How to Be More Improvise-ABLE

Here’s an unfortunate truth you need to face: Your brilliant plan will fall apart at some point.

You may think you have every angle covered, but you will have missed something. Or something will happen that no one could ever could have anticipated. Or someone else will do something incredibly stupid that will throw you for a loop.

Don’t despair. The answer is not to get stuck “over-planning,” but rather to teach yourself to be more “Improviseable!”

(Side note: My friend and fellow speaker Scott Ginsberg recently released a new book titled, “-able: 35 Strategies for Increasing the Probability of Success in Business and Life.”

The purpose of Scott’s book is to sell you on his theory of the universe: “The only thing in life you have control over is yourself.
And that you can’t make anything happen – but you can (greatly) increase the probability of that thing happening … by making yourself more “-able.””

(For more on Scott, you should check out his awesome blog)

If you’ve seen me speak or read my stuff, you know this is similar to my theory on how to improvise with the unexpected.

Scott’s book lists 35 different “-ables” that increase your probability of success in business and life. One that I would add to the list is “Improviseable.”)

Improviseable: The ability to improvise and flow with the unexpected.

If nothing ever goes wrong for you, if no one ever throws an unexpected monkey wrench in your works, and if Murphy never applies his annoying little law to your best laid plans, then you don’t need to be Improviseable. For the rest of us down here on planet reality, we know that sometimes we’re going to have to improvise…

Anyone can do well when everything goes right. Think back to the dot-com “investors” who were running around giving financial advice even though the only reason they were making money is that everything was going great. Until things stopped going great and they lost their shirts. Or the real estate investors who fancied themselves as brilliant land barons because they happened to buy real estate when the market was exploding. Then, when the market turned, they too lost their shirts (and their houses).

It’s easy to succeed when everything goes right! The problem is that over the long term, things will never go exactly as planned. People who improvise and stay on track when these setbacks occur enjoy long term success. People who don’t tend to struggle, stress out, and fall by the wayside.

How Improviseable are you? Are you able to quickly flow with the unexpected and continue on the path to success, or do you freak out, complain, and get frozen when thing don’t go as planned?

Regardless of your current skill level, here are three steps you can take to be even more Improvise-ABLE:

Remember the Big Picture

When the unexpected occurs, the first thing great improvisers do is to think about the big picture. “What am I trying to achieve? Where am I trying to get to? Is this still a valid goal?” By first analyzing the big picture, they can quickly identify and take the best actions to get back on track.

Too often people respond to the unexpected by simply working their existing plan harder. That’s a bad strategy because the unexpected event may very well have changed the game; your old plan may be irrelevant now.

When the unexpected occurs, take a moment, step back, and think about the big picture. Decide where you want to go, whether it’s the same as before or a completely new direction, and then choose actions that align with that big picture.

Focus Only on What You Can Control

Great improvisers realize that they can only control one thing: their own actions. Knowing this, they do an excellent job of letting go of everything else.

The people who struggle and get paralyzed when the unexpected occurs are the ones who put their focus on everything outside of their control:

• They whine about the past.
• They stress about the future.
• They get obsessed with what others will do or think.

All of that is irrelevant when it comes to being Improviseable. Sure, at some point you should study the past, plan for the future, and prepare for what others might do. But when it comes to improvising, to taking action right now in this moment, all you can control is your own response.

To be Improviseable, let go of everything you can’t control and focus exclusively on the things you can.

Say “Yes And” and Do Something

Bad improvisers are excellent at saying, “yes, but.” “Yes, but this wasn’t supposed to happen!” “Yes, but I don’t like this!” “Yes, but if they had just listened to me we wouldn’t be in this situation!”

Saying, “yes, but” accomplishes nothing (other then letting you complain while keeping you stuck right where you are).

Great improvisers say, “yes, and.” As in, “Yes this happened, And here’s what I will do.” Then they do it.

It doesn’t sound like much, but this one skill, the ability to accept what is and then take action to deal with it, is what separates winners from losers (or, as I like to say, winners from whiners).

Take a few days and pay attention to how often you hear people (including yourself!) say, “yes, but.” Every time you catch yourself saying “yes, but,” try and see if you can switch to a “yes, and” response.

Once you make that a habit you will be well on your way to being more Improviseable.

Remember: Being Improviseable doesn’t mean that you don’t plan. Planning is a good thing, and you should continue to do it. Just realize that no matter how well you plan, things can and will go wrong. Your overall success in life will be determined not just by how well you plan, but also by how well you improvise with the unexpected.

If you want to stay on track no matter what happens, start applying these three steps immediately. Once you do, you will truly be: “IMPROVISEABLE!”

Since Scott’s book inspired this post, let me end this post the same way he ends all of his posts:

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How Improvise-ABLE are you?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the e-booklet called, “124 Tips to Unleash Your Creativity (in Business and Life)!”, send an email to me (avish@avishparashar.com, and you win the booklet for free!

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Learn the 16 simple but powerful principles that will lead to personal and professional success! In this 200 page book, Avish explains how the ideas from improv comedy can make your life easier and more successful. Check it out Improvise to Success! now!