#224 improvised lessons

We recently did an improvisation exercise in one of my staff meetings.  We attempted to tell the story of the Wizard of Oz by having each person tell one section of the story.  The concept revolved around using the terms "yes, and" -- so you would tell one part of the story, stop and pass it along, and the next person would say "yes, and XYZ happened", until the story ended with the last person.

Some lessons from this exercise:

> We did OK in getting the general idea of the movie.  If you didn't know the story at all, you would have a good sense of the plot and major characters.  We left out many of the details, including the Yellow Brick Road and (intentionally) the (creepy) flying monkeys, but the main point was made.

> Utilizing the concept of "yes, and" allowed the story to progress in a short period of time. Rather than refuting the facts, admonishing what the previous person left out or spending time on debate, by accepting the story as it was allowed for creativity and forward movement.

> While the exercise was designed to showcase the improv concept and the use of the "yes, and" technique, it also served to illustrate the different styles of people and management that are in a group.  Some were quite content that we captured the "gist" of the story and were even pleased with the unintentional embellishments to the original plot.  Others were uncomfortable about the inaccuracies and missing details; they would have opted for accuracy over creative license.  

Conducting your own improvisational story telling may be a good creativity exercise for your next meeting. Yes, and you may learn something about preferred styles as well.

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com