Something I’m Learning
A few months ago, during an in-person team day, I facilitated an improv comedy workshop for my team. In the closeout debrief, one person said, “Is it wrong I’m feeling guilty about having so much fun at work rather than being on my email?”
That’s when I knew it had been worth it. However, going in, I’d been nervous about doing this workshop for 2 reasons:
1. I have oodles of imposter syndrome in teaching improv. I am no expert, and regular readers know that this newsletter is not a place you visit for the funny.
2. Improv demands comfort with failure, vulnerability and looking silly – and given the work we do, where the stakes can sometimes feel pretty high… well, let’s just say that failure/vulnerability/silliness isn’t on our list of core organizational values.
I got over my fears by reminding myself that a basic rule of improv is ‘don’t try to be funny’ (a maxim that has always made me feel welcomed). And that since I have a mandate to innovate and try new things, I wanted my team to feel the discomfort that comes with that. In the following weeks, I noticed at least one attendee bring it into a workshop he was designing. Which showed that some seeds had been planted.
My own improv-learning seeds were first planted about seven years ago, when I was living in Nairobi. After a conversation with a dear friend, who is also my coach and improv teacher, I was inspired to launch an informal improv club. Once a month on a Friday evenings for about a year, a small group would gather in my office, look up improv games online, jam for a couple of hours and then go out for pizza and drinks. I was doing a lot of teaching and facilitating back then, and could tangibly see the improvement (ha!) it had on my work. It was a lot of fun and I made at least one lasting new friend through doing this.
The second seed was planted last year when I read the excellent Humor, Seriously by Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas, who make the case for the importance of connection in the workplace and how humor is a great ingredient for connection. They also reframe laughter as something you can give to others, which seems like a great ingredient for team culture. But I was also simply encouraged by the book’s sub-title which goes “Why Humor is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life. And How Anyone can Harness It. Even You.”
Even me!
[Note to the authors: I’ve tried to weave in your phrase ‘resting boss face’ multiple times in conversation and even into the paragraph above, but it never seems to fit. So I’m just saying it aloud now: nice one!]
Leaders and managers can gain so much from practicing improv: making your team look good, seeing laughter as something you can give, listening and connecting better, risking looking silly in order to make a breakthrough, making do with whatever resources you have, improving your facilitation skills, problem-solving on your feet, and above all, not taking any of it too seriously.
I’m a work in progress on all of the above. But come, laugh with me.
Something to Consider
If you’ve really explored improv before, check this out: 8 Life Lessons You Can Learn from Improv (Without Ever Stepping into a Class)
Something to Quote
“Humor is like salt: you don’t want to use it all the time, and a little goes a long way.”
- Jennifer Aaker & Naomi Bagdonas, Humor Seriously.
It's a great idea. From behavior science, we know that making things fun is a great strategy in the change space. And from personal experience, I ran a "cartooning for sanity" workshop two weeks ago with gautam and it was a blast. It was so good to bring humor into work.
Very brave to do improve in a workplace setting, I think. We live in somewhat fraught times, where casual comments can be misunderstood - or understood correctly - and blow up into major workplace and personal issues. I've learned to err on the side of caution and respect, especially since a lot of humor plays with transgression, surprise, embarrassment.
But great that it works for you.
Humor has so many positive values and associations, some of them biophysical. It makes people more open to new ideas, improves learning and attention span, etc. If you haven't connected with Pablo Suarez (I think a BMW RL) on this, I highly recommend his work.