When people in Germany hear the word "theater," they often think it has little to do with the seriousness of life. However, behind the art of theater and especially behind the art of improvisational theater lies a great power and energy. We improvisational artists work with a methodology that can bring people from all industries to peak performance. Let's be honest: Who among you would dare to stand in front of 500 people with the task of entertaining the audience for two hours? And all this, without PowerPoint and without knowing what you will talk about. To find out how we improvisational artists achieve this, it is worth taking a closer look into the matter.
The Agile Method of Improvisational Theater
Improvisational theater means that improvisational artists tell stories together on stage - without coordinating beforehand. We manage to develop beautiful, entertaining stories in the moment they happen. This works because we improvisational artists work extremely agile. None of us knows beforehand on stage in which direction the next line will lead the story. The only thing that unites us improvisational artists and gives us security is the knowledge of how stories are structured. In short: we improvisational artists are storytellers - also known as storytellers. We do not have a specific goal in mind, but the success of the story. The desire to tell a successful and complete story together is the magical bond that holds us improvisational artists together. We can rely on each other for that. Only when all artists do this together, a beautiful and entertaining story is created within two hours.
The Three Mindsets for Agile Work
The situation is very similar in every business enterprise. The time when clear goals were set for all employees and they could march together towards them for a few months or even years is over. Instead of one goal, companies today speak much more of a goal corridor that needs to be reached. It is constantly renewed or changed. This challenges the employees and requires a great willingness from them to constantly adapt to something new and immediately incorporate changes. How do employees still manage to successfully complete a project? This is only possible if everyone in the company works extremely agile. This requires a mindset that did not play a major role just a few years ago:
- a positive attitude,
- joy in change,
- creativity, and
- a healthy distance from the task.
How to Succeed in the Story and Your Project
Good improvisational artists have internalized this mindset thoroughly. Only with this attitude can the story (aka the project) succeed in the end, and every improvisational artist (aka employee)
- enjoys their work,
- looks forward to the next big project,
- remains loyal to their company (favoring employer branding), and
- remains high-performing and ready to perform (resilient).
It is important to understand and internalize this mindset. With the method from Applied Improvisation, it is easier than you might think.
