Last week I joined 30 other performers taking part in a thirty three hour long show that was completely improvised. It had comedy, high drama, songs and characters including a space pirate, a giant slug and a Cyberman (from Doctor Who) - that was me.

You'd be right to wonder how this is relevant to proper 'work', but when you strip away the theatrical of Liverpool's 8th annual 'improvathon' you'll see a very impressive model of project management played out at speed.

Improvisation isn't making things up. There are rules and constraints that help unlock the creativity for high levels of collaboration and achievement, for example a six person 'safety song' and dance that was 'slip, trips and falls'. Impressive not only in line and verse, but also as it was a great metaphor for good improvisation. Safety culture in the workplace aims for interdependence over independence, and so does improvisation. If we have each others back, we do good work and we look great too.

I've recently become interested in agile development. An approach to project management that favours interaction over process, and responding to change over 'end goals' to achieve a more satisfying outcome (and a happy client). I'm not an agile developer but I have been a web developer for twenty years and an improviser for ten.

The improvathon is played out in two hour 'episode' chunks with performers creating and discovering stories through interaction. Over the course of the show new cast members join, some leave and some stay awake (and present) for the entire duration fuelled by adrenaline, coffee and the buzz of the show. A 15 minute break between these episodes is just time enough for the director, overseeing the scenes, to gently highlight the more compelling stories from the previous section and suggest new points of focus. Moving events forward towards a rewarding outcome.

During the show, I failed in my many evil attempts at 'conversions' turning other characters into cybermen - to create and army of robotic cybermen - that's just what they do. I was reminded of a chat with a scrum master (Paul Goddard) who used the term 'conversion' to refer to the moment when a newcomer to improv clicks with the 'yes and' principle and comprehends the wider implications and values. Improv isn't just for actors or extroverts, it's for everyone in or out of the workplace.

It's also much better than being turned into a cyberman.

In this episode I recap what I've called  'series 2'. The last eight interviews with some great people who use applied improvisation (improv, impro...that particular way of thinking and responding, and using mental agility). Beginning with Paul Z. Jackson and culminating  with Pam Victor. There's a wealth of information to be had, on a load of different topics, and I thank all the wonderful guests who gave their time.

• Paul Z. Jackson is one of the founders of Applied Improvisation Network, we talked about his work and digressed on the topic of improvisation on television.
• Mary T. Curtis works in behavioural health, coaching people with issues such as stress and anxiety and the YES AND, accepting and building in therapy.
• Neil Mullarkey didn't need any introduction. We chatted about the business of improv,  story structure, character comedy and how to bring improv into a training session by giving examples. Loads in this one.
• Adam St John Lawrence is a Customer experience consultant, who uses improv to generate ideas, break them and get better questions. Loads of great content here about understanding the world you’re selling to.
• Dan Starkey is an actor appearing in television series such as Doctor Who, and insode No.9. We chat about how a foundation of improv can help an actor approach a role.
• Cathy Salit is CEO of Performance of a Lifetime. Among the many thinks we talk about, Cathy explains her view on 'performative psychology' and how everything we do - our life -  can be seen as a performance.
• Paul Goddard is a coach in agile development and certified Scrum trainer. We touch on the geographical differences in recognition of improv in the US and UK and how improvisation can be applied to agile development
• Finally I interviewed Pam Victor on her 'Zen of Improv'. Her mission it is to make the world a happier place through improv.

Links to All episodes

Bullet points:

• Comedysportz World Championship 2017 in San Jose
• The Applied improvisation conference 2017
• The Liverpool 8th Annual Improvathon

Direct Link