When people come and see me perform in comedy improvisation shows they often say “Wow, I can’t believe you get on stage and perform without a script – that looks so scary!”
Yes it’s scary, but it’s also exciting. And once you’ve had lots of goes, there is less fear and more excitement. It’s like anything in life, the more you do it, the easier it gets and the faster you improve.
Which is why “Being average and having lots of goes…” is one of the basic rules new improvisers are taught.
Why? Because anything we learn and master is achieved by:
i) Having lots of goes
ii) Falling over and screwing up several times
iii) Then getting back up and implementing some of what you learned from screwing up. And following these three steps over and over again
Think about it – isn’t that exactly how you learned to walk? How you learned to cook? Ski? Use email and the internet? Manage people and lead teams?
The learning, improvement and mastery in anything we do comes from having plenty of practice. By focussing on being just average (rather than great or perfect), it encourages you to have more goes than you would normally and so you can speed up your progress exponentially.
I believe the principle of “having lots of goes and being average” applies just as much to careers as it does on an improv stage.
Here are 3 key points to remember to help you embrace this rule in and out of your career:
1. Let go of perfection
If you’re job hunting, remember that you’re not trying to win a prize for the best resume/CV in the land – you’re just trying to secure some interviews. So focus your energy on getting your resume/CV “out there” rather than spending hours tinkering and perfecting it. The improvements will happen as you get out there getting feedback.
This same principle applies to anything else relating to your career – whether it’s your marketing pitch, application forms, presentation and public speaking, LinkedIn profile, interview technique, managing upwards, selling yourself etc. Let go of trying to be perfect and you’ll make progress far quicker.
2. Celebrate your screw ups
During an improv workshop when someone screws up, we’re all encouraged to cheer, celebrate and do some over the top high fives (…no joke).
Why? Because the best learning takes place when you screw up. So when someone screws up during a scene – it’s actually a big step forward, not backwards. And so it needs to be encouraged and kind of celebrated (whilst also learning the lesson).
Also, if someone has screwed up, it usually means they’ve taken a risk and pushed themselves outside their comfort zone (which is where success is usually found) or pushed the boundaries of creativity (which is where innovation comes from).
The same applies to you and your career. By avoiding screw ups and “playing safe’” you deny yourself critical learning opportunities and the scope to move on to bigger and better things.
So as crazy as it sounds, get into the habit of celebrating your set backs and rejections in your career because it means your making progress.
3. Think less, act more
Improvisers are encouraged to do less planning and less thinking. Instead, they are told to “jump and justifty” - that is – do something that feels right in the moment and course correct and justify later. When you focus on taking forward steps instead of overthinking, opportunities to take the scene in any different direction start showing up.
With their careers and work, many people overplan and overthink things – which does nothing but paralyse them into taking no action and so cause frustration. When what they should be doing is taking some actions now – just some next steps. It’s those next steps that actually shine the light to future steps and new opportunities.
So don’t worry about having the perfect plan and don’t be too concerned about screwing up – just take some next steps and you’ll find that you open the door to opportunities that you’d never even knew existed.
Your Field Work
1. Pick ONE specific area that you need to focus on and “have lots of goes at” to improve (e.g. networking, job applications, managing, public speaking and presentations etc).
2. Set yourself some mini targets for the next couple of weeks (eg “I will contact 3 people a week to network with”).
3. Find someone to hold you accountable. We all make promises to ourseleves and then don’t keep them – so find a colleague, friend, manager, coach or mentor who you can make yourself accountable to so that you definitely push through the perfectionism and fear and just have lots of goes.
If you need to improve one aspect of your performance to progress your career, then forget about trying to look good or wait until things are just right. Instead just be average and have lots of goes. You’ll find yourself improving much faster than you ever thought possible.
Will it be scary? Sure – but like performing on stage, without a script, it will also be very exciting!
