Say “Yes, and” Create Positive Business Culture with Improv
By: Mary Elisabeth
Tags: Improv, Culture, Startup, Improvement, Business

Participants at the Positive Business Conference do improv comedy exercises to practice behaviors that foster positive business culture

When doing diligence considering companies for venture capital investment I asked founders what kind of culture they are creating. More often than not founders didn’t have a clear answer. “Culture?” a common response, founders perplexed, as if I’m asking about yogurt-making. Founders primarily focused on fundraising, product, and sales, usually in that order (which I recommend flipping if that’s your order of priority), so a question about culture often threw them for a loop.

My response to their questioning: “Yes, culture.” Though it may seem premature to ask a two-person company, it’s an important question. Because cultures that aren’t deliberately created are created on accident, and where do accidents lead us? The hospital. Accidentally created cultures tend to be the ones that are toxic or otherwise spiral out of control. It’s like making yogurt. If you are deliberate about the kind of bacteria you put in there, you’ll get a healthy blend of probiotics to strengthen your gut and create a tasty and healthy yogurt. If you are not deliberate about the kind of bacteria, and just let whatever grow, you’re more likely to get sick. Bacteria can be good for us or kill us. Depends on the bacteria. Culture can be good for us or kill us. Depends on the culture.

Creating business culture is like creating yogurt. Bacteria can be good for us or kill us. Depends on the bacteria. Culture can be good for us or kill us. Depends on the culture. Illustration @bymelisabeth

In order to answer the question “what kind of culture are you creating?” consider how do you want people to work together? When people describe what it’s like to work at your company, what do you want them to say? Ask yourself, what are three words you want people to use to describe what it’s like to work at your company? For example, fun, positive, effective. Or productive, casual, open-minded. Or serious, stubborn, scary. Or trusting, empathetic, inspiring.

From there, you can work backwards to build in practices and rituals at your company so to achieve the culture you aspire to create. For instance, if you want a casual culture, wearing business formal attire or requiring people to wear business formal attire is probably not the best way to go about that. Wear casual clothes. If you want a culture of intrapreneurship, best to create a culture where you foster creativity and encourage people to pursue their ideas for achieving company goals.

If you want to create a positive, effective, trusting, empathetic, inspiring, intrapreneurial, self-aware, motivating, engaging, driven, healthy, sustainable, and fun culture, here are a few ways to use improv methodology to create that culture:

Say “yes, and”

Accept the reality of what is, and then go from there. Leaders who aren’t able to confront the reality of what’s going on, struggle to address conflict, problem solve, and build trust. Refusing to acknowledge the reality of situations creates a culture where there is a lack of trust.

Listen

Create a culture of listening and responding. Listen fully to what people say and then respond. In improv we do an exercise called “first word last word” which involves having a conversation using the last word the last person said as the first word of the next sentence, forcing people to listen to the entire statement before talking. Doing this helps us practice listening fully, versus starting to think about what we’re going to say before the other person finishes talking. When we listen fully we are able to communicate more effectively, understand one another, and build trust with our teammates.

Turn mistakes into learning opportunities

When mistakes are punished or scrutinized cultures of fear are created. Cultures based on fear paralyzes team members in a way that discourages taking risks and actually is more likely to have people making mistakes. Remember high school sports? If you were too afraid of getting injured on the soccer field usually you were more likely to get injured. And definitely less likely to score a goal.

Communicate clearly

In improv scenes, we need to be very clear about what we’re saying because that’s how other people in the scene find out about what’s going on and stay on the same page. Well, the same is true in companies. We need to be very clear about what’s going on, erring on over-communicating so everyone can stay on the same page. How to do that? Regular meetings where the leaders and team members share what’s happening and status updates on important initiatives. For leaders, scheduling 1:1 meetings with team members, providing a space to learn what’s going on for team members and help troubleshoot any challenges. Communicating proactively and having a space to communicate helps bring any issues to the surface before they get to be big problems.

If you try these exercises or have other techniques you’d used to create a deliberate culture, please share!

Keep saying “yes, and” building teams and companies that empower trust and positivity, in addition to driving initiative and achieving business objectives.

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