Celebrating 2024! Dream Big, Go Large

There’s a sense of unease in the workshop. People do not feel comfortable. Glass walls to the rest of the office add to the anxiety. An air of wariness of the unknown pervades; a crackle of awkwardness and fear. It’s contagious. A shared feeling.

From tension to high tens: the Stretch Zone

We (Paul and Vic, aka IMPROV Inc.), are in Birmingham training a large and valued client group, and in our line of work, this session-start vibe is as typical as they come. It’s a sense of not knowing what’s to come and there’s a familiar look in their eyes of being uncomfortable. And that’s the way it should be.

Don’t get us wrong, we’re not in the business of creating discomfort or collective unease! This is simply the starting point.

Make no mistake, we know what they’re feeling. We’ve been feeling uncomfortable for a year now at IMPROV Inc. Towers. It’s been a rollercoaster of ‘flying blind’, pioneer style, as we push into unchartered territory.

"Dream big! If your dreams don't scare you, they are too small" Richard Branson, serial dreamer

We’re well equipped with hope, a plan, a strategy, a process (you’ve seen our I.M.P.R.O.V. to Improve system, yes?) and a lot of nerve, sure. But this journey, while thrilling, brings up myriad challenges and emotions.

However, this is our starting point, and we’ve (finally) got to grips with having to walk the unknown path. Got comfortable with being uncomfortable. We embrace it. We trust in where it’ll take us. We have dreams.

You can always rely on an ancient philosopher to name the thing: in this case, it’s Socrates: “I know that I know nothing”. What a hilariously grounding and humbling premise for any new venture! As IMPROV Inc. we feel this every day.

For our participants, it’s a similar journey: an agreement, hopefully, of: “OK, I’m a blank slate. Let’s all learn together so I can grow”. And growing occurs fastest when i n your stretch zone, which - no coincidence - is also where you’re most uncomfortable. It’s how we learn that matters. With improv, of course, it’s a safe uncomfortable. Improv provides the best training wheels.

As that group of participants in Birmingham immerse themselves in the process, there’s a letting go and spreading joy. It’s contagious too - the room breathes and feeds off each other’s positive energy. The bravery as they fly blind was summed up by one of the team in the reflections circle: “I was one of the people walking around at the beginning going, ‘er, why am I doing this?!’” [laughter]. “I really didn’t know why I was here, what I needed to do or what I’d get from it – but I actually found it very, very engaging and useful.”

Learning via improv is learning by doing. And when we do things for the first time, it’s uncomfortable, sometimes awkward. Everyone at some point ‘fails forward’ - and yet that becomes a part of the exercise. As one of our participants put it: “It was nice to do some ‘kinaesthetic’ learning. Right next door [waving at the glass walls] is a training course, and they've just been sat the same time [all day!] that we’ve been here. This is a better way to learn; by ‘doing’ and by making mistakes.”

Here, here. Viva failing forward and taking risks to dream big. As this year ends, we’re thrilled with where the new business is at, as imperfect as that might be, and excited about 2025, whatever it brings. One thing is certain: we’ll be learning as we go - staying comfortable with being uncomfortable.

All the best,

Paul and Vic

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