As we begin another year, it’s worth reflecting on the value of what’s central to our offers.
I’m not sure how many of us are willing to describe ourselves as ‘improvisers’. And if we are, what do we want the term to convey?
Thousands of people have testified to long-term, beneficial consequences of experiencing improvisation in a workshop or training programme. And I’ve never heard stories of people whose lives have been damaged in the process, but maybe they won’t come and tell us!
The reported impacts do range widely, because improvisation affects all sorts of people in many different ways.
Broadly, I think the benefits of adding a more improvisational stance to life and work are these:
- Increased adventurousness
- Greater appreciation of appropriate risk in different areas of life
- More sustained listening skills
- Better collaboration skills
- Taking shorter turns – which makes you more interesting
- Less needless perfectionism – which gets you unstuck
We can identify short-term and long-term effects. Some people experience a life-changing flash of insight, while others ingest a slow drip of letting go of unhelpful habits and beliefs.
For example, improvisers know that they can let go of everything having to be perfectly prepared and perfectly executed. Not everything needs that degree of finesse. And developing the letting-go skill releases pressure and tension, much of which is recognised as self-imposed and inappropriate.
In other words, we can make more useful and sustainable choices about our professional habits and disciplines.
For more tips to help you design and host inspirational meetings, workshops and conferences that give you a competitive edge both online and offline, book your place today at our forthcoming Inspirational Facilitator online course!
