I was never one who liked making mistakes. So when I first did some improvisation my natural inclination was to stockpile good ideas and use them when it was my turn. I just had to be one step ahead of the game. But, fortunately, we did some exercises that went faster and faster until it wasn’t possible to stockpile and I had to, well, improvise. And right then I got it. The tremendous liberation, fear and confidence that comes with believing that you will do the right thing in the moment without knowing what it is beforehand. A confidence worth having.

Second rule of improv: Be spontaneous

Pull flat and straight. Believe it or not, on a rainy day, I even recorded a video about how to pull a post-it so it doesn’t fall down. Everyone should know. One more thing I learned at Jump Associates, who I believe were even told it by 3M. This is helpful if a) you use Post-its a lot, and b) you need them to stay up and don’t want them raining to the ground.

Peel a Post-it so it doesn’t fall down

The first rule of improvisation: Accept offers. The general principle of accepting offers is amazing for design, teamwork, getting on with other people and generally being a nice person. Children are amazing at this. Watch them playing with others and they can’t help but do it. Somewhere along the way we forget how to do it so easily.

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