change everything:

\xa0Yes, and.

\xa0That\u2019s it! Our big secret. We teach that by understanding and applying the core improvisational concept\xa0 of \u201cYes, And,\u201d you can pretty much achieve anything. In business\u2013and in life\u2013we are constantly tasked with making something out of nothing: new products, new clients, new strategies, new bosses, new co-workers, new economies.

\xa0You can\u2019t do new by saying no.

\xa0And you can\u2019t stop at yes.

What we\u2019ve learned over more than half a century can bring out the creativity out in anyone. We can teach you and your team how to create an atmosphere that encourages risk taking and produces better understanding, real results and measurable success.

visit secondcityworks.com for more information!