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

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.

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 love the concept of "Yes, And..." as a means of building collaborative teams. The book has a tendency to oversimplify things with anecdotes ("We did this and got this desirable result...") that can lead a reader to suspect that it's not the "what but the "who" who is doing it.Nevertheless, the reader is left with the sense of how teams and their leaders bake the cake together and learn some concepts on how to have everyone play nice together in the kitchen.

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!!!

I read the abstract for this book, which spurred me to sign up for an upcoming improv class, so I thought it would be good to read the book before taking the class. I'm excited by the prospect that improv skills can be learned, and the skills can help improve all aspects of your life. After reading this book I believe this to be true, and hope to prove it soon in my own life.

I mostly enjoyed reading this. The downside was that I would have liked to see more improv exercises woven into the stories and anecdotes. The authors are do demonstrate their humility by sharing tons of mistakes. Worth the read for leaders and consultants.

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.

I have made friends more easily. A lot to think about in this book.

A good book about bettering the world and your own life by improving your listening skills. Increased leadership skills would be a natural consequence of adopting the recommendations of the book.

This book is an excellent example of Comedy applications for improving the main element of all companies and industries: people.

Well written stories containing useful insights that apply to businesses and teams.