Trusting People and Process

Last year when I came up for the Applied Improvisation Network Bay Area chapter’s one-day conference, there was a lot of structure. This year’s edition was organized using Open Space Technology, something I’ve been curious about experiencing for a while now. It was both fascinating and useful. An Open Space conference is perfect for a group of improvisers, as it gives just enough structure and “rules” to establish a basis for a truly collaborative, creative experience. It ended up being the day we needed to be.

As such, I don’t have presentations to link to or extensive notes on what people talked about. It was an experiential day, and most of my notes are hastily scrawled prompts to myself about ideas from our activities’ debriefs. There were a ton of things ping-ponging through my head, and I was desperate to capture the ones that seemed most important. Looking at my notebook today, I think did an okay job. The thought that kept popping back into my head during the day is how much of an impact improv has had on my own working style over the last year.

One of things I struggled with a year or two into my improv training was my attachment to outcome. It took me a while, but eventually I overcame my tendency to see where a scene “should” go and drive towards that, despite what my scene partners were doing. I won’t say that I’m perfect, but now I’m much better at following the process, trusting and listening to my partners, and taking the scene where it needs to go rather than where I thought it should.

My applied improv journey since last year’s conference has been about doing this at work, too. I’m now able to approach meetings and technical discussions in the same way I approach scenes in performance. I trust my co-workers and our process. We may not get to the answer I thought we should, but I’m better at accepting that what we come up with is the answer we need. That doesn’t mean I don’t advocate for positions I think are right, but it does mean I don’t view meetings where we reach different conclusions as failures. In that regard, I have seen a profound shift in the way that I approach work. What amazes me is that I didn’t really realize this until someone asked me yesterday morning about what my experience with applied improv was.

The AIN International Conference is in San Francisco next year. Based on how my experiences at these two one-day conferences have shaped me, there’s no way I can not go.

Update

Fitness: Rest day