How the workshop works
Improving
with Improv, conducted by Charlie Allenson is an adaptive thinking program that uses the
techniques and exercises of improvisational comedy to develop faster, more creative better thinking and build confidence. Which in turn can lead to greater productivity and economic advantages.
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Charlie Allenson's goals are to help you:
- Solve problems and resolve business issues more quickly and
creatively
- Respond rapidly and appropriately to
the unexpected
- Build better working relationships
- Do all of this with increased confidence
The workshop is generally a morning or afternoon session. It
contains a variety of exercises, each building on the previous exercise,
to achieve those goals.
Each
exercise is rooted in improv comedy, but reflects real-world
business issues. Following each exercise is a brief discussion/analysis
of what
the participants were experiencing, and how this can be applied to
actual business situations. The underlying concept of each exercise is more important than the content.
Improving with Improv is not about being a
comedian. It is about adaptive thinking and building confidence. But you will laugh while you
learn.
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Exercises in Adaptive Thinking
Each Improving with Improv exercise is geared to dealing with a specific issue:
- Finding a way to agree and move forward even when there's disagreement
- Distilling an idea to its understandable/workable essence
- Building on non-verbal communication
- Getting on the same page/learning when to roll with a situation or control it/staying on track
- Finding approaches using linear and non-linear thinking
- More confident interpersonal interaction
- Thinking on your feet/handling the unexpected
- Adaptive thinking: putting it all together
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| Yes/And: Finding agreement even with disagreement |
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| Utilizing non-verbal communication |
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| A circle of thinking: Building on the ideas of others for better solutions |
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| Basic Scene Work: Finding the essence of an idea |
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| Adaptive Thinking: Putting it all together with confidence |
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Who can benefit from Adaptive Thinking?
The list of people who can benefit from an Improving with Improv
Adaptive Thinking workshop is as long as it is beneficial. This group
includes:
- Managers
- Attorneys
- Recruiters
- C-Level Executives
- Sales Force Members
- Team Leaders
- Engineering and Technical People
- Medical Professionals
- Media Executives
- Financial Professionals
- Business School Students
Improving with Improv, and its
Adaptive Thinking curriculum will have you thinking about business
issues in a whole new way. And solving them faster and with more confidence even in uncertain situations.
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The Take-Away
At this program's conclusion, participants
should be able to:
- Be
more aware of your own thought and observational processes
- Think
more creatively, listen more closely
- Secure
mutual support from others to keep things moving in a positive
direction, even when there's disagreement
- Focus
on the "now" while at the same time being aware of changing external
influences and reacting appropriately
- Feel more confident and project that confidence
- Think
faster in unpredictable situations; being more mentally adaptable
- Be
more sensitive to non-verbal cues
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| Guest Blogger for Mildred Antenor's "Bridging the Gap" |
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This
all adds up to you and your
company or organization having people capable of making
more valuable, more creative contributions and being more confident in their own abilities.
The
workshop itself is very flexible. It can be structured as a half-day,
morning or afternoon event, it can be done in shorter sessions over a
number of days, and works on- or off-site.
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