Become a yes man
In improv the one rule I have learned is never say NO! Its all about agreeing and not blocking.
It can be something that is totally crazy, just say “Yes and…”
You are an incredible fool… “Yes and” lets talk about the word incredible…
I am new to this and learning as I go, I have said it before that nothing comes natural to me as far as I know. But this simple rule is very easy to do, and it works great; you can use it in improve, life and especially in business.
How great would a work environment be if everyone answered everything with “yes and”?
Yes does not always mean you agree, it can also say I acknowledged what they said and I would like to add xyz… You never want to block or stop a person. Your job in improv and in business is to make the other person look good, to support your team, and to get results. Weather you agree or not isn’t the issue, it’s about more than just you.
“Yes and” is both verbal and intellectual… you need to encourage trust and the best way to do that is through respect for that persons opinion and offers. “Yes and” is your way of accepting what they just put out there and going with it, not bending it to fit your needs but to just add to it , be neutral to it, or fertilize it, to make it even easier for your team mate to make their point or lead that story.
If you practice something called “Yes But” first, you will see that its easy, people say Yes but all the time, its their way to shut an idea down… think about it this way if you tell a computer yes and no at the same time it will make an annoying little beep indicating that does not work with the rules of logic. Yes but is just that, it’s saying yes and no at the same time, it is blocking the creative juices, its saying you don’t agree. Yes but is not good. It does not serve us well at all!
Try making “Yes and” the way you live, people don’t know how to work without Yes but. They will fight you on this concept out side of improve… But think about bout it this way: In the English language there are many ways to say the same thing. So have them stretch their mind/vocabulary and be more positive and their brain will thank them.
If you want to try this little exercise: Make all the participants offer some simple statements and then only allow the response to begin with Yes But… the repeat this with “Yes and”, do this 3 or 4 times. The group will get this concept very quickly… it’s that simple. Some people will not do this exercise, its not that they don’t understand it its that they are very much attached to “Yes But”.
There was this woman that took an improv workshop, She was in sales and said this would not work in her field, She could never imagine saying yes to a perspective client telling her that what she was selling was too expensive…
Then (Here is the self help type story) She had a very important perspective client call her to say that her prices were way to expensive… instead of saying what she really wanted to, that they were crazy and that it was a great deal and that they are out of their minds… She took a deep breath then said Yes and, well if you consider the value of our other services that are included like food, ambience, refreshment, and parking, our prices is very reasonable compared to our competitors. The client said they would look into it based on these facts and ultimately the client signed the contract. (You know they would have had to for this example to work!)
This can make a big difference with the way people communicate. If you have the ability try to implement this into your office culture you will be surprised how well it can work. Try it for an hr a week or a day a week and see how this helps productivity.
I personally have been trying to incorporate this into my daily life as well as my improv time with my team and it is becoming second nature. The best thing you can have come out of this is great communication and a supportive work and family environment. The worst thing that can happen is that you run out of interesting ways to finish the line Yes and… witch isn’t that bad now is it.
So why not become a Yes Man or Woman!