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Getting to “Yes And”
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Getting to “Yes And”

The Art of Business Improv

Bob Kulhan and Chuck Crisafulli
Stanford UP, 2017

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Applicable
  • For Beginners
  • Insider's Take

Recommendation

Improvisational comedy workshops have become a popular feature of corporate training, but Bob Kulhan, a comedian with the Second City improv troupe, a business consultant and a professor, says they generally don’t offer much value. Writing with Chuck Crisafulli, Kulhan argues that such programs would be more relevant if they adapted the skills of the stage to the distinct demands of commerce. He covers applying improv stagecraft tenets like “suspending judgment” and listening actively to other situations, such as when you’re guiding business strategy, stimulating colleagues’ creativity or developing a personal brand. Kulhan stays relentlessly on topic, adopting a casual, friendly tone and occasionally indulging in a joke. getAbstract finds that this refreshing perspective on familiar business issues offers laughs and lessons for executives, entrepreneurs and all those who need to think on their feet.  

Take-Aways

  • The underlying principles of improvisational comedy apply to business activities.
  • Improv offers effective techniques for “reacting, adapting and engaging.”
  • The ruling principle of improvisation is the concept of “Yes, and...”

About the Authors

Second City actor Bob Kulhan is the president, CEO and founder of the Business Improv consultancy and an adjunct professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and at Columbia Business School. Chuck Crisafulli is a veteran entertainment journalist and the author of Go to Hell: A Heated History of the Underworld and the co-author of Me and a Guy Named Elvis, with Jerry Schilling.

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