5 suggestions for successfully adapting to disruption and the coronavirus: Lessons from applied improvisation

What can we learn from improvisation to increase resilience and successfully adapt to disruption, crises, and the coronavirus?

“Improvise comes from the Latin word improvisus, meaning "unforeseen, unexpected." Think about when something unexpected happens to you — you have no choice but to react in the moment or improvise. (Vocabulary.com)” 

We do have a choice regarding how we react and respond to events. The good news is that each of us have significant experiences in our roles as leaders, family members, co-workers, and friends where we have had to improvise in response to changing situations or unforeseen events. 

As recently as a few months ago, my guess is that very few people predicted the global impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19), including the disruption to organizations, communities, and daily routines. Each of us has been forced to improvise and adapt to breaking news, emerging policies, and uncertainty.   

We do have a choice regarding how we react and respond to events.

Below are five suggestions from applied improvisation that can be helpful in successfully adapting and adjusting to unforeseen events and crises.

1.    Reframe: Embrace a problem-solving mindset

Viola Spolin, an influential thought leader for applied improvisation in the United States, framed improvisation as a problem-solving activity. Solving problems became the focal point for releasing positive energy, hope, creativity, and action. This focus on problem solving sparked increased collaboration among her students.

When facing crises or disruptive events, reframing unexpected events as problems to be solved can be helpful in increasing focus, creating momentum, generating alternatives and developing action plans. Embracing a problem-solving mindset actively combats feelings of fear, learned helplessness, and feeling overwhelmed.  Focusing on problem solving, even if it may be solving pieces of a problem, creates a positive path to moving forward.

2.    Support and engage others.

A core principle of successful improv teams is actively committing to support other team members.  Job one for improvisers is to make their team members look good and to support them during all scenes. Team members learn to trust and depend on one another. “Got your back” is a common backstage ritual that improvisers use before taking the stage.

Psychological research indicates that people are likely to feel happier, experience greater meaning, and have higher life satisfaction when they are helping others or feel as though they are contributing to the greater good. During crises, it becomes important to see others as human beings rather than objects to be feared. This includes being a good listener and demonstrating empathy toward others. While pandemic best practices may include social distancing as a precautionary measure, explore creative ways that you can stay connected to people (online, phone calls, podcasts, etc.) which in turn can reduce feelings of loneliness, boredom, and isolation.

3.    Collaborate and co-create

 Collaboration and co-creation are part of the magic of enjoyable improv scenes. Applying the core principle of “Yes, and”, requires first supporting and listening to the suggestions or “moves” of scene partners, then working together to create and build an improvised scene or story. “Since there is no right way to solve a problem… continuous work on and the solving of these problems opens everyone to their own source and power. (Viola Spolin)” The journey of creating a scene becomes a highly inclusive process requiring collaboration.

Creating an inclusive environment where key stakeholders share information and suggestions is likely to lead to increased engagement, greater support, and ultimately a more positive outcome.

Similarly, solving complex problems benefits from cultivating thought diversity and including multiple perspectives both in defining and solving problems. There may be existing or emerging best practices that guide decision making and inform action planning. One example is that frequent hand washing can be quickly implemented as a strategy to reduce the spread of viruses. Seeking to understand, exploring multiple alternatives, and building upon the ideas of others is more likely to be productive in addressing complex problems rather than rigidly fixating on one “right answer”, especially in scenarios that may be constantly shifting or evolving. Creating an inclusive environment where key stakeholders share information and suggestions is likely to lead to increased engagement, greater support, and ultimately a more positive outcome.

4.    Practice self-care

In his book, Improvise, Mick Napier describes the importance of improvisers taking care of themselves first when entering a scene. Mick’s perspective is that entering a scene with a point of view, a character choice, or a unique physical mannerism provides your scene partner something to build upon. Taking care of yourself first provides a point of view through which you can better support your partner’s actions to co-create and build a scene.

During stressful times or crisis periods, we can sometimes forget to practice self-care as we devote significant time, energy, and effort to address the problem or take care of other people. For short periods of time, the adrenaline rush created by responding to emergencies and disruption can sustain our energy as we push ourselves to and beyond our limits. However, over time we run the risk of depleting our personal resources, including our ability to ward off and recover from opportunistic viruses.  Getting a good night’s sleep, exercising, practicing mindfulness or meditation, sharing emotions with others, and reaching out for advice and suggestions from others, can all be part of creating an effective self-care plan. We can be more fully present and helpful to others when we practice effective self-care.

5. Act

Perhaps my favorite quote from Mick Napier’s book is “Do something!” His point is that nothing happens in an improv scene unless at least one of the scene partners does something. He remarks that often people can spend a great deal thinking about what they might do, what they are going to do, what they should do, but fail to act. Consequently, people run the risk of staying in their heads, but take no action to move scenes forward. This may include failing to step on stage at all, remaining a spectator rather than an improviser.

Even taking small steps creates positive momentum as we learn how best to respond to complex or ambiguous challenges.

Similarly, it is important for people to act, do something, in response to crises or disruptive events. During these periods, people can spend a significant amount of time worrying or ruminating about what might happen. However, this rumination can lead to a downward spiral where people feel immobilized. “Action creates clarity” provides a helpful mantra from Peter Sheahan’s book, Flip.  Even taking small steps creates positive momentum as we learn how best to respond to complex or ambiguous challenges. Acting increases feelings of empowerment and self-confidence.  Potential actions include:

• Call a family member or friend that you haven’t talked to in a long time to see how they are doing.

• Ask colleagues, family members, and friends what’s been most helpful for them in adapting to disruption in their lives.

• Begin one self-care practice that you can put in place today.

• Tackle one problem that you feel that you can address or solve in the next week.

• Demonstrate one act of kindness this week to a co-worker, loved one, or stranger.

• Be intentional in displaying empathy, patience, and understanding toward others as it is human nature for people to demonstrate stress behaviors as their fear and frustration mounts.

• Engage in positive self-talk: Identify yourself as an improviser, recognizing that you have adjusted to difficult challenges in the past and can build on that skill now.