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Getting to "yes And": The Art of Business Improv
Amidst the deluge of advice for businesspeople, there lies an overlooked tool, a key to thriving in today's fast-paced, unpredictable improvisation. In Getting to "Yes And" veteran improv performer, university professor, CEO, and consultant Bob Kulhan unpacks a form of mental agility with powers far beyond the entertainment value of comedy troupes. Drawing on principles from cognitive and social psychology, behavioral economics, and communication, Kulhan teaches readers to think on their feet and approach the most typical business challenges with fresh eyes and openness. He shows how improv techniques such as the "Yes, and" approach, divergent and convergent thinking, and focusing on being present can translate into more productive meetings, swifter decisions, stronger collaboration, positive conflict resolution, mindfulness, and more. Moving from the individual to the organizational level, Kulhan compiles time-tested teaching methods and training exercises into an instrumental guide that readers can readily implement as a party of one or a company of thousands.
280 pages, Hardcover
Published January 24, 2017
45 people are currently reading
443 people want to read
About the author
Bob Kulhan
2 books7 followersBob Kulhan is the Founder, President and CEO of Business Improv®, a world-class leader in creating experiential training and development programs for corporations of all scopes and sizes. Based in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, Business Improv serves a large international roster of blue-chip firms such as Google, PepsiCo, American Express, Capital One, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Ford Motor Company, Hilton Hotels Worldwide and Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide. Kulhan’s consulting and teaching work with these clients emphasizes the use of improvisational techniques in developing leadership, improving managerial structure, honing team skills, fostering a collaborative corporate culture, busting blocks to creativity, facilitating conflict management, connecting Millennials, and encouraging creative and adaptive problem solving.
Kulhan developed Business Improv’s unique approach by analyzing the science of communication inherent in improvisation, and partnered with America’s top professors in behavioral decision theory, cognitive psychology, social psychology and behavioral economics. Kulhan’s blend of improv technique and scientific theory is a powerful one, and has made Business Improv a welcome presence at top businesses and business schools around the world.
Kulhan serves as an Adjunct Professor at the Duke University Fuqua School of Business and Columbia Business School at Columbia University and teaches regularly as part of the Executive Education programs at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. He has also taught Business Improv at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Yale School of Management, John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, University of Florida‘s Warrington College of Business, the Australian Graduate School of Management (Sydney) and the KOC Business School (Istanbul, Turkey).
As a performer, Kulhan has over 21 years worth of stage credits. He was an actor with Chicago’s famed Second City and was the first core faculty of the Second City Training Center. He’s a member of the former resident company of the iO Theater, and has also studied, taught, and performed regularly at the Annoyance Theatre. Kulhan is a cofounder of the critically acclaimed “Baby Wants Candy” improv troupe, with which he has toured internationally.
Kulhan was trained in improvisation by a long list of legendary talents, including improv guru Del Close, Second City’s Martin de Maat, “SNL” and “30 Rock” star Tina Fey, “SNL” and “Parks and Recreation” star Amy Poehler, ImprovOlympic’s Susan Messing and The Annoyance Theatre’s Mick Napier. Bob has created well more than a dozen one-man shows and sketch comedy revues and has made his presence felt on YouTube through the popular series “The Bon Vivant Gourmet,” “Gil Kaggis: Business Expert!,” “OSHA Safety Men,” and with the hit holiday song “CHRISTMAS HOT PANTS.” Kulhan continues to teach and perform improvisation in New York City at the Soho Playhouse, The PIT, the UCB Theater, the Magnet and at Brooklyn’s branch of the Annoyance Theater.
In addition to all things improv, Bob is passionate about cooking, scuba diving, the Chicago Cubs, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (blue belt). Bob lives with his wife, son and daughter in Montclair, NJ.
Kulhan developed Business Improv’s unique approach by analyzing the science of communication inherent in improvisation, and partnered with America’s top professors in behavioral decision theory, cognitive psychology, social psychology and behavioral economics. Kulhan’s blend of improv technique and scientific theory is a powerful one, and has made Business Improv a welcome presence at top businesses and business schools around the world.
Kulhan serves as an Adjunct Professor at the Duke University Fuqua School of Business and Columbia Business School at Columbia University and teaches regularly as part of the Executive Education programs at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. He has also taught Business Improv at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Yale School of Management, John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, University of Florida‘s Warrington College of Business, the Australian Graduate School of Management (Sydney) and the KOC Business School (Istanbul, Turkey).
As a performer, Kulhan has over 21 years worth of stage credits. He was an actor with Chicago’s famed Second City and was the first core faculty of the Second City Training Center. He’s a member of the former resident company of the iO Theater, and has also studied, taught, and performed regularly at the Annoyance Theatre. Kulhan is a cofounder of the critically acclaimed “Baby Wants Candy” improv troupe, with which he has toured internationally.
Kulhan was trained in improvisation by a long list of legendary talents, including improv guru Del Close, Second City’s Martin de Maat, “SNL” and “30 Rock” star Tina Fey, “SNL” and “Parks and Recreation” star Amy Poehler, ImprovOlympic’s Susan Messing and The Annoyance Theatre’s Mick Napier. Bob has created well more than a dozen one-man shows and sketch comedy revues and has made his presence felt on YouTube through the popular series “The Bon Vivant Gourmet,” “Gil Kaggis: Business Expert!,” “OSHA Safety Men,” and with the hit holiday song “CHRISTMAS HOT PANTS.” Kulhan continues to teach and perform improvisation in New York City at the Soho Playhouse, The PIT, the UCB Theater, the Magnet and at Brooklyn’s branch of the Annoyance Theater.
In addition to all things improv, Bob is passionate about cooking, scuba diving, the Chicago Cubs, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (blue belt). Bob lives with his wife, son and daughter in Montclair, NJ.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 21, 2017
The concepts are useful and clearly based on the experience of someone who has helped many leaders apply improv to business. However, the telling didn't work for me. It felt like an improv class transcribed in to written word, which doesn't work. Moreover, for me at least, many of the concepts are already well established and not unique to improv.
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February 26, 2020This was a good read. At first it appeared more of an academic type of book, but later it became apparent that it was a self help book. With some great examples, the author navigates you through
some difficult task. Really good book for leadership development and team building.
some difficult task. Really good book for leadership development and team building.
February 11, 2023
For those who read books like this, this is like Captivate meets Sprint.
July 28, 2024
Pro tip -- if a book, be it on negotiations or comedy, starts mentioning how these amazing skills were taught to special forces and MBAs -- it almost without fail ends up being rubbish.
November 20, 2025
This is a life changing concept.
February 18, 2017
This probably isn’t the first think Bob Kulhan had in mind when he wrote Getting to “Yes And”, but here’s my first response: this book demonstrates exactly what we have lost in the general education of America as we set aside the arts for budgetary concerns. Seriously, you are working through an entire book written by actor/comedian about how to apply the same tools from drama/comedy improv to your business and see how things change and improve. If we would have been teaching and encouraging arts all along, the need would be very different.
However, somehow we lost sight of the idea that preparing people for life was about more than just comma splices and times tables. We misplaced the idea of stretching our minds.
This is where Getting to “Yes And” comes into play. Bob Kulhan has primarily been an improv comedy actor, but in recent years has worked to apply those skills in helping train business people to think outside the written plan. This book is an attempt to distill what many seminars and training sessions have taught.
First, of course, a comment or two about the book itself. The writing style is clear and organized. Since one tends to think of improv as jumping around a bit, it was good to see that Kulhan followed logical lines of thought in presenting his views. The nine primary chapters build well on each other. It is unfortunate that the publisher (Stanford Business Books) put the notes as endnotes instead of footnotes—there weren’t many and it would be better to have them accessible.
Overall, though, the writing style is easy enough to read without making one feel dumb while reading it. Somehow, too many books that aim for “accessible” use it as cover for “dumb.” Now, there are some classic business clichés present in the writing. For example, the old saw of “How do eat an elephant?” makes an appearance, as do a few others. The thing about such phrasings, though, is that they make the point.
Second, content. After all, content matters—grammar and writing style only pave the way for good content, they don’t replace it. Kulhan shares various stories of how he has worked with businesses to work improv sessions into corporate training. Especially helpful are the ideas about breaking through when structures get too siloed and the isolation is choking the business.
The opening content lays the groundwork of using improv for self-improvement. That’s a key component and increases the value for individual readers. After all, your boss may hate these ideas—and has a responsibility to make sure they are valuable before the business heavily invests them—so you will need to work out how much help you find first.
In all, this isn’t a light and funny book, though looking at Kulhan’s website shows he can be light and funny. It’s a good introduction to shaking things up in your mind, so that you can get more work done.
Practical points are included, as are tips for dealing with those who object and refuse to try. I like it.
Book provided in exchange for the review. And, yes, I would never have read it otherwise.
However, somehow we lost sight of the idea that preparing people for life was about more than just comma splices and times tables. We misplaced the idea of stretching our minds.
This is where Getting to “Yes And” comes into play. Bob Kulhan has primarily been an improv comedy actor, but in recent years has worked to apply those skills in helping train business people to think outside the written plan. This book is an attempt to distill what many seminars and training sessions have taught.
First, of course, a comment or two about the book itself. The writing style is clear and organized. Since one tends to think of improv as jumping around a bit, it was good to see that Kulhan followed logical lines of thought in presenting his views. The nine primary chapters build well on each other. It is unfortunate that the publisher (Stanford Business Books) put the notes as endnotes instead of footnotes—there weren’t many and it would be better to have them accessible.
Overall, though, the writing style is easy enough to read without making one feel dumb while reading it. Somehow, too many books that aim for “accessible” use it as cover for “dumb.” Now, there are some classic business clichés present in the writing. For example, the old saw of “How do eat an elephant?” makes an appearance, as do a few others. The thing about such phrasings, though, is that they make the point.
Second, content. After all, content matters—grammar and writing style only pave the way for good content, they don’t replace it. Kulhan shares various stories of how he has worked with businesses to work improv sessions into corporate training. Especially helpful are the ideas about breaking through when structures get too siloed and the isolation is choking the business.
The opening content lays the groundwork of using improv for self-improvement. That’s a key component and increases the value for individual readers. After all, your boss may hate these ideas—and has a responsibility to make sure they are valuable before the business heavily invests them—so you will need to work out how much help you find first.
In all, this isn’t a light and funny book, though looking at Kulhan’s website shows he can be light and funny. It’s a good introduction to shaking things up in your mind, so that you can get more work done.
Practical points are included, as are tips for dealing with those who object and refuse to try. I like it.
Book provided in exchange for the review. And, yes, I would never have read it otherwise.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews