The Art of Making Sh!t Up: Using the Principles of Improv to Become an Unstoppable Powerhouse - Hardcover

Laviolette, Norm

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1119558212 ISBN 13: 9781119558217

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2019

Synopsis

Work together to up your chances of business success

The Art of Making Sh!t Up combines the lessons learned from a personal journey with the teachings derived from years of honing valuable skills through performing and presenting to thousands of people to demonstrate how working together has helped others found and grow several multimillion-dollar companies.

By focusing on topics that serve as pain points and detailing the tools and techniques of improv, this book helps people and organizations utilize new skill sets to be more productive, more accepting, and more "all in" to create a stronger teammate and team.

• Remove the fear of failure
• Recognize when and how to trust your instincts
• Celebrate and embrace the ideas of others
• Listen effectively—to both people and your environment

Thinking is hard. Listening is easy—and is most often the springboard to huge ideas. Find out how it can work for you with The Art of Making Sh!t Up.

About this title

About the Author

NORM LAVIOLETTE is the Co-founder of Improv Asylum, IA innovation, Laugh Boston and Asylum Gaming and Esports (AGE). He leads Improv Asylum and IA Innovation's strategic business and artistic vision locally, nationally and globally. Norm has firsthand experience in building companies from start-up to multimillion-dollar businesses. Norm knows why culture is integral to long-term success and has built a team that exemplifies why communicating, listening and trusting are so important.

From the Back Cover

Let's be honest. We all make shit up.

It's human nature. Maybe you weren't the most popular person in high school. Your college grades might be lower than you let on. It's possible your product isn't quite ready for market. It could be that your sales presentation isn't quite as polished as you say. It's OK, we all do it. If anyone tells you that they never make shit up, well, they're making shit up right then and there. Some may call it by different names?testing, innovation, hypothesis, ideation?it's really all the same thing. We first make the shit up, and then figure out how to make it fly from there. At its worst, making shit up can make us feel like frauds, imposters pretending to have all the answers. It can be a terrible feeling. But here's the good news: at its best, making shit up is the apex of creative and intellectual freedom. Creating something?free from judgment, expectations, and fear of failure? that is true freedom. Imagine if we could harness our natural ability to make shit up and use it for profit and success. How do we transform its negative implications, such as being undisciplined or unprepared, into positive traits? Firstly, we must recognize that making shit up is a skill. It may be a skill you don't appreciate at the moment, but it is a skill nonetheless. Skills can be taught. They can be practiced. Skills will improve over time. Of course, making shit up is also an art, but skill is the foundation of art.

There's a good chance that by now you're tired of reading the word "shit." Let's substitute that word with two others: creation mindset. It's the same thing, it just sounds better. Developing a creation mindset can be learned by anyone. It opens up possibilities all around you. Once the skill is learned, the art will then be possible. The creative mindset lets us consider new solutions to problems, approach our goals from innovative angles, and communicate with colleagues and clients in memorable and meaningful ways. Having a creative mindset allows us to thrive in environments that foster innovation, create ways to overcome fear, to conquer self-doubt, to become an unstoppable powerhouse. Anyone can do it. The Art of Making Sh!t Up will show you how.

From the Inside Flap

Let's be honest. We all make shit up.

It's human nature. Maybe you weren't the most popular person in high school. Your college grades might be lower than you let on. It's possible your product isn't quite ready for market. It could be that your sales presentation isn't quite as polished as you say. It's OK, we all do it. If anyone tells you that they never make shit up, well, they're making shit up right then and there. Some may call it by different names—testing, innovation, hypothesis, ideation—it's really all the same thing. We first make the shit up, and then figure out how to make it fly from there. At its worst, making shit up can make us feel like frauds, imposters pretending to have all the answers. It can be a terrible feeling. But here's the good news: at its best, making shit up is the apex of creative and intellectual freedom. Creating something—free from judgment, expectations, and fear of failure— that is true freedom. Imagine if we could harness our natural ability to make shit up and use it for profit and success. How do we transform its negative implications, such as being undisciplined or unprepared, into positive traits? Firstly, we must recognize that making shit up is a skill. It may be a skill you don't appreciate at the moment, but it is a skill nonetheless. Skills can be taught. They can be practiced. Skills will improve over time. Of course, making shit up is also an art, but skill is the foundation of art.

There's a good chance that by now you're tired of reading the word "shit." Let's substitute that word with two others: creation mindset. It's the same thing, it just sounds better. Developing a creation mindset can be learned by anyone. It opens up possibilities all around you. Once the skill is learned, the art will then be possible. The creative mindset lets us consider new solutions to problems, approach our goals from innovative angles, and communicate with colleagues and clients in memorable and meaningful ways. Having a creative mindset allows us to thrive in environments that foster innovation, create ways to overcome fear, to conquer self-doubt, to become an unstoppable powerhouse. Anyone can do it. The Art of Making Sh!t Up will show you how.

Edition details

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1119558212
• ISBN 13: 9781119558217
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176