YES

Can you make something out of nothing???

Image by WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Improvisation itself is going with the flow of any situation and always saying YES. Tina Fey goes more into context about the "to-do's" and "not to-dos" of improv in a small portion of her book, Bossypants. Although it may come off as lame to some of you, I was a total geek in high school when it came to taking drama classes, so needless to say... I actually find improv super fun. I totally understood the reasoning behind how acknowledging the basics of improv can really help gear towards bettering any kind of group. 

Image by WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Michael Scott himself began doing improv after he said a guy in a race car drove up as he was walking and pronounced him the "funniest guy ever", but the real story was that he found a flyer and went to an improv class. Ladies and gentlemen, if Michael Scott can do improv and use it towards managing his office then we all can master the art of improvisation and use it towards our daily lives. 

With improv, you really have no choice but to say YES. I mean don't necessarily yell it out unless you need to.. It also helps greatly if you suggest something after agreeing because then you will be putting in your own effort into the conversation rather than letting somebody else completely take over or figure everything out for the both of you. For the most part, saying no in any conversation will put things in an awkward position and it simply doesn't help anybody when you are close-minded. 

When it comes to a work environment, you always need to hear out your peers and add-on to what they are suggesting even if it may be a little shh.. stupid to you. Who knows, they might think the same thing about what you are saying, but at least you put in your thoughts and suggestions rather than shutting your peer down completely.

Image by Kaz via Pixabay

Doing improv for fun is great if you are actually up for making something out of nothing and I feel that once people have the hang of it, they open up more since you have to sometimes make yourself look funny to others. It really helps with becoming comfortable in being yourself in literally any situation. Improv also helps with thinking of and sharing the first thing that comes to mind, when you are in a group you of course want things to go smoothly and efficiently, so rather than overthinking things it's probably better to just go with your gut. Although, I would suggest maybe thinking about what you say just a little bit before you actually say it because say for example you are at the gym with your friends and you all made a pact to go on diets, buuut you burst out that you caved and ate anything sugary and unhealthy in your sight then I'm sure you'll find you and your friends at the nearest place serving carne asada fries messing up your diets. Next time, maybe keep that little accident to yourself and they'll keep pushing you to eat healthy even though they may also be doing the same thing. Again, we are all improvising the idea that we want to be healthy and go to the gym when we are really sitting back and watching the new season of Narcos while eating chicken alfredo. 

Here's a link to one of my favorite shows, Whose Line is it Anyway?, which I'm sure some of you watch/ may have watched already and it's some pretty light-hearted comedy that really gets down to how other improv games go! Enjoy! :)

Image by Sean Davis / Improv Louisville via Flickr

Are you "In"?

Collaborating will always take me back to how a village works. They say "it takes a village to raise a child", and I believe that is how a group works towards their initial goal.

Everyone will always bring something to the table even if it's something different than what their peers have seen because a new set of eyes is always great. When it comes down to wanting something to work, you will make it work and just having one serious goal you want to pursue is enough to successfully collaborate on anything.

(Image by Chad McDonald via flickr)

Specifically speaking, if you want something you are working on to succeed in great matters then you not only need your peers to be cohesive on what everyone will do, but you also need to care about who will see it and how they will react. You need to make it open to everybody since everybody loves to know what is going on and what is "in". You need to learn what is the current fashion or what everyone is talking about because there is nothing worse than creating something that people have JUST moved on from. What people will also greatly enjoy is fabricating their own style off of what they see on others online. Creating something that hasn't been seen yet will definitely attract attention (watch: Collaborating for Success). It sounds sad, but a lot of people want to be like others so they will be interested in looking for what they want to focus their time onto next and your new ideas will be as successful as you want them to be so put in what you want out of it!