The Importance of Failure: Using Improv for Business

Using Improv for Business

Improv has an interesting guiding principle: Fail.

In improv class we literally applaud failure. We have a technique called the “Failure Bow” in which whenever someone feels they’ve made a mistake or just aren’t sure what to do next, they exclaim “I failed!” and take a grand bow. Everyone else immediately drops what they’re doing to applaud wildly for them.

This isn’t to celebrate the failure so much as the risk that produced it. With improv you’re making a show up on stage as an audience is watching. You have no choice but to take chances, play bizarre characters and fail marvelously. Improv teaches you to be comfortable with failure because it’s proof you took a risk.

In our business lives, we’re so scared of failing that we stop ourselves from taking risks. We don’t speak up in a meeting because we’re afraid that our idea is dumb. Or we worry what people will think of this approach or that plan. We steer clear of failure at all costs.

But what would that failure mean? It would mean we’re actively thinking about solutions, developing new strategies and offering constructive suggestions. It’s impossible to get anything right all the time. So why do we expect ourselves to?

Speak up, try something new, take a risk. It may not work but that’s ok. That’s part of the process of tackling any task. Applaud yourself for your failures because they show that you’ve stopped letting fear guide you and started taking risks.

Plus, you could always just teach your office the failure bow…

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Ryan is Sparksight’s Senior Animator and teaches improv comedy in downtown Austin, TX. This June Ryan has been selected to perform for 48 hours straight in the Hideout Theater‘s Improv Marathon. He will do one new show each hour with the other selected performers, don’t miss it!

Got questions for Ryan about improv? Let us know in the comments section below!