How does your organization become more innovative, your leaders more motivating, your sales force more successful? By seeing and creating connections: Connections between people, between disparate ideas, between industry best practices and your specific challenges, between that shell on the beach and your new product design.

Last month, I was privileged to connect with fellow improvisation practitioners at the Annual Applied Improvisation Network Conference, this year in Portland, OR. In attendance were members from Holland, China, Australia, Turkey, England, Canada, the U.S., Japan, among other places - who use the principles and techniques of improv in non-performance settings.

Here and in our blog, I will happily pass along a number of the activities and tips that were shared with me.

Let me start with a simple activity on making connections. I was first introduced to this activity at BATS Improv and rediscovered it with some new variations courtesy of their current Corporate Division Director, Chris Sams. Although very simple, I find it yields surprisingly valuable results. Our clients have used this activity as a simple ice-breaker, as well as in problem-solving and idea-generation sessions.


3 Things In Common

Step 1: Ask participant to pair up with someone in the group that they may be less familiar with.

Step 2: In pairs, ask the participants to find 3 things that they have in common, that they do not already know they have in common. (E.G. working for the same company, both being women doesn't count.) Give everyone a few minutes to explore connections.

Step 3: Ask each pair to join with another pair, share their discoveries and look for connections that all four people have in common.

Step 4: Debrief - What did you discover? What feels different now? What surprised you? What is useful?

Variations:

 - Ask participants to find 3 things they have in common with a person working in another profession (e.g. an astronaut)
 - Ask participants to find connections between two disparate ideas or values or solutions that have been presented at a meeting or conference.
 
Let us know how it goes!

 

 

Speaking of connections, I'm thrilled to be offering my first joint program with my colleague Renu Ramakrishnan before she heads of to Delhi to open a Kopco office there.

Sponsored by the Albany-Colonie Chamber Diversity Advisory Board, this program will combine a focus on general facilitation and instructional design skills with discussion of diversity and cross-cultural communication content. Participants will:

• Experience activities that enhance understanding and retention.
• Receive facilitator guides for those and more activities appropriate for diverse settings and populations.
• Explore adult learning principles and how to design with them in mind.
• Troubleshoot their own training and development issues.

If you have any interest in enhancing training, or in supporting a thriving diverse culture, please join us.