Team Building...Follow this one rule

Since last June I began preforming improv comedy again after a five year hiatus. To be honest I thought it was a life-long hiatus because I couldn’t foresee how I’d manage being a new parent, a business-owner, and a performer. I need and enjoy sleep!

I assumed improv was a finished life-chapter entitled, “Fun Stuff I Did in my 30s.” Alas, being wrong is a gift! Not only am I performing regularly, I continue to study my craft.

Last week I participated in a workshop with LA-based actor and improv extraordinaire Christian Capozzoli, author of The Aerodynamics of Yes.

I’m still processing all we accomplished in those three hours, but what I keep coming back to, and what every coach I’ve ever had has emphasized, is this:

Invest don’t invent.

Invest in your teammates. Trust them and yourself to create something together in the moment. Invest to support each other in both successes and failures. Invest in the path towards the larger goal.

In improv, when a team member invents instead of invests they are stuck in their heads, looking inward, taking care of themselves and pushing their own ideas. This leads to uncontrolled chaos and people operating in silos, which stunts the group’s progress.

The same applies to the workplace. Invest don’t invent is the essence of building an effective team. It’s the core of collaboration and innovation.

How can you help your team invest rather than invent?

Try a low-stakes exercise when you need your team to get into an invest mindset. Sign up for my monthly newsletter and I’ll forward it to you!