While improvisation and software development seem divergent, Ted DesMaisons and Lisa Rowland describe several pieces of advice they’ve learned from improv that will help when working with others in any environment. Through a variety of improvisational tools, Ted DesMaisons and Lisa Rowland identified three « hacks » for building a better life.
First, embrace failure. Lisa and Ted guided the audience through a paired activity, of increasing difficulty and silliness. The audience learned the « failure bow » – a way to cheer when a mistake was made. Rowland stated that « Boldness is cultivated when you don’t fear being wrong. » Being able to acknowledge failure, then get on with the task at hand makes it less scary to fail. It normalizes failure and « retrain[s] the flinch [to failure] to fruitfulness. » Ted described a scene the two did in a performance where technical problems arose. Through responding to the issue within the moment, the scene worked out quite well. Ted encouraged the audience to look at mistakes as gifts, something potentially better than the situation you had before.
