Improv for Small Business

At a small business networking meeting I introduced the principles of improv theatre. It became clear to me that improv, and other creativity activities, enables us to make the subconscious conscious.

Here are the key points from the workshop:

• Successful businesses are agile and creative

• Improvising means combining your existing skills and knowledge with the resources at hand and an immediate need for something to happen

• When things don’t go to plan we may need to improvise

• Improvisation is a skill anyone can learn and is governed by a series of rules

• Useful improv principles for small business include:

Accept offers: say “Yes! And…”

Be present: attentive, alert, curious

Do something: act, start anywhere

Be average: excel by not trying too hard

Make mistakes: take risks

Let go: be open, not attached, to the outcome

• Using the principles of improv enables you to be more spontaneous

• Being spontaneous enables you to be open to new ideas, creativity and innovation

And what small business wouldn’t want that?