Yes, And: How Improvisation Reverses "No, But" Thinking and Improves Creativity and Collaboration--Lessons from The Second City

One of the most unique and practical business books I have read. This is a great read AND you will walk away with the sense you can do it. The stories are great, and the learning actionable. If you are not in their backyard or you don't have access to the Second City group, this is the next best thing.

I absolutely love this book, it's one of my favorites. As a teacher at a business school, a lover of improv and all things improvisational, and a good humored human--it is so so good. The authors apply the rules of improv games to leadership and management and OMG I want to work for a boss who bosses like this!!!

Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise, best known as the historically first on-going improvisational theater troupe, continually based in Chicago. Some of the best comedians learned their trade there: Tina Fey, Bill Murray, Steve Carell, Amy Poehler, Stephen Colbert, to name a few. This book is about how the authors have used the principles of improvisational theater to assist businesses to improve their emotional intelligence, increase creativity, and learn to pivot out of tight and uncomfortable situations. One of the things they have learned is that leadership traits are more commonly found in women than men, i.e., they are better listeners, better at building relationships, and more collaborative. When the authors work with corporations, they have them do the same exercises that they teach actors. The core exercise is “Yes, And.” The central idea here is that you accept what is offered and add to it (regardless of what you think of it). In fact, say Leonard and Yorton, "Yes, And is the lens through which we view our entire business and our place in the world. We are here to affirm and build upon people’s ideas in a way that’s smart, thoughtful, useful, interesting . . . and usually, uproariously funny.” In the appendix they list each exercise, many of which are useful for your own groups or relationships.

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If you are laughing at the idea that the Second City folks could right a serious book about leadership then you REALLY need to read this book. I bought this book on a whim. I liked second city and the title grabbed me, because as a peacebuilder, I focus on both-and rather than either-or solutions, so Yes, And sort of struck a chord. What I realized as I read the book that improv and problem solving have a lot in common wherever they occur. Their tools resonate with what works for my colleagues on the ground--work in teams (whoops, I mean ensembles), listen well, build on and support what others are say, and most of all, yes-and the person you are working with. Always take what s/he is saying AND build on it. Expand the frame of the discussion. You'll probably get somewhere and have some fun getting there. I was reading the book and smiling when the CEO of the group I work for came in. Melanie and I are both Jewish and I was reading about Jewsical the Musical which got us laughing more than it did Second City audiences. Then, I explained why I was reading the book, and we both simultaneously decided that we should get the Second City folks to do a workshop at the Alliance for Peacebuilding's next annual conference so that our idiot savant improv artists could get some serious training (hopefully in some not so serious ways) in doing what they already do better. If only we could afford them.

I'm obsessed with Second City. I've been to hundreds of shows. I was elated when I heard about the release of this book. To learn business principles while receiving entertainment seemed like a fair expectation. Sadly, It was boring read. The book incorporates almost zero humor. Yet, non-comedic writers seem to have no problems finding jokes for their books. Yes, And references several scenes, but never do they tell you the story. This book had massive potential and near-unlimited opportunities to engage readers by inserting humor and entertainment into the pages. This would've benefitted the book and their theatres. Instead, Yes, And is a dry book that leaves much to be desired. The professional content is good, but without entertaining breaks in the narrative, the book gets tiring. Don't read at night.

everyone who stands in a classroom day after day would benefit from reading this book. Whether learning to be an assets based facilitator, how to co-create understanding with your students, or how to get by when a lesson plan fails in front of your students, you can't help but close this book without saying "yes and, that's what it means to be a teacher, too."

Talks mostly about the business side and other applications for improv than the art form itself.