I’ve found the concept of “improvisation in organizations”
to often be a difficult sell. Many
people seem to think that “improvise” means “make it all up as you go along” –
which conjures up images of multiple free agents setting off on individual
courses of action that can’t be tracked, monitored, or controlled.
In fact, though, improv follows processes and rules of
engagement that guide individuals in their actions without dictating exactly
what they should say or do. As Cathy Salit of the applied improvisation group
Performance of a Lifetime says, “Beneath the apparent chaos of improvisation is
a light structure that allows it to work.” For performance improvisers, that
structure is comprised of games that frame the boundaries of the actors’
onstage performance, as well as rules (such as “Say Yes And” and “Make Your
Partner Look Good”) that guide the behaviors of the actors.
Without this sense of light structure, performance improv
would be nothing more than individual actors trying to upstage one another by
making wisecracks and calling attention to themselves as individuals. The team
aspect of improv – a central aspect of its appeal and success – would be
totally lost, since there would be no unifying goal for the performers’ actions
beyond trying to evoke big yuks.
The value of using “light structures” is also becoming
increasingly recognized by business organizations.
Think about it from your own experience: When was the
last time you arrived at work and were handed the “script of the day” to be
rigidly observed until it was time to go home? Improvising is the human
condition – we’re constantly improvising, from morning until night. Yet
organizational life requires each of us to focus our improvisations on the
accomplishment of a common goal. Structures such as a company vision, mission,
core values, and work objectives allow an organization to marshal all of the
individual actions of its members toward the achievement of a common purpose.
These structures also allow for a degree of consistency and control in the
operation of the enterprise.
However, the danger of making these structures too heavy
can be illustrated by certain organizations that have tried to operate by means
of overly rigid requirements. In his book To
Sell Is Human, Dan Pink notes that Col. John Patterson of NCR Corporation
sketched the blueprint for a sales approach that depended on saying and doing
things precisely by the book in interactions with customers. Quoting Harvard
business historian Walter Friedman, Pink notes:
“The ever more detailed instructions … focused ‘not only on what
salesmen should say, but also on what they were to do while saying it.’”
While consistency is needed in a company’s sales methods,
this approach taken to its extreme has the downside of making sellers sound
robotic and inauthentic. These methods may have met with success in the days
when selling was largely a formulaic, cost-benefit proposition. Selling today,
though, requires building relationships with customers as much as it does
pointing out features and benefits of products. And relationship-building involves
give and take, going where the customer wants to go, listening carefully, and
treating each customer as a unique individual – none of which is possible with
a completely prearranged approach. A more lightly structured selling approach
that focuses on the customer’s buying steps and the actions that can help guide
(not force or push) the customer up those steps allows for sellers to recognize
the needs and expectations of each individual customer while still maintaining
a consistent approach.
You might say, “Well, that’s fine, but my job doesn’t involve
selling anything.” But one of Pink’s main themes is that we’re all in sales now. His studies have shown
that up to 40% of the workday of the typical organizational member involves
what he calls non-sales selling – “persuading, influencing, and convincing
others in ways that don’t involve anyone making a purchase.” Whether you’re a
manager trying to negotiate for project resources, a lawyer trying to move a
jury, a doctor trying to persuade a patient to follow a treatment plan, or a
facilitator trying to influence a class participant to adopt a new behavior or
way of thinking … you’re a salesperson. And the same light-structure approach –
derived from the rules of improvisational theater - that guides the actions of
the modern sales professional can guide yours as well. As Dan Pink describes them:
1) Hear Offers:
As Cathy Salit says, improv performers must “listen without listening for anything.” In other words, they need
to suspend the mental filters and assumptions through which they hear the words
of others and which can distract them from the actual message. For example, if someone
you’re trying to influence responds by asking several questions, you might
interpret their failure to immediately agree with you as resistance to what you’re
saying. You may then react by treating them as an adversary who needs to be “defeated.”
But if you listen carefully and generously, you might realize that their
questions reflect a good-faith attempt to understand what you’re saying. In
effect, they may be making an offer to continue the interaction and perhaps
work collaboratively toward a mutually agreeable solution.
2) Say “Yes And”:
When we say “yes and,” we maintain an
attitude of positivity and possibility toward the person we’re trying to
influence. “Yes and” doesn’t necessarily
mean Agreeing with the other’s Position. Rather, it means Accepting the Person,
Acknowledging the Possibilities in what he or she is saying, and Advancing with
Positive Purpose.
3) Make Your Partner Look Good: As
mentioned above, improv is a collaborative team performance that requires the
actors to allow space for their fellow team members to shine. Doing so makes
for a better scene, and better success for everyone. The same holds true when
you’re trying to influence someone in a certain direction: Focusing on the
other’s interests as much as your own can result in creative win-win solutions
that allow both of you to “shine.”
