How the 3 Ps Lead to Success on Stage and at Work

One of the questions I’m asked most often is: “What does improv have to do with business?”

My answer: a lot.

At first glance, improvisational comedy and the workplace might not seem to have much in common. One happens on a stage, often with the goal of making people laugh. The other happens in offices, conference rooms, job sites, and video calls. But the skills that make someone successful on an improv stage are remarkably similar to the skills that help people succeed at work.

Great improvisers are active listeners. They aren’t simply waiting for their turn to speak. They’re paying attention to what their scene partners are saying and doing and allowing that information to influence what happens next.

Great improvisers collaborate. There’s no script and no one person knows exactly where the scene is going. The performers have to create it together.

And great improvisers support each other.

Improv is a team sport. The goal isn’t to be the funniest or smartest person on stage. In fact, some of the best performers are great precisely because they make the people around them look good. They provide ideas, reinforce choices, fill gaps, and create an environment where their teammates feel comfortable taking risks. That sounds a lot like the people we want on our teams at work.

And for me, the connection between success on stage and success at work can be boiled down to the 3 Ps: Be Prepared. Be Present. Be Positive.

Be Prepared

This one might sound strange when talking about improv. After all, isn’t the whole point that you don’t know what’s going to happen?

Exactly. Being prepared doesn’t mean knowing what will happen. It means being ready for whatever happens. An improviser prepares by developing their skills, understanding the fundamentals, learning how to work with and support their teammates, and showing up ready to contribute. You can't prepare the scene, but you can prepare yourself for the scene.

The same is true at work. Preparation means understanding your role, doing the work beforehand, developing your skills, and showing up ready to contribute. It also means understanding your strengths and those of the people around you. You're not just preparing to do your job. You're preparing to work effectively with the people around you.

Being prepared gives you a foundation that allows you to respond when circumstances inevitably change. Preparation isn't about eliminating uncertainty. It's about being ready to operate within it.

Be Present

Once you're prepared, you have to let go of what you thought was going to happen and pay attention to what is happening. That's active listening.

If I'm on stage planning my next line while my scene partner is talking, I'm not really listening. I might miss the small detail that changes everything, or the unexpected idea that's better than anything I had planned.

How often are we guilty of this at work? We formulate our response while someone else is talking. We enter a meeting already convinced we know the solution. We listen for confirmation of our own ideas instead of being curious about someone else's.

Being present means listening to understand, noticing what is happening around you, and being willing to adjust. Being present requires curiosity.

Be Positive

Being positive doesn't mean pretending everything is great. It doesn't mean avoiding disagreement, ignoring problems, or putting a smiley face on a bad situation.

In improv, positivity is about possibility and support. When someone makes a choice on stage, they've given me a gift. My job is to accept it and build upon it - to “Yes, and…” it. That's how we build, heighten, and explore, almost always leading to places we never would have imagined otherwise.

That mindset is incredibly powerful at work. Teams need people who identify problems. But they also need people who help solve them. People who ask “How could we make this work?” before defaulting to “Here’s why it won't.”

Being positive isn't about agreeing with everything. It's about approaching your teammates and their ideas with the assumption that there's something worth exploring.

Three Simple Ideas. A Big Difference.

The three Ps aren't independent of one another. Preparation gives us the confidence to be present. Presence allows us to recognize what others are giving us. And positivity allows us to take what we're given and build something better together.

The parallels between a great improv team and a great work team aren't about performing or being funny. They're about how people work together. The people I most want to share a stage with are prepared enough that I can rely on them, present enough that I know they're listening, and positive enough that I know they'll support me when I take a risk. They're the people I know have my back.

Those are also the people I want on my team at work.

Be prepared. Be present. Be positive.

You don't need to be an improviser to practice them. But practicing them might make you a great teammate - and a strong leader.