Mar 4, 2024
Can improv help us unlock workplace success? In this episode, we explore the positive impact of improvisation on well-being, communication, and the nuances of our daily interactions. Patricia Ryan Madson, Stanford University Emerita and author of “Improv Wisdom,” provides insights on how improv maxims can enhance the way we connect, create, and engage at work – and in life.
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Episode Highlights
Patricia’s view on the greatest unmet wellbeing need at
work today
“I think that the greatest need is to discover the concept of
‘enough’. I think the workplace and the mania for pushing forward
for more and greater, this need in our consumer world, that in
order to keep going, everything has to grow and grow. I think we
need to say enough. And to find space, and to slow down, and to do
less.
I think our world would be a lot better, certainly businesses would be, if instead of just looking at the bottom line as the measure of success, more companies would see that the health of the world depends upon all of us being able to slow down a little more, respect each other, maybe not consume as much.
I just turned 81. And so, I am looking at trying to notice how my world has so many things that I’ve been collecting over the years, and realizing that it’s hard to get off that ‘let’s get some more stuff’ wagon. But I’m a proponent now of every day trying to find something that I can rehome or give away, or find a different home for, rather than just adding more. So, the concept of enough and slowing down would be what I would wish for our workplaces.”
What "working with humans" means to
Patricia
“‘Working with humans’ is a reminder somehow that we’re all in this
together. And that there’s no way that I can really thrive and
succeed if I’m trying to do it on my own. So working with humans
means shifting that in fact, as I was thinking about that, my eyes
kind of rolled back in my head and I felt myself sort of go into
me, but it’s I need to shift the attention so that I’m working with
humans meaning never forget all of the others and my place in that
to be helpful to them, to try to cause them less trouble and to
make it work by doing my part.”
Resources
Read:
Improv Wisdom: Don't Prepare, Just Show Up
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