Minisode 8: Using Improv to Drive Creativity
Need help spurring innovation, seeing things with a new set of eyes, or looking at the way you work differently? Then we’ve got a quick show for you.
On today’s minisode, one of our improve it! facilitators, Shadee Vossoughi, is here to talk to us about how improv is a great tool for spurring creativity in the workplace.
About the Guest: Shadee Vossoughi is an Iranian American actor, writer, and veteran improviser based in Chicago, IL. After receiving her BFA in Acting from Southern Oregon University, Shadee moved to Chicago to study comedy. Shadee has trained, performed, and coached at some of the top comedy institutions in Chicago, including The Annoyance Theatre, iO Theater, and The Second City. Shadee was a recipient of the NBCUniversal Second City Bob Curry Fellowship in 2018. Shadee is represented by Stewart Talent Chicago.
Connect with Shadee Vossoughi:
Instagram: @shadeev
Twitter: @shadee_v
Connect with Erin Diehl:
“I love this podcast and I love Erin!!”
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Connect with Erin:
Erin Diehl is the founder and Chief “Yes, And” officer of improve it! and host of the improve it! Podcast. She’s a performer, facilitator and professional risk-taker who lives by the mantra, “get comfortable with the uncomfortable.” Through a series of unrelated dares, Erin has created improve it!, a unique professional development company that pushes others to laugh, learn and grow. Her work with clients such as United Airlines, PepsiCo, Groupon, Deloitte, Motorola, Walgreens, and The Obama Foundation earned her the 2014 Chicago RedEye Big Idea Award and has nominated her for the 2015-2019 Chicago Innovations Award.
This graduate from Clemson University is a former experiential marketing and recruiting professional as well as a veteran improviser from the top improvisational training programs in Chicago, including The Second City, i.O. Theater, and The Annoyance Theatre.
When she is not playing pretend or facilitating, she enjoys running and beach dates with her husband and son, and their eight-pound toy poodle, BIGG Diehl.
You can follow the failed it! podcast on Instagram @learntoimproveit and facebook, and you can follow Erin personally on Instagram @keepinitrealdiehl here. You can also check out improve it! and how we can help your organization at www.learntoimproveit.com. We can’t wait to connect with you online!
Minisode 8 Transcription:
Erin (00:00):
Welcome to improve it! The podcast!
Erin (00:10):
We're so excited to have our guest on today. We're going to talk about how to use improv to spur creativity. I see her, here we come. Shadee, come on in. Shadee in the live right now welcome friend. It's been a minute. I haven't seen you in a week and a half. Oops.
New Speaker (00:39):
You guys this is my first time on a live. This is so cool.
Erin (00:43):
Isn't it so fun. My heads cut off. Well, for everybody watching and for those just listening, I'm so excited that you're here. Thank you for doing this with me.
New Speaker (00:55):
I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for asking me.
Erin (01:00):
Duh! Does this, lives are, like I recorded a podcast every week, right? And those are just something that you do, but does the live part of this make you a little nervous and Jenna says hi Shadee. It makes my armpits sweat.
New Speaker (01:16):
Well I sweat all the time. And I'm nervous any time I walk out of my house, anytime I get in front of people. And that's normal. Nerves are a good thing!
Erin (01:29):
And that's why you're the perfect person for this minisode. So first and foremost.
New Speaker (01:35):
This nervous girl is perfect.
Erin (01:44):
This nervous girl is great. First and foremost, tell everyone what you do and improve it. How long you've been improvising. Just give us the Shadee story.
New Speaker (01:54):
Okay. Shadee story. First of all, I just want to point out that I'm wearing my improve it. Maybe like at some points I am a co-facilitator and improve it. So I helped with the workshops. I go facilitate, I bring a smile. I help with the with the exercises. But my name is Shadee and I have been improvising. So I started in like 2014, but I've been acting since I was a wee one. So performing for a long time, but improv starting in 2014.
Erin (02:29):
We love Shadee. We saw you improvised so we said, I wonder if she would like to work as a co-facilitator cause she's hilarious. You're such a warm light to everybody you meet. We just filmed some videos in Chicago. So if you ever book well, when you book an improve it! Workshop in 2021, you will see Shadee in some of the pre videos because we had so much fun. That was so fun. And she just made us laugh and giggle millions and millions of times. So I'm so honored that you're here today because we're talking about how to use improv to boost creativity. So just from what you've seen, what you've witnessed in the workshops, that you've been a part of. How does improv, this is a loaded question, but how have you seen improv boost creativity with teams?
New Speaker (03:22):
Oh man. I mean it happens in a matter of minutes to be honest. The first thing that it does is that it gets people out of their heads. That's the main thing. It gets people out of their own way. And so we do like a couple of exercises just at the beginning just to like warm everybody up. And that kind of catapults us to for the rest of the workshop. But I honestly feel like some of the most significant changes happen in that first five minutes because people, all of a sudden let go and they like cross over to this world where it's like safe to step like think out of the box. It's, it's the it's like they become more. I think they step away from fear and more into curiosity, you know? And they do that when you, they do it as a team, it, it just energizes the individual even more so. And it makes it even more like it's just makes it more safe when they do it as a group, you know, fear into curiosity.
Erin (04:32):
I love that because I think a lot of times when we walk in a room and people hear the word improv, they're like, oh my gosh, they get that sweaty armpit feeling. They think, I have to think quickly on my feet. They're going to put me on the spot. When in reality it's a teaching tool to bring people together, to be inclusive, to make people feel whole versus like they're individuals to make them feel like an ensemble. So I love that fear..
New Speaker (05:00):
It's the fear of the unknown, right? So when I talk about how, like, I get nervous when I step outside of my house, I it's not. Cause I'm like, I'm not like a super anxious person, but it's that fear of the unknown what's going to happen today. You know? And it's like, what if, what if this, what if that, and it's like focusing on what if this happens? You know what I mean? What if, what about this? It's like all of a sudden we're interested and we're curious about what's going to happen. And I think that's, that's what happens in our workshops. All of a sudden teams are like, whoa, we can actually lead with, you know, excitement. Not like dread.
Erin (05:45):
Yeah. Yeah. And that's what it feels like. And that's honestly, what I have witnessed with you and with our team is just, people's creativity really starts to shine when these barriers are knocked down. We have less fear of judgment or we're more curious. I love that when we feel like we can just show up and play and be ourselves because I have a two year old, right? Like I'm watching him play all day. He has no filter on himself. But as humans, as we evolve and grow this whole sort of armor of shielding ourselves from play and from being curious just comes over us.
Erin (06:24):
And it's like, we kept to take that off in order to let creativity shine. And so I'm so excited to be, I'm so excited that you're here because I want to share something with the improve it! Fam the audience on our podcast. Okay. Hello, everyone joining us. This is exciting. So we're going to do an activity that we do in one of our workshops, which is all about taking initiative and creative risks. And it's something that we do to inspire creativity. Something that we do to just change the way that we look at things to see outside of the box. So you know this well Shadee, I'm going to, I'm going to share an object with you. Okay. So really quick, hold on, hold on. It's over here. Okay. This is it. This is what, right. Obviously a pen. It's not a pen. It's anything other than what this object can be used for. So what could this be?
New Speaker (07:22):
A witch's broom.
Erin (07:26):
In the chat right now our live audience, give us some more suggestions. Shadee and I are going to go back and forth and try to come up as many ideas as we possibly can for just this one object. Okay. So it's not, it's not a pin. It's a mustache. Okay.
New Speaker (07:41):
It's not a pin. It's half of an umbrella broken.
Erin (07:45):
Oh yes. All the time in Chicago weather. All right. This isn't a pan. It's a hair tie or like a hair, like a hair button, the hair thing.
New Speaker (07:58):
And that's not, that's not a pen. It's a spatula.
Erin (08:02):
Yes. This isn't a pen. It is a it's a tiny sweeper for mice.
New Speaker (08:10):
Uh that's not a pen. That's eyeliner. Hey wing.
Erin (08:13):
Hey. Hey, when I'm under the, I hear, this is really too close. This isn't a pen it's lip liner.
New Speaker (08:22):
And this isn't a pen it's a laser pointer.
Erin (08:28):
Okay. I'm going to change our objects. Okay. We're going to make a little, little harder. Okay. These are obviously where we're holding up improve it! Fam who's just listening is a pair of air pod, like the air pod case for your ear, your ear pods. And it's called ear pods. Okay. So shoddy, this isn't a Nearpod case. It's a, what?
New Speaker (08:49):
It's a pear.
Erin (08:54):
This isn't an earpod case. It is a, isn't a house for ants.
New Speaker (08:58):
Aw That's nice of you. That's a lighter.
Erin (09:04):
Ooh yes. This isn't an airpod case. It is a Pez Pez holder.
New Speaker (09:11):
Uh that that's not an air pod, a holder. That is a light switch. You flip it and turn on the light.
Erin (09:24):
This Isn't an air holder. This is this is a holder for earwax. That's actually so true. Disgusting inside of there. Don't don't.
New Speaker (09:42):
Oh, you know what it is? It's a, it's a magic lamp.
Erin (09:46):
Yes. It's a magic lamp. Okay. Okay. Got one more. Okay. This is obviously, this is my husband's phone record. This is a cell phone. It is a.
New Speaker (09:58):
Mattress for a mouse yet again. Yeah.
Erin (10:03):
Oh, we love mouse. My phone. It is a videography studio.
New Speaker (10:14):
That's not a phone. That's a pillow. Yes. This isn't a phone.
Erin (10:20):
If I know, I'm like, man, I need a nap right now.
New Speaker (10:26):
That's not a phone. That's a flying desk.
Erin (10:30):
Yes. This is NFL phone. It's a, a place where you put all your germs.
New Speaker (10:36):
This isn't a phone. That's the piano.
Erin (10:40):
Yes. Okay. Now that everybody give Shadee a round of applause, if you're listening at home and yeah. And if we're with groups of people, usually we'll have groups going at the same time and we'll let the groups then have a free for all. And they get to pick up as many they'll pick up an object, come up with an idea. The objective there is they can't come up with any of the same ideas and give the same ideas that they came up with. I'm like, you're doing great that they came up with in the first round. And so basically it just gets people to start thinking differently. So to you Shadee, what would you say is one of the biggest benefits of this activity?
New Speaker (11:22):
It kind of makes you realize that no answer is the wrong answer. Just give an answer. And then also like the more you're like, oh my gosh, like this isn't right. The more you kind of move past that and kind of let that go. You realize that, oh, this is actually fun. Like I could say whatever I want. It's okay. And then that's when the creativity starts to flow. When you're relaxed too, you know, you start relaxing, I'm sweating less. I have more, but you know what?
Erin (11:57):
You look great. I am spending less. And I felt like as we got to the third round, that's so true. I just felt like more and more things started flowing. And that's, again, that judgment that we put on ourselves as we get into the working world, as we evolve as humans, it's this overthinking and over analyzing. And what that activity does is really help us see things with a new set of eyes. These are three objects that were literally sitting on my desk that I use almost every well. I use all three of those every day. I'm sure you did too. And it was just fun to come up with new ideas and to look at them differently. So that activity just spurs are our participants in our workshops into thinking creatively and to getting outside of the box with the way that they come up and brainstorm ideas as a group. I really love watching people do this activity. I love playing it. Do you love playing it?
New Speaker (12:48):
I love it. I mean, I think that what's great about it is that it's really simple. Like when you watch someone do it, you're like, that's, it's really hard to do because your brain wants to categorize. Your brain wants to be like, that's not, that's not this that's. What are you talking about? It is a pen. But once you kind of push past that, you realize like, oh, this simple exercise really did boost me out of that Headspace and into more creative one. I think that's awesome.
Erin (13:18):
I agree with that. And it really is a good warmup to do. If you're about to do operate in storm with your team, or you just need to get out of a creative ride. If you have some, if you're about to sit down and write content, whatever your job is, if you're a marketing coordinator, if you're a content writer, if you are going to write a newsletter to your organization and your staff, just sit there and start brainstorming different things. Because that way your mind starts thinking differently. When you start judging yourself less and it becomes more fun for you. And that's really what, what I think is the root cause of stifled creativity is it's not fun. You're not allowing it to be fun for you. What would you say to that? What do you think is the main reason people's creativity is stifled self-criticism.
Shadee (14:03):
Yeah, I think that that critical voice, I think that like from childhood, we're taught that this is what this is, this is what that is. And these are the rules, you know? And I think that when you kind of deviate from that, maybe you were like told that's wrong and then maybe you became a hard on yourself. And then that translates to how we also are critical of others. You know what I mean? Like right before I started doing improv and I still struggle with this, I'm somebody who's like extremely self critical and that does not bode well for an improv show because you're just in the wrong head space.
Shadee (14:39):
And that's why we do so many. We do warmups before we do a show, all improv, most improvisers before they do a show where you have to be like, your creative creativity is flowing. You're you're on your toes. We do warm up simple ones like these silly ones, but it's not for nothing. It's it's so that we can let go of that judgment, you know, get out of our own way and also like get out of other people's way, you know, letting other like, kind of lifting up people's ideas too, is another huge part of why improv is so helpful with creativity, you know?
Erin (15:16):
And it reminds me of what we, I know you do before show what we do before workshops and any big performance we have, we always tap each other on the bathroom. We're like, we got your back. I got your back. I got your back. And I got your back steady because it's this beautiful world that we create together through play. That allows each other to say, you know what? Even if you are in a bad head space, I believe in you and that's as a leader of an organization to tell your team, Hey, I got your back. I believe in you. And even if you come up with some ideas that they don't stick, it's okay, you're contributing what a world, right? That's the world we want to live in. That's where people want to work. That's where things like the great resignation doesn't happen. The great re-engagement happens. And we are so excited that we have the teaching tools to help people want to stay in their jobs and to be creatively inspired.
Shadee (16:15):
We don't like the difference between stifling someone's creativity. And like, I think that that same thing that you're saying about throwing things at the wall to see if they stick, I think a great company is one that encourages that no matter what, even if they don't stick, it's like, yeah, at least your company, your, your employees are trying to make something happen. You know, that's where it, that's where the creativity comes out. That's where like the aha moments come out.
Erin (16:41):
That's it. And you know, what's the scariest thing is when people don't share those ideas at all, that's it? Because that's when you know, all right, I am not spring that creativity as a leader, I'm not empowering them to want to bring those ideas to the table.
Shadee (16:59):
So everybody's got ideas, so many ideas, so many ideas,
Erin (17:03):
Shadee we are so honored to have you on the show today, everybody. Oh my God. Thanks for guys. Oh my gosh. And to everybody who tuned in on the live and everybody who's listening on the podcast. Thank you so much. Keep failing, keep trying, keep improve. Our world needs that special shoddy and point at you. She's got that. That only you can bring. Thank you for being here.
Shadee (17:36):
Thank you for having me.
Erin (17:39):
Thank you everybody. Thanks for tuning in to improve it. I am so happy you were along for the ride. If you enjoyed this show, head on over to iTunes to leave us a five star review and subscribe to the show. So you never miss an episode. New episodes drop every Wednesday. Now, if you're really feeling today's show and you've improved it even just a little bit, please take a screenshot and tag me at keeping it real deal on Instagram and share it in your stories. I'll see you next week, but I want to leave you with this thought, what did you improve today and how will that help your future successful self? Think about it. I am rooting for you and the world needs that special. It that only you can bring see you next time.