Careers Over Coffee South Recap: Validation Leads to Innovation

Written by Michele Chan Santos.

Generating good ideas for your company or nonprofit is all about validating the ideas people contribute, said Shawn Utterback, founder of The Play Storming Group.

The Play Storming Group does corporate training, team building and improv workshops. Running the Play Storming Group is Utterback’s “day job”; he also has an improv group which performs at comedy clubs.

Utterback was the featured speaker at WCA’s Careers Over Coffee South on November 19. More than a dozen people came to hear him, and the laughter and back-and-forth discussion made for a wonderful and energetic event.

Improvisation – whether in comedy, or in life – is about being creative inside a framework, he said. Think about jazz musicians improvising within a musical structure. Communicators can improvise too.

When someone has a suggestion, don’t cut them off with a “Yes, but..” because this is the same as saying “No.” Instead, Utterback suggested saying “What I like about your idea is..” or “Yes, we could do that.” You don’t have to agree with every suggestion, but if you shut people down, you can’t innovate. Imagination and collaboration are what lead to innovation.

Here are some other suggestions he had for improving conversation and communication:

• Be grateful to the person communicating with you. Try saying “thank you” before you respond. Let’s say an unhappy person calls your company. First, you thank them for bringing this problem to your attention, and then explore the issue.
• Don’t interrupt. When you interrupt someone before they’ve finished their thought, they will think (rightly) that you’re not interested in what they are saying. Listen to understand, not just respond.
• Replace “should” with “could.” When you begin a sentence with “should,” it’s like pointing a finger at someone. Beginning with “could” is more collaborative and helpful. “We should only have healthy snacks at the office party” is more judgmental and bossy than “We could offer some fruit and other healthy snacks at the party too.”
• Don’t take yourself too seriously. In Utterback’s improv group, someone who makes a joke that falls flat does a formal bow, and they all applaud. Failing forward still means moving forward. It’s much more fun to speak with someone who is relaxed and not too obsessed with being right all the time.
• How you make people feel is more important than what you say. Improvisation is about supporting the other people in your group and co-creating a positive experience.

For more information about Shawn or The Play Storming Group, check out www.play-storming.com.

Careers Over Coffee South will be taking a break for the month of December to celebrate the holiday season. See you in January 2016!