Improvisation for Agile Skill Development
In today's economy, the Creative Economy, businesses face a disrupted, highly competitive, and constantly changing landscape. Robie and Jody Wood say that to thrive in the Creative Economy, team members, managers, and executives need to become and remain agile. Improvisational theater provides a proven model for developing agility skills since the characteristics of “being agile”—engaging people, learning, making decisions in the midst of uncertainty and ambiguity, and adapting—are the very skills that improv artists work to develop with every exercise they perform. This session is about “Being Agile,” developing the mindset and behaviors that grow great abilities in communication, collaboration, inspiring others, building on others’ ideas, learning, adapting, and evolving. This workshop will engage delegates in experiential learning exercises from Improvisational Theater that will have immediate impact in improving agile mindset and behavior. The workshop participants will find the exercises lively, inspiring, fun, life changing—and an experience they will never forget.
With more than thirty-one years of experience as a business leader, program manager, and information technology practitioner, Robie Wood now specializes in information technology program strategy and delivery with emphasis on building and leading strong agile teams and organizations. Robie has served as a ScrumMaster, release train engineer, agile transformation leader, agile coach, and agile trainer. He has presented at conferences and workshops on business intelligence, project management, and team agility. Visit Robie at ImprovAgility.com and follow ImprovAgility @ImprovAgility.
A professional actor, facilitator, and trainer for almost thirty years, Jody Wood has worked in show business from improv to theater, film, television, and radio. Throughout, improvisation has been the very root of Jody’s work. About fifteen years ago, Jody began conducting workshops, based on the mindset and practices of improvisational theater, to train sales teams, managers, and executives to improve their abilities to create, collaborate, communicate, lead, and respond positively to change. Jody now brings his experience and skill to ImprovAgility with a focus on using improv techniques to train individuals and teams to “Be Agile.”