As a leader or manager, the ability to think on your feet is essential. Skills rooted in improvisation can be your key to unlocking creativity, trust, and resilience.
But let’s be clear, Business Improv® is not about being funny or performing on stage.
“Improvisation is not comedy. That’s the outcome of a specific kind of improv-not the foundation of business improv,” says Bob Kulhan, Founder and CEO of Business Improv®, a 23-year-old consultancy that links improv to business through the behavioral sciences and real-world application.
What Is Business Improv®—and Why Does It Matter?
Let’s first define what improvisation is not. It is not comedy. It is also not what happens only when everything else goes wrong.
“Improvisation is about performing at the top of your intelligence to the best of your ability, more often than not with other people.”
Improvisation in business is a learned skillset grounded in three core competencies:
- Reacting – staying focused and present in the moment. Reacting is ongoing.
- Adapting – reacting within certain parameters or to achieve a specific objective
- Communicating – collaborating with people and the environment around you
These three skills are at the heart of leadership in today’s VUCA+C world (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous—and Change-ridden). Leaders who practice improvisation aren’t just surviving uncertainty; they’re thriving in it.
“Improvisers thrive in the unknown and unpredictable,” says Kulhan. “Improvisation develops a skillset needed for agility and adaptability, thriving in change and chaos, taking advantage of unexpected opportunities, and the people skills needed to lead in dynamic environments.”
How Improv Builds Stronger Leaders
At its core, improvisation is a communication and collaboration-based art form. It’s like a team sport. It’s about showing up fully for others, supporting your teammates, and ultimately creating trust amongst the team.
Aside from building trust, improving agility, and developing adaptability, improvisation strengthens a skillset that helps leaders postpone judgment.
“Business improvisation creates a framework in which leaders can exercise the muscles needed to postpone judgement, listen to understand, separate divergent thinking from convergent thinking, and create psychological safety,” Kulhan says.
Improv-based skills can help you tackle common workplace challenges head-on, including:
- Miscommunication and disengagement
- Lack of collaboration or trust
- Resistance to change
- Creativity blocks
- Low psychological safety
Creativity Is a Muscle—You Need to Use It
Creativity is not just about art. It’s problem-solving and dealing with unexpected challenges and opportunities, Kulhan points out. It’s how we manage conflict and talk with people.
Creativity is a key leadership competency. Like any skill, leaders need practice and opportunities to further develop their creativity.
A critical component of creativity in the workplace is the ability to effectively shape an interaction while being consider of the style, interests, and focus of others, Kulhan points out.
Improvisational leadership skills allow you to integrate ideas quickly while balancing reactions in a thoughtful manner.
You must use the skills needed for workplace creativity to become proficient at it. If you’re not regularly practicing creativity, Kulhan warns, you’ll be stuck with whatever you’ve got when the moment calls for it.
Why Leaders Shouldn’t Fear Improv-Based Training
Many professionals hesitate when they hear the word improv, imagining spotlighted performances or comedy routines. That couldn’t be further from the reality.
“No one’s trying to get you on Saturday Night Live,” Kulhan assures. “You won’t be singled out or put on the spot. Everyone participates together—and we’re simply teaching you how to ride the bike.”
Put Improv Skills into Practice
Reading about the value of business improvisation is one thing—experiencing it is another. If you’re ready to lead with more creativity, adaptability, and connection, you need to practice the skills that make that possible.
CPED’s Skills Accelerator: Creativity & Innovation in Virtual Teams is a high-impact learning session that gives you the tools and practice space to start building your business improv skills.
Led by Duke Professor and elite improviser Bob Kulhan, this three-hour session is designed to be energizing, interactive, and immediately applicable to you as a leader.
“This is not your typical session! Fun, fast-paced, funny, interactive, energizing, and incredibly informative. Together we’ll experience learning by practicing proactive skills that bring the people skills needed for creativity and innovation to life.”
Get the tools and techniques you need to remove the barriers for creativity and innovation in your in-person, virtual, and hybrid teams.
Explore the Skills Accelerator