We help companies and organizations grow and sustain a culture of support, innovation, trust, and joy, through experience and application of the skills embedded in improv.
Clients include Google, Microsoft, Genentech, Wells Fargo, Nugen, Whole Foods Markets, UC Berkeley, USF, Stanford Hospitals and Clinics, ISKME (The Big Ideas Fest), and Infineon Technologies.
"LifePlays gave us a tangible opportunity to gain a new perspective on some of the individual and team dynamics that were getting in the way of breakthrough thinking. Their contribution was like a breath of fresh air - the improvisational exercises widened the horizon of what we believed was possible and had direct application to the business issues we were working on."
-Steven Kowalski, Director of Learning and Development, Genentech, Inc.
CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION
Grow (or deepen) a culture where creativity and innovation are the norm.
"LifePlays workshops significantly improved the work environment in our organization. Our teams became more willing to accept each other's offers and ideas and to build from there. LifePlays tangibly made a difference in creating an awareness that when you receive what comes to you with a "Yes, And..." attitude, the possibilities are endless."
-Monica Walsh, SYDA
TEAM DEVELOPMENT
Practice being a team where everyone is valued, heard, competent, and trusted.
"The LifePlays workshop was an unforgettable opportunity for interpersonal communication, building trust, and good old fashioned fun. It far exceeded my high expectations!"
-Matt Waddell, Product Marketing Manager, Google, Inc.
LEADERSHIP
Lead as an equal, skillfully bringing out the best in people.
"On behalf of the entire Human Service Agency, I would like to express my thanks for the fantastic workshop presented by LifePlays. I have heard nothing but raves from all who had the opportunity to attend."
~Rich Holman, Human Services Supervisor, County of San Mateo Leadership Conference, "Soaring to New Heights"
MORE ON THE NATURE OF THESE PROGRAMS:
CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION
Innovation often involves a leap, trust, risk.
A leap of making new connections.
Trust that support and encouragement are there.
And the risk, that it might not work.
To function in this way, you need to grow a culture that supports it. In this ideal culture your aim is to bring out the best in everyone else; you listen to in order to support; you know that critical thinking is crucial and valuable, but there’s a time to suspend it and purely explore ideas; everyone sees the larger goal, not just personal gain.
This is a generative, innovative culture.
This is the culture and skill-set of improv.
Improv is essentially a communication skill-set. Through highly participatory exercises, participants see what happens when they listen in order to build (Yes, and…), focus on the bigger goal (Serve the Scene), focus on supporting others (Make your Partner look Brilliant), and keeping ideas alive (Suspend Judgment).
When you interact in this way, great things happen. People are more willing to take risks. Ideas are explored more deeply, leading to unexpected solutions. The atmosphere is alive and generative. There’s a deep experience of support and trust, leading to more ideas being generated.
In our Innovation classes, we begin in the realm of improv to discover and experience its skills, and then move into work situations, incorporating the new choices and skills made available through the practice of improv.
TEAM DEVELOPMENT
To state the obvious, a team is more than a group of individuals. A team has chemistry, mojo, a connection. A team can be more creative, generative, and effective than its individuals separately. A team can (hopefully) develop over time, or you can proactively help create it. We work with teams to give them the skills to create a culture where they feel valued, heard, competent, and empowered.
In our Team Development programs, participants engage in a series of improv exercises that are highly engaging, fun, and connective. The exercises are followed by debriefs that focus on collaboration, commitment, and inspiration.
We also focus on specific challenges that a team may be facing (keeping agreements, over-committing, ineffective meetings, etc.)
LEADERSHIP
The wicked leader is he who the people despise.
The good leader is he who the people revere.
The great leader is he who the people say,
"We did it ourselves."
~Lao Tzu~
A true leader is defined by their followership. Do people want to be directed or led by this individual, or is it just a matter of "position" in the organization. Through highly interactive exercises, we give participants the skills to lead in a way that reports feel empowered, valued, and trusted. It’s how you bring out the best in people.
We give participants practice in looking for what is working, and building on it. This becomes a valuable skill in the areas of brainstorming, strategic planning, giving feedback, and generally running meetings. Norms are created top-down. Have more choice in what you're creating.
Using the profound and playful techniques of improvisational theatre, LifePlays engages participants in highly interactive activities that reveal, practice, and deepen the skills that foster trust, empowerment, value, and flow.
Change is the way of life, literally. With creativity and specific tools, both communication and change (corporate or otherwise) become exciting fields of connection and possibility, rather than areas of fear and conflict.
LifePlays Improv gives participants a breakthough experience in acute cooperation. With themselves, others, and life.
Brought to the corporate world, the improv-based skills of "Yes-And", commitment, and presence, engender forward-moving communication, creativity, joy, and trust. Participants experience the rewards of taking risks and of letting go of "controlling" behaviors, and tap their capacity to turn all offers (even "obstacles") into powerful co-creative opportuities.
Interacting as equals in the spirit of fun and exploration enables the group to create much more than any single person could have imagined. Participants leave a LifePlays workshop with tangible, experienced life skills and with new insights into themselves and deep connections with one another. The capacity to create easily and joyfully as partners or as a team is reflected in a renewed, energized work culture.
"LifePlays workshops significantly improved the work environment in our organization. Our teams became more willing to accept each other's offers and ideas and to build from there. LifePlays tangibly made a difference in creating an awareness that when you receive what comes to you with a "Yes, And..." attitude, the possibilities are endless."
-Monica Walsh, Siddha Foundation, Trainings Coordinator
"The LifePlays workshop was an unforgettable opportunity for interpersonal communication, building trust, and good old fashioned fun. It far exceeded my high expectations!"
-Matt Waddell, Project Manager, Google, Inc.