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Published March 2007

Corporate Comedians How Laughter is Transforming America's Workforce

 

  Tegan Jones

Nobody wants work to be boring, but sometimes, it just is. Even in the best workplaces, it's common to see distracted workers fighting to stay focused and counting the minutes until they go home. The monotony of the daily routine, partnered with the stress of long hours and a heavy workload, can make it difficult for employees to meet their potential and craft the creative business solutions a company needs to succeed.

This need for innovation has created a demand for professionals who understand both the basics of business and the art of ingenuity. In response, the market has spawned a surplus of consultants whose services range from scientific speeches to spiritual enlightenment, all of which promise to increase productivity and improve the bottom line.

In the midst of this motley crew, small groups of actors, writers and comedians have carved out a corporate niche, offering their experience in the liberal arts to concerned companies that want to be more innovative, retain their employees and/or simply have more fun.

From a storefront theater in Minneapolis, the Brave New Workshop's trainers and performers have developed a set of corporate services aimed at meeting these goals. Led by John Sweeney, a comedian who spent six years in corporate real estate, this team explains how the techniques used in improvisational comedy can help fuel corporate innovation.

In amusing but business-based speeches and presentations, the Brave New Workshop offers up the eight secrets it says lead to "world-class idea generation." The comedians instruct their clients to look for what is right — not what is wrong — in new ideas, to create a statusless environment in which all new ideas are treated equally, to view change as an impetus for innovation and more.

The first step in this process, Sweeney said, is to get clients to broaden their point of view and stay open to the possibility that both they and their business could benefit from something new.

"Our biggest obstacle in getting someone to be innovative is when they've got their blinders on or when they've got a myopic view of themselves or their organization," Sweeny said. "So, in a very friendly way, we ask them to completely drop all of their limitations when it comes to innovation."

Kevin Wilde, General Mills chief learning officer and vice president of organizational effectiveness, said that in a recent weeklong meeting for the company's senior team, Brave New Workshop gave an effective presentation that helped the team deal with some contentious corporate issues.

He also said Sweeney's work helped the team improve its communication and think more creatively.

"As much as innovation's about processes and all that, it's people doing the work," Wilde said. "Getting the people in the right frame of mind and getting them to collaborate in an inspirational way is very hard to do."

Although increasing collaboration and creativity has obvious benefits for strategic planning and product development, comedic consulting also can help businesses manage their employees more effectively. By introducing humor to the workplace, companies can cultivate a positive corporate culture that encourages employees to stay on, even if the hours are longer and the salaries are lower than they would like.