Yes And is the rule you learn on the very first day of improv. You accept the idea in front of you, then you build on top of it. I use the Power of Yes And as a core value to grow my business and relationships. It runs on five keys: listen, stay open, add value, stay present and trust.
- Yes accepts and acknowledges the idea. And adds something of your own on top.
- Yes And says I am there to support you and to help you look good.
- Five keys make it work: listen, stay open, add value, stay present and trust.
- Slow down an extra half second, let the other person finish, then say "Yes And."
What does Yes And mean in improv?
Yes And is the improv rule of support. It tells your scene partner two things: I am there to support you, and when you have an idea, I will build on top of it.
- Yes You accept and acknowledge the idea somebody has.
- And You add something of your own and build on top of it.
Picture a scene that opens with "Whoa, we're on a spaceship heading to the moon." The next person says, "Yes, watch out, there's an asteroid right there." Now picture me rolling in with a wheelbarrow and saying, "Oh my, this watermelon is super heavy." My partner answers, "That's not a watermelon, dummy. That's a dog." The scene stops immediately.
I studied improv and comedy writing at Second City. My goal was the skill set, so I could apply it to my work as an entrepreneur and creator. In everyday life and in business, ideas either get shot down or get built on.
Yes And says I am there to support you and to help you look good.
Why is Yes And so powerful?
| Power | What it creates |
|---|---|
| Creativity | A safe space where ideas get built up. Think of a basketball team passing the ball around. Everybody is involved. |
| Communication and teamwork | Everyone is on the same page. You feel supported, you feel heard, and there is more flow in what you are doing. |
| Mindset | Open mindedness, flexibility, fun and support. Inside that structure there is a lot of freedom to create good things. |
It is one of the things that makes me a great podcast host. When I have a guest on, I am there to help them look good and build up their ideas.
How do you use Yes And step by step?
- Be an active listener. Thinking about what you will say next is the immediate trap. Slow down and listen to what the other person says. Active listening is a superpower in sales.
- Be open minded. You might think the rocket ship is going one way, and then the scene goes somewhere new. Let go of your original idea and say, "Whoa, there are aliens on that asteroid now."
- Add value. A scene gets built layer by layer, and so does a business. Be someone who adds on top of things.
- Stay present. Things come at you fast. Be where your feet are and focus on this moment.
- Trust and support. Your scene partner is your teammate. You support them, they support you, and you work in harmony together.
How does Yes And grow your business and relationships?
Start with new possibilities. In a Yes And world, "this is the way things have always been done" turns into "Hey, what about this?"
Relationships get stronger too. You become a better listener, a better communicator and quicker on your feet, which is how you build relationships. When someone tells me they took improv, I know right away they are my type of person.
The higher level is leadership. We live in a world of "no" and "let me tell you what's wrong with things," so a leader who builds on ideas draws people in.
Being a Yes And is refreshing. It's a light. It's something that you want to be a part of that will draw more people to you.
Rob Cressy
From there it becomes culture. You can set a culture of Yes And where people build up ideas and support each other. Culture is contagious, and it helps guide where your business is going. It is also part of building a high performing team.
What does it mean to Yes And someone?
To Yes And someone is to acknowledge their idea out loud and then add to it. I love the rule so much that I started using it as a verb. It sounds like this: "That's an amazing idea. I want to Yes And what you just said."
How do you say yes before you feel ready?
Raise your hand first. I was part of several entrepreneurial groups that met weekly on Zoom, and whenever the moderator opened a Q and A, I clicked the raise hand button immediately. Most of the time I had no idea what I would ask. I wanted the at bat.
On one group call with Jesse Itzler, my name got pulled second. I asked what all of us could do to keep the fire going through the year, because several people in the program had told me they loved it at first and then got off a little bit. A question that helps everyone lets you be a leader in the group and a leader of one at the same time. Living in action like this forces you to grow. It is how you get out of your comfort zone one raised hand at a time.
Do this today
- Check your default. In your next conversation, notice whether you build on ideas or plan what you want to say before the other person is done talking.
- Yes And one idea. Slow down for an extra half second, let the person finish, then say "Yes And" and add one thing on top.
Listen to the episode
The Power of YES AND: Grow Your Business With This Improv Rule
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Read the full transcript
Saying Yes And are the two most powerful words in improv and a core value of mine that can help you grow your business and relationships. What's good? It's Rob Cressy, and I spent four years studying improv and comedy writing at Second City, the number one comedy training center in the world, and adopting the Yes And mindset and lifestyle into my business has created so much growth and opportunities.
And what I want to do is share the lessons that I've learned on my journey to help you understand how you can leverage this into yours to create more power in your business and your life. And I'm going to break this down very simply in five ways. Number one, what does Yes And mean? Number two, the power of Yes And. Number three, the keys of effectively using Yes And. Number four, how to apply Yes And into your business. And then number five, next steps.
And let's start with this. What in the world does Yes And mean? And this concept is something you learn in the very first day of improv and it centers all around support and building on top of others' ideas. So when you're doing an improv scene, it might be you and one or two other people. So foundationally, Yes And says I am there to support you and to help you look good. And then number two, it says when you have an idea, I will build on top of that idea. Yes And, not break it down.
So here's an example of this is we're going to start a scene and it's like, whoa, we're on a spaceship heading to the moon. And the next person can come on that and goes, yes, watch out, there's an asteroid right there. So you're building up on top of the idea. On the flip side, here's an example of where Yes And does not apply. So I roll in and I've got a wheelbarrow and I'm like, oh my, this watermelon is super heavy. And the next person goes, that's not a watermelon, dummy. That's a dog. Immediately it stops the scene.
While this may sound obvious, in everyday life and in business there is often a series of ideas that either get shot down or build on top of. And the key, or I guess one of the foundations of all of this, is all around yes. This is accepting and acknowledging the idea that somebody has. And then the and is adding something to your own of it, building on top of this.
So let's move on to number two, the power of Yes And. And there's three things in which may which Yes And becomes so powerful. Number one, it creates an environment where creativity can flourish. Number two, it is super powerful for communication and teamwork. And number three, it's a mindset. So let's break these down.
So creating an environment where creativity can flourish. An example I like to give is basketball. In basketball, when the team is passing all around, there's energy to it. Everybody is involved. And the same is true when you have a Yes And culture or environment where, when you know there's others around you that are there to support and build up your ideas and it's a safe space, man, that creativity is contagious. There's an energy and everybody flourishes. And this is something that is foundational to what we've built at Unlimited.
Number two, the powerful communication and how it helps with teamwork. Well, this is very simple because number one, we're all on the same page, because foundationally Yes And says, listen, I am there to support you and build you up. And for me, it's one of the things that makes me a great podcast host, because I know when I've got a guest on there, I am there to help make them look good, build up their ideas.
And while these things sound obvious, they're very simple to not do. Because when you come from this Yes And place, you feel supported, you feel heard and there is more flow in what you're doing. And you can just sort of wrap it all on that with harmony.
And the last set here, the last part here, is all around the mindset of Yes And. Yes And is about open mindedness, flexibility, fun and support. And within this container, in this structure, there's a lot of freedom to create a lot of good things.
So let's move this on to number three, the keys to Yes And, and there's five of them. Number one, be an active listener. Number two, be open minded. Number three, add value. Number four, stay present. And number five, trust and support. So let's break these down.
Being an active listener. And this is so key and it is one of the biggest things I ever learned in improv. And it's why I would highly recommend not only everybody taking improv class, but especially if you're in sales, because active listening is a superpower. Because when you're on stage doing a scene with somebody else, so often we try and think about what we're going to say next. That is an immediate trap and stop in the world of Yes And, because you want to build on somebody else's idea, not say this is what I'm going to do. And for this, slowing down and just listening to what the other person says is so important. This is something that we can all work on and I do on an active basis for myself.
Number two, be open minded and be open to accepting new and unexpected ideas, which goes back to the listening. You might be thinking that the rocket ship is going to go one way and then all of a sudden the scene goes in a different place. If you're still sitting there with your original idea, you're going to immediately crush the scene. Instead, you sit there and say, whoa, I didn't even know that possibility is there, but there are now aliens on that asteroid and you're building up this new world. So be open to ideas in new and unexpected.
Number three, add value. So this is also an element of building on top of the ideas and adding new elements to it. And this is so foundational because when we're building this world, it's layer, layer, layer, layer, layer. And the same is true for business. It's like a coconut chili where there's various components that just sort of stack on top of each other and marinate. Be someone who is value driven, who adds on top of things, not brings them down.
Number four, stay present. Because when you're in an improv scene, man, things are coming fast at you. You're just saying to the audience, hey, give me a fruit, and they're like, strawberry, and boom, you got to be where your feet are there, not ahead in the moment. And you'll see these things are all just like one little inch apart from each other in the best way possible. But these are the ways that you become not only a good communicator and comedian at improv, but also in business and the way that you communicate and collaborate with others and your team. So focus on your moment, not what lies ahead.
And then number five, and this one is so important, is trust and support. When you're doing improv, you are there with somebody else. They are your teammate. So you're there to support them. They are there to support you. So Yes And brings that element of trust. You are in working in harmony together.
So number four, how can we apply Yes And in business and in everyday life? And I've got three simple examples for you. Number one, create new possibilities. Number two, strengthen relationships. And number three, business growth. So let's break this down.
Creating new possibilities. This, when the world of Yes And, we can live in the world of innovation and creativity. This is the world that I love to live in all the time. Being open to new and unexpected possibilities. So now it's not just this is the way that things have always been done. It's, hey, what about this? What about this? What about this?
Number two, strengthen relationships. Well, how do you strengthen relationships? By being a better listener, by being a better communicator, by being present, by being quicker on your feet and your ability to respond. And to ultimately be a great collaboration partner. People want to do business with those they know, love and trust. When you come from a Yes And place, man, anyone who says, oh yeah, I took improv, immediately I'm like, you're my type of person, because you get what it means to be a great partner.
And then lastly here, business growth. For sales, this is an absolute no brainer. And it's one of the reasons why I took this. I didn't learn improv and comedy writing to become a comedian, but instead to learn the skill set so I could apply it to what I'm doing in business and as an entrepreneur and creator. So understand how to be good at relationships, how to be a good communicator, how to be someone that builds things up in the support of others.
And then the next thing, and this is the higher level, is being a better leader. Yes And mindset helps you be a better leader in all areas of your life. Because we live in a world of no, or let me tell you what's wrong with things. So being a Yes And is refreshing. It's a light. It's something that you want to be a part of that will draw more people to you. And as a leader, this is a quality we all want more of.
And the last part of this ultimately becomes culture. You can create and set a culture of Yes And, and that's something that we've done with Unlimited, our community. It is a culture of people who are building up on ideas and supporting each other, and culture is contagious and something that will help set and guide where your business is going.
So as we wrap a bow on this with next steps of Yes And, my encouragement for you is number one, think about where you are in a Yes And mindset. Are you someone who always builds up on ideas, or do you catch yourself thinking about what you want to say before someone's done talking? Are you someone who brings ideas down? You might not consciously be aware of this, but my encouragement for you is to take a step back, slow down for an extra beat, an extra half second. Allow that other person to finish what they are saying and then acknowledge and say Yes And.
I love this so much that I've started to use Yes And as a verb. It's a way of acknowledging, man, that's an immediate, that's an amazing idea. I want to Yes And what you just said. See if you can start saying that a little bit more and what happens in your business and your life.
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