Wednesday, April 06, 2016
Improv Training for Startup Success
Bluecore: Every New Year, I pick a new hobby – yoga, sailing, something I don’t know how to do – and in 2011, I chose improv comedy. I was absolutely terrified. On day one, I stood onstage and talked with a stranger about hiking for 10 minutes. At the end, 10 strangers critiqued every little thing I did. They told me quirks about my posture, tone and body language that my best friends wouldn’t dare to say. Within a year, I was performing weekly in amateur improv shows.
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2 comments:
I think it is brilliant that Bluecore makes taking an improv 101 class within the first 4 months of employment as a mandatory requirement as being part of the company. It makes so much sense that being introduced to improv would increase your ability to collaborate with teammates and deal with tough situations! I've always been a big advocate for improv and I remember back in high school, one of my classes was an improv class for 3 hours a day once a week. It helped me tremendously with thinking more freely and creatively and I think that you really do learn quite a few vital life skills from improv. Improv is essentially grown-up make believe play time. As we grow older, there's this idea that adults must be more responsible and rigid which translates to no fun. We become more uncreative, are more afraid to take risks and are attached at the hip with being comfortable. Participating in improv completely turns that upside down and forces you to become a kid again, unafraid of failing because the stakes were low. My older sister has social anxiety and she decided last year that it was time for her to take up improv. She had always been a comedy geek so she took the plunge and enrolled in improv classes. I remember watching her character transform from someone who was terrified of approaching people to someone who was delighted to ask questions.
I think that Improv sounds like a great skill that can be applied to any workforce. I find it really interesting that Fayez Mohamood decided to apply the skill of improv to his entrepreneur business but after reading this article it seems like a genius idea that everyone can learn from. Having been trained in improv when I was a child, I completely agree with Mohamood in what it can do for a person's, listening, confidence, collaborative, and focusing skills. Having the skill of improv really did help me to be confident and stay focused in a time where I needed to think up a solution quickly. It helped me to really listen to those around me and to never discredit another persons idea. I think all of these skills can be greatly utilized in the workforce. I think that other companies have something to learn from Mohamood's philosophies. To turn your employees into people who can solve problems confidently and quickly while listening to the ideas of their coworkers in order to find the best solution is a community that any employer would love to have, and improv helps with all of those aspects. I find it really interesting that Mohamood also mentions how it helps people remember what their story is, why they are doing what they are doing. I had never really thought about how improv does this, but I very much see the importance that can be learned from that lesson. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that more and more companies in the future choose to flow the example that Fayez Mohamood has set for the rest of the workforce.
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