IN A CONSTANTLY SHIFTING BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT in which every players eeks a competitive edge, there is little to be gained from platitudinous morale boosting. Yet over the last ten years a fourishing cottage industry has arisen, providing companies with exactly that. Almost every brand-name sketch comedy group has developed some kind of corporate outreach program, in which teams of comedians lead business people through improvisational games and exercises, ostensibly to hone business skills. Quite often these games are exactly what a college student would participate in during an introductory level improv class.
在不斷變化的商業環境中，每個參與者都在尋求競爭優勢，因此，單調提高士氣并沒有什么好處。然而，在過去的十年中，蓬勃發展的家庭手工業已經興起，為公司提供了這一點。幾乎每個品牌速寫喜劇團都制定了某種公司的宣傳計劃，其中喜劇演員團隊通過即興游戲和練習來領導商務人士，表面上是在磨練商務技能。這些游戲經常是大學生在入門級即興課堂上要參加的游戲。
Corporate America pays handsomely for the chance to play these games. In 2013 U.S. firms spent over $70 billion on corporate training and approximately $15 billion on leadership development, with much of that money spent on “intangibles training”—programs focused on such unquantifable skills as leadership and creativity.Companies often pay at least $5,000 a week to send a VP-level employee to a top business school, and it has become common for comedy-oriented improv groups to run these programs or be a signifcant part of them.
美國公司為參加這些游戲的機會付出了豐厚的回報。2013年，美國公司在企業培訓上花費了超過700億美元，在領導力開發上花費了約150億美元，其中大部分花在了“無形培訓”上，這些計劃側重于諸如領導力和創造力之類的不可量化的技能。公司通常每年至少支付5,000美元一周將VP級員工派往一所頂級商學院，面向喜劇的即興小組運行這些程序或成為其中的重要一環已變得司空見慣。
For a young drama student improv games may provide a wonderful first step into the world of improvisational comedy. For business-people such games may provide a bit of fun, a pleasant day out of the office, or a chance for the VP of sales to finally learn the names of those IT folks (it’s Pat and Deanna, by the way). So, does the simple act of bringing traditional improv games to a corporate setting provide businesspeople with anything of substance? Anything practical?Anything that might be useful in the real business world? In a word, Nope.
對于年輕的戲劇學生來說，即興游戲可能是進入即興喜劇世界的絕佳第一步。對于商務人士而言，此類游戲可能會給他們帶來一些樂趣，讓他們在辦公室外度過愉快的一天，或者使銷售副總裁最終有機會了解這些IT人員的名字（順便說一下，是Pat和Deanna）。那么，將傳統即興游戲帶入公司環境的簡單舉動是否能為商人提供任何實質內容？實用嗎？在實際的商業世界中有用的任何東西？總之，不。
And yet a true understanding of the art of improvisation can offer business people the most impactful, culture-changing, success-enabling tool imaginable. There’s much, much more to improvisation than games and giggles, and for the past 16 years my company, Business Improv, has specialized in teaching improv techniques to corporate executives with the express intent of developing skills that allow these serious people to accomplish serious business in the most effective way.
然而，對即興藝術的真正理解可以為商務人員提供想象中最有影響力，改變文化，促成成功的工具。即興創作比游戲和傻笑還重要得多。在過去的16年中，我的公司Business Improv專為公司高管傳授即興演奏技巧，其明確意圖是發展技能，使這些認真的人能夠完成認真的業務。最有效的方法。
Though the techniques of improv can be used to entertain, in the following pages I will show you how these techniques can be used just as easily to run a meeting, handle negotiations, spark a brainstorming session, and positively influence those around you. The tenets of improvisation can help you help yourself, your team, your department,and your entire company to succeed beyond what you think you’re capable of. Yes, a great improviser can be a very funny person. And great improvisers don’t just play games.
盡管可以使用即興演奏的技巧來娛樂，但在接下來的幾頁中，我將向您展示如何輕松地使用這些技巧來召開會議，進行談判，引發集思廣益的會議以及對周圍的人產生積極的影響。即興的原則可以幫助您幫助自己，團隊，部門以及整個公司取得超越您認為能力的成功。是的，出色的即興演奏者可以是一個非常有趣的人。出色的即興演奏者不只是玩游戲。
Consequently the work that goes into becoming a great improviser is a little more involved than simply bringing on episodes of Whose Line Is It Anyway? To make the best use of this art, we have to draw on the range of communications-related sciences: behavioral decision theory, cognitive psychology, social psychology, and behavioral economics. Together these foundations point us toward a smarter way of reacting,a more effective way of adapting, and a deeper way of engaging—the things true improvisation provides.
因此，成為一名出色的即興演奏者的工作要比簡單地制作《反正誰行？為了充分利用這種藝術，我們必須利用與傳播相關的科學領域：行為決策理論，認知心理學，社會心理學和行為經濟學。這些基礎共同為我們指明了一種更明智的反應方式，更有效的適應方式以及更深層次的參與方式-真正的即興表演所提供的東西。
It is a driving passion of mine to get people to understand that improv skills can be effectively translated into the business world with powerful results. I thirst to make this connection for people. For those who might react to the idea of “business improv” with apprehension and skepticism, I have a confession: I empathize with you. Yes, improv techniques are often taught without a detailed exploration of substance. If your negative assessment of the value of improv was crystalized when you invested good money to spend a day playing Zip,Zap, Zop—a basic improv game with no practical business value—I feel your pain. There is no Zip, Zap, Zop in this book. “Return on investment” means something to me. And that is what you will get if you suspend your disbelief and follow me through these pages. I enjoy the challenge of winning over the skeptics, and the first step in notching up those wins is to emphatically and decidedly debunk the two biggest myths around improvisation.(To be continued~)
使人們理解即興技能可以有效地轉化為具有強大成果的商業世界是我的一種駕駛熱情。我渴望為人們建立這種聯系。對于那些可能對“即興即興”的想法感到擔憂和懷疑的人，我要坦白：我同情您。是的，通常在沒有詳細探究實質的情況下教授即興技巧。如果您在投入大量金錢花一天時間玩Zip，Zap，Zop（一種沒有實際商業價值的基本即興游戲）時對您對即興游戲價值的否定評估得以具體化，我會感到很痛苦。本書中沒有Zip，Zap，Zop?！巴顿Y回報率”對我來說意義重大。如果您暫停懷疑并跟隨我瀏覽這些頁面，這將是您得到的。我喜歡贏得懷疑論者的挑戰，獲得這些勝利的第一步是著重并堅定地揭露即興創作的兩個最大神話。(未完待續~)
