The other day a project team was rehearsing our individual introductions. Having given my introduction, a colleague asked “was that improv, because it didn’t look like you were reading anything and there weren’t any ums or uhs that I noticed”. While yes, my introduction was improvised in the sense it was not prewritten or memorized, my introduction was really riffed based on years of introducing myself.
The real improv, was in my trust of the team. Trusting that they know my skills, my strengths, and my weaknesses. And not if, but when, I forget to say something key to a response, that they’ve got my back. Trust is key to improv. It is what lets us get on stage to make something out of thin air, knowing that we have a team supporting us. That they’ve got our back.
Improv is equal with trust.
Presenting as a team is not about who can be the smartest person in the room. It’s not about who has the best idea. It’s about building trust that the team, together, can and will build something stronger and more valuable than any one of us could on our own.
When we think about improv in our collaborative corporate culture think about how we can improvise through trust, understanding, and comfort. Not by having all the ideas at our fingertips.
Improv is equal with trust.
Collaborative Improv 