The Empowering Attitude of “Yes, And”

There’s a popular quote of famed writer/actress/producer Tina Fey’s that sums up what an improv attitude is all about — “Say YES and figure it out afterwards.” All improvisers can relate to this in terms of performing and creating scenes that are as entertaining as they are impressive.

However, businesses that I have worked with have seen the power that this attitude can bring. It is not necessarily a literal interpretation — it doesn’t mean if someone asked you to chuck the printer out of the 10th story window you should say “yes!” and then figure out how to explain it later.

What improv gives anyone who embraces its philosophy of “Yes, And” will find is that they have developed a willingness, an openness and a curiosity in the face of something they may have at one time said “No” to. Imagine what having a team of people whose default setting was to say, “Sure! Let’s find a way!” instead of list all the reasons why it cannot work. People who have adopted a “Yes, And” Mindset show up differently, engage differently, communicate differently, and collaborate differently. They become a “Can Do!” employee and create “Can Do!” teams.

Clients will feel the difference immediately. As someone wrote me after a workshop we did with their client-facing team explaining what we observed, “it’s like a light-switch went on and they have all leaned in. We are not hearing from unhappy customers the way we were before, feeling passed around or that no one really cared about them.”

And who doesn’t want more of that??

Give improv a try and see how much it can do for your team and your business.