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By Chelsea Clarke

In improv scenes, we don't brainstorm the way you can in an office setting. We take the first idea because it's all live and onstage. Even though we aren't brainstorming in the traditional sense, we are still collaborating, and there are a lot of parallels that you can use in teams, workplaces, artistic endeavors, and you know, life or whatever.
I have spoken to lots of people- especially when I work with companies- who find brainstorming frustrating. They feel that they have to fight for their ideas and it feels like they are working alone. It can be hard to trust and support under pressure!

But Improv relies on teamwork first and foremost. We are open and excited about ideas that are not our own. We expect and give agreement. We work on being supportive over being precious about our notion of how we THOUGHT it was going to go. People who are open are fun to improvise with and they are fun to work with.

Of course, in the office, there are lots of great ideas, not just the first one! Why not give each one attention and time to really allow for the best possible results for each choice? Then, together, you come up with something better than you could have from working alone, that's the advantage of working with other people, after all, and it's the best way to brainstorm.

Improv rewards ideas with support, and that's good for the office environment. (And life or whatever.)