Creative Life Lesson

A few evenings back I attended the Cyriel Kortleven event at Catalyst Ranch, Chicago. Cyriel is an innovator/author with New Shoes Today in Belgium. I always take away a fun nugget or two of information when I leave these events. But I have been thinking about one idea in particular that is actually an idea gold mine.

The concept is one often used in the world of improvisation – Yes, And…! We participated in an exercise where we thought of an idea (in this case a vacation), one person started and the partner then added an idea agreeing (YES, AND) then attached an additional idea. We performed the exercise for three minutes. It was exhilarating and fun to have the sky be the limit.

We also played the Yes, but… game. That was the exercise where one started with an idea and the partner quickly found fault by saying Yes, But… and offered the problem.

I think you would agree that the Yes, And.. exercise was a lot more rewarding for all those participating. If we could only employee this technique in all life’s opportunities and challenges I think we would reach heights that are almost unimaginable.

I thought back to school experiences where teachers push children to obtain the one right answer and squelch the opportunity for exploration. It undoubtedly happens in business for many reasons -- time, organizational charts, territorial issues… the list goes on…

I think this concept has such far reaching implications if we just brought YES, AND… into our homes, schools, community and then, of course it would naturally occur in the corporate environment.

Yes, And I would love to hear your thoughts and applications of this concept.