• Shows how to dramatically improve organizational performance by adapting the skills used by experts at building and maintaining collective trust: professional improvisors

• Lays out four improvisation principles anyone can master

• Includes real-life examples that depict both the principles in action and the business results

Trust is the oil of organizational effectiveness. It is what enables people to work  together, share ideas, take risks. Without it, an organization will suffer severely. But with all of the pressures and difficult decisions in business, trust can be in short supply.

There are all kinds of resources out there about building trust. The Improvisation Edge is unique in that it draws on the wisdom of those who are truly experts in the dynamics of trust-building: theatrical improvisers. Think about it: other than combat, no situation requires more extreme trust than improvisation. You have no script, costumes or set. All you have are your fellow improvisers. The skills, philosophy, and behaviors of improvisation are radically collaborative -- and when you collaborate on such an intense level, you intrinsically engender trust.

For the past twelve years Karen Hough has been applying the lessons of improvisation to the workplace, with spectacular results. The Improvisation Edge describes four principles that will help leaders, managers, trainers, and front-line employees adop the improviser's mindset to improve communication and collaboration -- and have a great time at work. You'll learn techniques to create a positive environment, encourage fearless participation and selfless collaboration, play to your own and your colleagues' strengths, and turn surprises, mistakes, and disasters into opportunities for something new, unexpected, and maybe better than originally planned.

Hough leverages all of the elements that make improvisation so entertaining: story, surprise, connection, and interaction. She provides both case studies from organizations who have embraced these new ways of working and exercises for individuals, pairs and teams. The Improvisation Edge offers a fun, engaging and very hands-on way to build the kind of organizational trust and collaboration that makes break-through business results possible.