“If you want to build a ship,
don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”
—Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

 

(Some) Improv Tenets

Below is a description of some of the tenets that are commonly held by improvisers worldwide, though the specific wording may differ from group to group.

Make Your Partner Look Good asks a player to focus on the other person and give him whatever he needs at the time. Preoccupation with making the other person look good results in less self-consciousness—if the focus is on the other person, there is less pressure on a player to show how creative or smart he himself is. Ultimately, when two partners are doing their best to make each other look good, both partners feel fully supported, allowing for amazing, unexpected things to be discovered from their collaboration.

Commit asks a participant to give 100 percent to an exercise, regardless of how silly or challenging it is. The benefits of this tenet are immeasurable. More often than not, participants relish the opportunity to rise to the occasion, especially when the challenge is given to everyone present. Giving one’s all to an exercise is contagious, and when it succeeds, helps to develop self-confidence. Even when an exercise results in failure, a participant knows that her ability to commit was not in question. The more participants are allowed to try and fail in this supportive environment, the more practice they get at failing good-naturedly (another key attribute of collaboration and successful innovation).

Leap Before you Look invites participants to act then reflect, rather than plan then act. This guideline is not necessarily one to be used at all times, but for the purpose of playing, is intended to help participants stretch an unused muscle of acting spontaneously.

Mistakes are Gifts reminds participants that it is possible to create with whatever is said or done in a game, regardless of whether or not that something was intentional, or even welcome. A judgment of good/bad or mistake/success is purely a framework we impose upon our actions. Learning to put aside that judgment and accept mistakes as gifts is one of the most powerful guidelines of all.

Yes, and… is the fundamental building block of collaboration. The practice is to accept someone’s suggestion (to say “yes” to it) and to build on it (to add “and…”). The key factor here is that all judgment is suspended as to whether or not the suggestion is worthwhile or timely or good or necessary. The idea of Yes, And… is to practice suspending judgment while accepting and building on suggestions, whether or not the suggestions come from one’s self or from others. Note, this takes a lot of practice. In life, we are praised for being judgmental—here we are practicing putting judgment aside. Note, there is a time and a place to use judgment and toss out ideas that are not suitable, but more often than not, we use that judging mentality so much that it hinders our ability to communicate, collaborate, and innovate.

Other tenets include:

Go into the cave

Be an expert

Be obvious

Make emotional sounds

Reincorporate

Endow