Applied Improv is Even in Forbes

For those of us who’ve been doing this work for decades, it’s gratifying — if a little amusing — to watch applied improv get the mainstream business media treatment. Forbes, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and other publications have all featured articles exploring how improv principles improve leadership, communication, and innovation in the workplace. What we’ve been practicing with organizations for over thirty years is finally being recognized as a legitimate and powerful approach to professional development.

The media attention matters not because we need validation, but because it addresses one of the biggest barriers to this work: credibility with decision-makers. When a VP of People Operations or a Chief Learning Officer is considering applied improv for their organization, they often face internal skepticism. “Improv? Like comedy? For our leadership team?” Having credible business publications affirm the approach helps champions make the case internally. It shifts the conversation from “this seems risky” to “other serious organizations are doing this, and here’s why.”

What the best articles get right is the distinction between improv as entertainment and improv as methodology. The principles that make improv work — active listening, collaborative building, comfort with uncertainty, present-moment awareness — are universal skills that apply to any professional context. You don’t need to be funny. You don’t need to perform. You need to practice being fully present, genuinely responsive, and courageously creative in real time. That’s what improv training develops, and it’s why organizations from Google to the U.S. military have incorporated it into their training programs.

What the articles sometimes miss is the depth of facilitation expertise required to make this work in a corporate setting. Reading about improv principles is one thing. Designing and facilitating exercises that connect those principles to specific workplace challenges — while managing group dynamics, individual comfort levels, and organizational culture — is a specialized skill that takes years to develop. At CSz Portland, our facilitators draw on a deep well of experience across both improv and corporate training, backed by the resources of the CSz Worldwide network. That combination of craft and reach is rare.

If you’ve been curious about applied improv for your organization but haven’t taken the step yet, consider this: the business world has caught up to what practitioners have known for years. This methodology works. It’s evidence-based, widely adopted, and increasingly recognized as essential rather than optional. The question isn’t whether applied improv is legitimate. It’s whether your organization can afford to keep developing leaders and teams without it.