Planning vs. Improvising

Improv performers are often told to “get out of your head” – that is, quit thinking so much and just act! On the improv stage, a performer can’t spend time scriptwriting in his head but must take action as quickly as possible and trust his onstage partners to support him.

There are many parallels here with the organization environment. It’s one thing to (say) attend a class in conflict management, read a list of best practices on a Powerpoint slide, and apply them to a case study after a 30-minute discussion with your table team. It’s quite another thing to go back into a live work environment and try to apply the practices when you’re suddenly confronted by two employees having a knock-down drag-out verbal fight. In that situation, you can’t say, “Hold that thought, guys – let me refer to my Powerpoint and call my table team.” No, you have to act now!

In those “on the fly” situations, I think most people would value the ability to act improvisationally and not get stuck in their heads, mulling over what to do while the conflict spirals out of control in front of them. But does that mean that every situation calls for improvisational action? Of course not – and I sometimes think that this is one of the biggest barriers to people’s acceptance of Applied Improvisation: The perception that improvisation means totally shutting off your mind and acting by instinct in all situations. On the contrary, there are many situations that require us to slow down, deliberate, and carefully plan what we’re going to do.

So does this mean that the improviser’s art has no place in the world of planning? To address this, I’ll cite one of my favorite quotes, by that great daily improviser Dwight D. Eisenhower:

“Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

Essentially, Ike was recognizing something that the Heath brothers (authors of Made to Stick) also acknowledged: No plan survives contact with the enemy. In other words, a plan-on-paper is built on certain assumptions about the future that will inevitably turn out to be incomplete, slightly off base, or just flat-out wrong. Because of this, sticking rigidly to the plan will likely lead to a march over the proverbial cliff.

But even if the plan is “useless” (and Ike was clearly overstating for effect), the process used to create it is essential  - because, by immersing himself in the problem space and turning over the various possibilities in his mind, the planner trains his mind to bend and flex with each contingency. When reality throws the inevitable unanticipated event in his face, the planner is then in a better position to address it in the moment – i.e., to improvise – because of his mental preparation. Just as the performance improviser prepares by cultivating a mindset of “expecting the unexpected,” so can the planner remain open to the need to change on the fly rather than becoming wedded to his plan.

REFLECTIONS FOR THE YES! LEADER

How do you regard a plan? As a mathematical formula that must be followed exactly as written in order to get the right answer – or as a framework for action? How do you react when reality doesn’t cooperate with the assumptions cooked into your plan? Are you paralyzed - or can you improvise?