Yes, And: How Improvisation Reverses "No, But" Thinking and Improves Creativity and Collaboration--Lessons from The Second City
By Kelly Leonard and Tom Yorton
4/5
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About this ebook
Executives from The Second City—the world’s premier comedy theater and school of improvisation—reveal improvisational techniques that can help any organization develop innovators, encourage adaptable leaders, and build transformational businesses.
For more than fifty years, The Second City comedy theater in Chicago has been a training ground for some of the best comic minds in the industry—including John Belushi, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Mike Myers, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, and Tina Fey. But it also provides one-of-a-kind leadership training to cutting-edge companies, nonprofits, and public sector organizations—all aimed at increasing creativity, collaboration, and teamwork.
The rules for leadership and teamwork have changed, and the skills that got professionals ahead a generation ago don’t work anymore. Now The Second City provides a new toolkit individuals and organizations can use to thrive in a world increasingly shaped by speed, social communication, and decentralization. Based on eight principles of improvisation, Yes, And helps to develop these skills and foster them in high-potential leaders and their teams, including:
- Mastering the ability to co-create in an ensemble
- Fostering a “yes, and” approach to work
- Embracing failure to accelerate high performance
- Leading by listening and by learning to follow
- Innovating by making something out of nothing
Yes, And is a must-read for professionals and organizations, helping to develop the invaluable leadership skills needed to succeed today.
Kelly Leonard
Kelly Leonard is the executive vice president of The Second City and the president of Second City Theatricals. He has worked at The Second City since 1988 and has overseen productions with such notable performers as Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey, and Amy Poehler. Mr. Leonard cofounded Second City Theatricals, the division of the company that develops an eclectic array of live entertainment all over the world. He has fostered creative and business collaborations with Lyric Opera Chicago, Norwegian Cruise Line, Hubbard Street Dance and the Chicago Tribune, to name a few.
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Reviews for Yes, And
23 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5√ Improv Method for Creative Breakthroughs
I confess that YES, AND really surprised me. The ideas are far more relevant than I would have ever imagined.
The theme of this book is to use comedy improv training to help people become more creative, more innovative, more open to other ideas. In comedy improv, they call the practice of building up on another person's start the "Yes, And" approach. By using this approach "creative breakthroughs occur in environments where ideas are not just fully explored, but heightened and stretch two levels that might seem absurd at first."
In our work life, when we work in groups, we try to be more willing to listen and to build up on the others ideas. At Second City, the performers did not become great by working as a soloist; instead, they did it by learning to work in groups. The authors call this habit, "The importance of the ensemble." Second city realized after a half of century of doing comedy, that "dialogues push stories further than monologues."
One of the more interesting ideas in this book is the idea of "Follow the follower." What this means is that a group is free to allow any member to be the leader for a time that is when his or her expertise is particularly needed.
There is one part of this book--right at the very end, that is worth the price of admission alone. It is a list of tips on how to communicate with people better. Here's a few:
♠ Look people in the eye when you meet them.
♠ Smile.
♠ Don't check your text or email when someone else is talking. (Oh that one hits too close to home.)
The authors include an appendix that are actually exercises based on the routines of Second City. There is also an extensive NOTES section. as well as an. index.
√ All in all, YES, AND was a surprising book. The ideas suggested are unique and practical. I believe many of the suggestions are worth trying. Highly recommend.
Note: Review copy courtesy of Edelweiss. I do not know the author of this book and no one asked me to write a positive review. Heck, they were too cheap to even give me any free Second City tickets. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I love Second City TV - who isn't terrified of the 3D House of Pancakes? Ooooh, scary!" - but who knew I was building valuable leadership and management skills while cracking up at Rick Moranis and John Candy. Improv is awesome and being good at improv - not just being funny - is a valuable skill for project managers and lawyers. Anyway, a good book. What would be better is to actually practice improv. Take some improv - it will improve your personal skills. Really. Or just watch 3D House of Pancakes -- and Bob and Doug: Great White North.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is a terrific and innovative glimpse at how improv techniques can work in other venues. I am really interested in making this work in my classroom, particularly when trying to engage students at the small-group and discussion-oriented levels. I would also like more collaborative efforts in the workplace and in my church. I think that if we worked TOGETHER as an ensemble, instead of pitting our interests against others', who knows what we may accomplish? This book has given me so much to think about.