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By Ali Davis

This is the final segment of improv teacher Ali Davis’s talk with Dr. William Tseng, an internationally recognized expert in liposarcoma surgery, on how the principles of improvisation apply to his work.

React to what’s there, not to what you expected to be there.

Perhaps the most enjoyable part of my talk with Tseng was when I explained the concept of steamrolling. That’s when an improviser, usually a newer one, walks onstage with an idea (Good!) and then can’t or won’t let go of it (Way less good!) when other players move the scene in a new direction. Steamrolling produces an unsatisfying scene for the other players, who are having their ideas shoved aside, as well as for the audience, who are stuck watching a scene that keeps getting jerked away from its natural flow. Read More

By Ali Davis

Ali Davis continues her talk with Dr. William Tseng, an internationally recognized expert in liposarcoma surgery, on how the principles of improvisation apply to his work.

Listen actively.

Maybe 90% of improv is learning to listen intensely and with focus – something the average person is less good at than they think. I spend a good chunk of my classes having people go through simple exercises such as paraphrasing what the other person just said to help train them to really focus on the other person. The benefits are huge: When the other person can tell that you’re putting effort into understanding them, they feel heard and acknowledged. They know that you’re approaching whatever the situation is in good faith. Read More

By Ali Davis

Welcome to Day 3 of Ali Davis’s talk with Dr. William Tseng, an internationally recognized expert in liposarcoma surgery, on how the principles of improvisation apply to his work.

Find times when you can flatten the hierarchy.

There’s one important way that a surgical team is much more like a business unit than an improv group. (OK, there are several ways, but one that’s relevant here.) An improv group has a deliberately flat structure, so any player can jump in and do anything. Surgical teams have a rigid hierarchy, with an expert attending surgeon like Tseng at the top. That’s crucial during an operation, when Tseng has to know that his commands will be followed immediately. Read More

By Ali Davis

 Ali Davis continues her talk with Dr. William Tseng, an internationally recognized expert in liposarcoma surgery, on how the principles of improvisation apply to his work.

Check in with your team.

If you watched that behind-the-theater warm-up session I mentioned in the previous section, you would eventually notice something: Everyone on the team is sure to make real eye contact with everyone else, and everyone on the team finds a way to interact with everyone else. And if you put your ear to the green room door one minute before an improv show, you have a 98.5% chance of hearing people muttering “got your back” over and over as they move around the room and give each other a quick tap on the shoulder. That’s the sound of people preparing for group work, in part by taking the basic step of making sure that everyone on the team is OK and on the same page. Everyone confirms that they’ll do their best to take care of everyone else. Read More

By Ali Davis

If you are a professional in the United States, it’s possible that I have frightened you with improv.

I teach workshops with Business Improv®, and part of my job is to push people outside their comfort zones in order to help them generate better ideas and communicate well with their entire teams. Part of the fun of the classes is watching the students have “Oh!” moments one by one. While no method resonates with everybody, every student walks away with some useful insight or technique that they can apply to their work. Read More