The Improvisation Edge: Secrets to Building Trust and Radical Collaboration at Work

To help readers experience a whole new understanding of the importance of trust, The Improvisation Edge introduces the reader to the practice of radical collaboration based on the tenets of improvisation. The collaboration found in any highly successful improv troupe requires deep trust. In truly high-performing corporate teams, these same behaviors are evident. Professionals feel valued, flexible, challenged and an integral part of a great team of people that they trust and admire. Readers who adopt an improviser's mindset perform better at work, are happier in their relationships, speed up their successful interactions, and eliminate waste.

The book provides leaders, managers, trainers, and even front-line employees a practical methodology for adopting the improviser's mindset. It leverages all of the elements that make improvisation so entertaining: story, surprise, connection, and interaction. It outlines how these principles work for improvisers by pulling readers into a performance and allowing them to experience the adrenaline and uncertainty of improvisation. Each "secret" is demonstrated and then explained so that the "how" and "why" of improvisation becomes clear. The book then ports the learning over to a corporate environment.

The Improvisation Edge provides both case studies from ImprovEdge clients who have embraced these new ways of working and exercises for individuals, pairs and teams. These exercises are immediately applicable, hands-on activities that make the learning real and meaningful to the reader. That, too, is a critical component of improvisational success. Doing it--not just thinking or talking about something, but having guidelines to practice it, up on your feet.