I have a new hero and her name is Ginka Toegel. She brought Renatus Hoogenraad (part of the Maffick Switzerland Dream Team and director of Sparks ) and I in to IMD’s Orchestrating Winning Performance programme to introduce how applied improvisation mindsets and practises help in creating dream teams. Before we went on – she delivered her session and here are 3 things I learned from it.

1. A good ‘yes, but’

People in organisations (and life) seem overly primed to respond to ideas in a ‘no, but’ or ‘yes, but’ way. A core principle of improvisation is ‘yes, and’.  In theatre, this was initially taught to new, nervous actors who would invariably take a scene into a negative direction because they were scared.  Once the ‘yes, and’ response is as strong as the ‘no, but’ one – then saying ‘yes, and’ became a conscious choice. A well placed ‘No, but’ in a scene of skilled improvisers can add great richness - and if everything is greeted in a ‘yes, and’ mindset – then everything becomes a gift – including a ‘no, but’.

Ginka presented us with when ‘yes, but’ is useful in organisational conversations.  In response to sentences which close everything down (e.g. ‘There is no way that project is ever going to work…’) the ‘yes’ acknowledges the person, while the ‘but’ challenges the negative statement.  (e.g. ‘Yes, but we tried something similar last year and had a positive response.’)  Sometimes ‘yes, but’ can re-open a closed door with possibility.  It flips it on its head.

2. The Wisdom of children

Kids must be doing something right because in normal circumstances, they are the happiest, most energetic beings on the planet. Imagine if we could capture some of that enthusiasm, laughter and focus in our working lives. Here are five things Ginka suggested we learn from them for our own well-being:

1. Exercise regularly

2. Focus on one thing at a time

3. Have whatever you’re doing be very meaningful

4. Be playful with others

5. Be kind and giving

3. Why Bronze medals beat Silver...in terms of happiness

In life, our mindset is very important. Look at this photo that Ginka presented. In the middle, the gold winner. Very happy. On the right – the bronze winner – ecstatic. On the left, the silver winner. Crestfallen. The silver medal winner has just won an amazing global honour, and instead of enjoying it in the moment he’ll never get back again –he is thinking how close he came to gold. The bronze medallist is delighted to have beaten everyone else who didn’t receive a medal. Who would you rather hang out with afterwards? Mindset is everything and it’s contagious. There are times to work on improvement and there are times to celebrate achievement. These two should not be mixed – at the Olympics and in organisations.

These are three things I learned about as necessary ingredients for creating Dream Teams from my new hero Ginka.

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