Rosenverse

This video is only accessible to Gold members. Log in or register for a free Gold Trial Account to watch.

Log in Register

Most conference talks are accessible to Gold members, while community videos are generally available to all logged-in members.

Collaborative Creativity through Improv
Gold
Wednesday, November 7, 2018 • DesignOps Summit 2018
Share the love for this talk
Collaborative Creativity through Improv
Speakers: Cheryl Platz
Link:

Summary

Improvisational theater performers create an environment where creativity is maximized within an environment of listening and nonjudgemental collaboration. Take a peek behind the curtain as two professional improvisors (and technologists!) demonstrate some of the key principles they apply not just onstage, but their day jobs at software companies as well. All this while laughing your way through the end of the day!

Key Insights

  • Yes-And is fundamental for active listening and collaborative creativity, replacing blocking or No-And responses.

  • Status in communication involves subtle non-verbal cues like posture, eye contact, and space that signal confidence or insecurity.

  • Justification trains us to treat every idea or problem as valid and solvable, helping embrace chaos and constraints.

  • Blocking ideas or focusing on negatives during collaboration diffuses energy and limits creative outcomes.

  • Rewarding collaboration over idea ownership encourages a more open, Yes-And culture.

  • Recognizing and managing status dynamics in teams can prevent power imbalances from stifling creativity.

  • Applied improv techniques can help struggling team members improve confidence and communication skills.

  • Improv exercises build empathy by developing an understanding of others' perspectives and emotional signals.

  • Using improv games as warm-ups or social activities boosts immediate presence, spontaneity, and team bonding.

  • Embracing chaos and unexpected constraints through improv promotes flexible thinking useful in design and market challenges.

Notable Quotes

"Improv has paid off greatly for us in our professional lives as well."

"Yes-And means your contributions should build upon previous offers, requiring active listening."

"No-And is like no idea sucks and my idea is better. It’s very easy to spot these things."

"If you’re not the solution, you’re the problem."

"People’s brains are hardwired to pick up on status signals, even if there’s no real data."

"High status is taking up more space, holding eye contact, and purposeful gestures."

"Low status looks like slumping, shuffling feet, and avoiding eye contact but seeking approval."

"Every problem can be solved; it’s how you justify the offers the world gives you that counts."

"Instead of rewarding owners of ideas, reward collaboration."

"Embrace chaos as a gift, a constraint that fuels innovation and growth mindset."

Ask the Rosenbot
Nalini Kotamraju
Research After UX
2024 • Advancing Research 2024
Gold
Michael Polivka
Scaling Design through Relationship Maps
2017 • DesignOps Summit 2017
Gold
Ted Neward
Theme 4: Enterprise Organizational Journey
2019 • Enterprise Experience 2019
Gold
Nick Cochran
Growing in Enterprise Design through Making Connections
2019 • Enterprise Community
Patrick Boehler
The service shift: transforming media organizations to create real value through design
2025 • Advancing Service Design 2025
Gold
Dr. Karl Jeffries
The Science of Creativity for DesignOps
2024 • DesignOps Summit 2020
Gold
Michelle Morrison
Practice What You Preach
2024 • DesignOps Summit 2020
Gold
Shipra Kayan
Make your research synthesis speedy and more collaborative using a canvas
2025 • Rosenfeld Community
Mujtaba Hameed
The new horizon of ethnography: using AI to unlock the full potential of in-person research
2026 • Advancing Research 2026
Conference
Benjamin Real
Showing the Value of DesignOps by Not Having a DesignOps Team
2020 • DesignOps Summit 2020
Gold
Joseph Meersman
Sweating the Pixel: Scaling Quality through Critique
2021 • Design at Scale 2021
Gold
Crystal Philcox
The Many Faces of Operations
2017 • DesignOps Summit 2017
Gold
Jim Kalbach
Jazz Improvisation as a Model for Team Collaboration
2017 • DesignOps Summit 2017
Gold
Kit Unger
Theme 2: Discussion
2024 • Enterprise Experience 2020
Gold
Dr. Jamika D. Burge
The Future of Research: Bridging the Gaps
2021 • Advancing Research Community
Bryce Benton
[Demo] AI-powered UX enhancement: Aligning GitHub documentation with USWDS at Austin Public Library
2024 • Designing with AI 2024
Gold

More Videos

Shahrzad Samadzadeh

"The size of your role doesn't determine your impact; it's how your role fits into the bigger picture."

Shahrzad Samadzadeh

What Is My Value? Two Takes and Some Mistakes

January 8, 2024

Brenna Fallon

"Design your processes around learning. Celebrate especially when you fail—you often learn the most then."

Brenna Fallon

Learning Over Outcomes

October 24, 2019

Ruzanna Rozman

"Developing team flow is a lot like dating—you have to nurture it, build instinct, and practice."

Ruzanna Rozman

Getting in Flow with Your Team

January 8, 2024

Sheryl Cababa

"Systems thinking requires collaborating with diverse stakeholders rather than working in isolation."

Sheryl Cababa

Expanding your Design Lens with Systems Thinking

March 28, 2023

Melissa Schmidt

"Our products are powerful and complex, and customers use them end to end from concept to creation and monitoring."

Melissa Schmidt Adam Menter

How UX Research Hit It Big in Las Vegas

June 4, 2019

Nathan Curtis

"Design principles have to be guiding ways and opportunities for conversations, not a strict scorecard."

Nathan Curtis Nalini P. Kotamraju Jack Moffett Dawn Ressel

Discussion

June 9, 2016

Jake Burghardt

"Scaling up research impact means turning visibility way up and opening access despite some risk of misuse."

Jake Burghardt

Stop wasting research: Create new value with insight summaries

July 9, 2025

Kate Towsey

"Building ecosystems of interconnected tools that work seamlessly is crucial for modern, fast-moving organizations."

Kate Towsey Basel Fakhoury Oren Friedman Graham Gardner

Participant Recruitment and Management Tools

March 12, 2026

Bria Alexander

"The program page has a time zone selector so everyone can attend sessions on their local time without confusion."

Bria Alexander

Opening Remarks

September 9, 2022