Leaders, Are You Ready
To Take The Creative
Leap Into The Future?
By Theodore Klein, Boston Strategy Group
Today’s leaders, to a greater
degree than perhaps any of
their predecessors, are tasked
with adapting to a world that is
in great flux. Rapidly changing
markets, shifts to the service
economy, calls for social
justice, technological advances,
and increasing consumer
sophistication are just a few
of the challenges that leaders
faced – before a global pandemic
turned everything on its head.
Now, a growing talent shortage
exacerbated by the pandemic
and an unstoppable trend
toward remote work demand
innovative leadership.
In years past, strong leaders
might have guided their teams
with inspiration and tenacity
alone. The leaders of today
have to adapt and experiment
to succeed in highly uncertain
times. A novel field, Applied
Improvisation has emerged with
scientifically proven approaches
that can arm today’s leaders
with techniques to deal with
increasing ambiguity.
History of Applied
Improvisation
Improvisation and leadership go
hand in hand. Thousands of years
before the first written language,
humans told stories through
improvisation that strengthened
leadership bonds. For centuries,
improvisation was exclusively
a theatrical concept, with its
sole purpose being to delight
audiences through inventive,
spontaneous scenarios. It was
not until the mid-20th century
that Keith Johnstone and Viola
Spolin, pioneers of improvisational
theater, helped create
a seismic shift in the world of
improvisation. Their separate but
shared vision of improv theatre
as a social technique, resulted
in the beginnings of Applied
Improvisation, which introduced
theatrical elements of listening,
collaboration, and teamwork into
leadership thinking.
Distinction Between
Applied Improvisation and
Comedic Improv
“The techniques of the
theater are the techniques
of communicating,” Viola
Spolin wrote. Comedic improv
encourages participants to listen
to their team members, accept
and make “offers” of information
to progress a scene, and adapt
to the situation unfolding before
them. When performed live by
The Second City or on shows
like Whose Line Is It Anyway?,
the singular purpose of comedic
improv is to entertain. But as
Viola Spolin was so acutely aware
of, the principles of improv have
so much more to offer to master
collaborators and communicators
– and leaders.
Enter Applied Improvisation
– a tool to achieve innovative
leadership. When the techniques
and principles of improvisation
are taught in a business setting,
the results can be transformative
for customers, employees, and
leaders alike.
Leadership with Applied Improvisation
Leadership Excellence presented by HR.com DECEMBER 2021 24 Submit Your Articles
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