METHODOLOGY
Applied Improvisation (AIm)
Experiential activity-based methodology centred around skilling in active listening, acceptance and building on other's offers (LAB)
Build agile, human-centered organisations
Embrace a culture where teams are skilled to actively listen, adapt, and co-create in real time
Unlocking new levels of innovation, resilience, and shared success for your team and organisation, by embedding AIm into your business DNA.
Provenance
AIm is the use of principles, tools, practices, skills, and mindsets developed in comedy, jazz, and theatre, and is adapted for non-theatrical contexts to enhance performance and outcomes in business and organisational settings.
Unlike traditional improvisation, designed for the stage, AIm is purposefully used to help individuals and teams navigate uncertainty, communicate more effectively, and co-create solutions in real-world environments.
The practice is inherently experiential, where participants engage in interactive exercises and games that breed cooperation, adaptability, and creativity.
Violin Spolin, mother of modern improvisation, c.1930s, © https://www.violaspolin.org/bio
For business outcomes
AIm helps teams build the key interpersonal skills and flexible thinking that drive strong performance and effective leadership.
Research and real-world examples show that using these techniques boosts communication, creativity, and problem-solving across many for- and non-profit sectors. These benefits help teams become more resilient and maintain a lasting edge over competitors.
71%
of participants agreed that they would change the method used to make spontaneous decisions to OPTIMAL decision-making, using Improvisation skills. ▸
90%
of participants reported gaining listening skills or the confident with the ability to express thoughts without judgment or fear of being wrong. ▸
84%
of students at 3 months post-workshop reported they had used at least one improvisation skill on their clinical wards (50% response rate). ▸
72%
of participants gained an understanding of collaborative creativity, observing this phenomenon at the workshop or later in their work environments. ▸
🇬🇧 Naomi Bellman, IT director within investment banking (elevating my status as a female to align with the predominantly male cohort)
I work in a heavily male dominated industry, and it's still an old boys club.
I work mostly with men who have very high status, including traders and salespeople.
After doing improv training, I noticed speed of speech, volume, posture, eye contact, and overall physicality a lot more clearly, especially when meeting people for the first time.
If I adapt my own physicality and speech to match theirs, it puts me closer to the same level of status, and stops me feeling intimidated.
I spent the first six years of my career fighting to be recognized as someone who actually works there, rather than just a female, as I had to fight to be taken seriously before I could get on with my job.
Suddenly, matching status has helped to limit the amount of time I have to waste convincing people I can do my job, and means I can actually get on with it.
True high status also means being very relaxed about where you stand.
So when one man refused to acknowledge me, and only shook hands with and spoke to the man standing next to me, I walked away.
In the past, I'd have stood there and let his dismissive attitude affect my confidence.
Max Dickins (14/7/2020), 'Improvise!: Use the Secrets of Improv to Achieve Extraordinary Results at Work - Introduction', Icon Books', PDF
🇫🇷 Zoey, assistant TV producer (increased confidence when pitching)
I work in digital TV content, think apps, quizzes, games, and all that stuff that sits alongside TV shows.
A lot of my job revolves around pitching new content ideas to clients.
But before improv, I was always the kind of person who would tail off in the middle of a sentence, because I didn't have the confidence in my own idea.
Or I just wouldn't share an idea at all, unless i'd 100percent fully formulated it in my head, which of course is not how creative ideation sessions work.
Since I've been Improvising.
I've learned to follow the impulse to speak in those sessions rather than meticulously planning out what I'm I'm going to say, I trust that I can start a sentence without knowing exactly where it's going to go.
And that I will find an ending for it, even if it's not perfect.
For instance, working on some Halloween content for a Kids TV channel, I started with the idea of a selfie filter where you open your mouth and the end of that sentence by the time I got to it turned out to be 1000s of tiny spiders crawled out.
Not super appropriate for a channel aimed at eight year olds.
But it did provide a jumping off point for what turned out to be a really cool augmented reality game idea.
Where pointing the phone camera at the TV screen during show made weird spooky skulls appear that started moving towards you.
And you had to swipe them away before they got you a million miles away from the weird place I started in.
But it couldn't have happened if I'd been filtering myself.
No matter how it feels sometimes.
Nobody has all the answers in life.
Despite the confident badder knowledge of certain slick individuals, meetings and conversations are not scripted.
Max Dickins (14/7/2020), 'Improvise!: Use the Secrets of Improv to Achieve Extraordinary Results at Work - Introduction', Icon Books', PDF
🇬🇧 Simon Gomes, lawyer (acceptance over perfectionism; overcome 'Yes-But')
Improv has helped me in how I manage my team is especially improved my listening skills.
Whereas before, if I was in a meeting, I'd be obsessing about the agenda, trying to keep everything on track, and not really listening.
Now I'm in the room, engaging with people's ideas, so I can understand and respond to them.
Also, I've removed but from my language, rather than responding to someone with Yes-But now I'll say, "That's really good, and have you thought about this?"
The idea is that we are building something together, as opposed to competing over who is right.
I am acutely aware now that the language you choose as an impact on others, if you use but will you think about is the next bit that follows.
The person just hears "No".
But Improv is not saying yes to everything.
"I understand." - Yes-And it's about building a better version of what either of us has separately.
It's still disagreement, but it's productive.
It's a healthier way of sharing your perspective with others.
Since I've met this simple change, people feed back to me that I am much more collaborative than I used to be.
Max Dickins (14/7/2020), 'Improvise!: Use the Secrets of Improv to Achieve Extraordinary Results at Work - Introduction', Icon Books', PDF
Key outcomes
Enhanced Communication
Exercises in active listening and “yes, and...” thinking help participants become more present, receptive, and responsive, reducing misunderstandings and cultivating open dialogue.
Collaboration and Co-Creation
AIm is fundamentally group-focused, teaching individuals to build on each other’s ideas, postpone judgment, and create collectively, leading to more innovative and inclusive solutions.
Agility and Adaptability
By practicing spontaneous decision-making in a safe environment, teams develop the confidence and flexibility to respond constructively to change and uncertainty.
Psychological Safety and Trust
The playful, low-risk nature of AIm activities encourages risk-taking, celebrates failure as a learning opportunity, and strengthens interpersonal connections.
Leadership Development
AIm builds self-awareness, empathy, and relationship management skills—critical for effective leadership in complex, dynamic environments.
Bringing applied improvisation to its leadership program: “Our staff are looking forward to bringing this unique experiential learning process to our graduate students. The techniques of improvisation will undoubtedly bring many out of their comfort zones and help them grow as leaders and communicators. We’re certain they’ll have a transformative learning experience as they add these improvisation principles to their business acumen."
What to bring back to the workplace
Take risks easier and have more comfort with ambiguity through scenario switching
Enact creativity and problem solving through 'bricolage' thinking
Have more attention to detail through connected questioning
Active listen more through ensemble storybuilding
Build agility through dynamic role-shifting
Build on others's ideas through "yes, and"
Put judgement on the backburner
For further insights on cultivating high-performing teams and embedding psychological safety into your organisational culture, connect with Rebooter Group's Human Psychological Safety and Performance specialists.
