Mastering Professional Improvisation

One of the favorite shows that my husband and I watch is old reruns of Whose Line Is It Anyway?

It is incredible to watch the few hundred episodes and see how the actors navigate effortlessly through all the various scenarios, their quick wit, creativity, and their lack of fear. Let me explain. 

They are never afraid to say the wrong thing at the wrong time. Sometimes they do; sometimes they don’t. Whatever comes out, they fully embrace it, pivot and move on to the next thing. This has made for some amazingly funny and memorable moments throughout the show. Each actor is fully their true authentic self all the time. 

Let’s call this skill professional improvisation, and let’s face it; we all do it to some extent. Perhaps we are improvising at work when we are faced with loads of questions or presented with a myriad of solutions. We can’t freeze. We must say something and do something. The small step opens the door for other steps. We may not know exactly what we are going to do at that moment, but we improvise and pivot. 

As with any talent, much practice is essential, and professional improvisation is no exception. Early in my career, my improvisation was much more clunky, and I said more things that I shouldn’t have said. However, with each experience and encounter, I learned what went well and what didn’t and logged that into my memory and playbook so the next time I was faced with something similar, I could recollect and use that instance to craft my response. 

Just as the actors exhibited no fear in what they said or how they acted, I had to learn to let go of perfectionism and fear, be it fear of failure or fear of saying or doing the wrong thing. Fear can paralyze us. We must learn to navigate life with a sense that we will make mistakes, and mistakes are ok.  It’s how we learn from them and how we bounce back from them that is freeing and liberating. So here’s to letting go of fear. Here’s to embracing the pivots. Here’s to embracing professional improvisation.