Improvisation as an Easy LIFEPASS 

Written by Paul Z Jackson – This article is from AIM Issue 2 (released November 2023).

Download and discover Easy: Your LIFEPASS to Creativity and Confidence by Paul Z Jackson, with illustrations by Angelina Castellini

In a complex world of constant hustle, finding simplicity and ease appears to be an unattainable dream. I set out to challenge that notion, by drawing on the practical wisdom from improvisation. I aimed to show how improvisation tenets reveal the path to an easier life.

First I had to organize those tenets. If you ask 12 improvisers for the principles, rules or guidelines to improvisation, you’ll get a dozen lists. And while some differences may be cosmetic or ‘merely semantics’, key tenets are contested, while others convey significantly different meanings. ‘Yes, and…’, for example, makes most lists, but generates much discussion as to what it entails.

Even more challenging is that most writing about improvisation has centered on theatrical improv, and it’s clear that not everything you might tell a performer in the safety of a workshop will translate without further thought into useful advice for a world of greater stakes and infinitely more purposes. Context matters and this is the Applied Improvisation community.

I also wanted my list to be comprehensive, touching on all aspects of improvisation. Oh, and one more ask: wrap it all up in a memorable acronym.

Early contenders for the acronym included STARTREK, and I eventually settled on LIFEPASS. My ambition was to explain the heart of what’s distinctive and important about improvisation with these principles:

• Let Go
• Inhabit the Moment
• Freedom within Structure
• Embrace Uncertainty
• Play to Play
• Accept and Build
• Short Turn Taking
• Spot Successes

What sets Easy apart from other improvisation books is the presupposition that everyone already has plenty of skill and experience as an improviser. We all improvise every day. We are good at it.

So instead of addressing readers from an expert perspective with an author’s new and somewhat arcane set of skills that the readers need to learn, it helps you to rearrange what you already know. It articulates a framework within which to make sense of life’s experiences, and offers activities to develop skills further.

And because these are important life skills such as resilience, presence, confidence and creativity, the approach is direct, rather than via the admittedly well-stocked cupboard of theatrically-based exercises, which are exhaustively covered in many other improv books (including my own 58½ Ways to Improvise in Training: Improvisation Games and Activities for Workshops, Courses and Team Meetings). By non-theatrical, I mean there’s no need to assume an audience or any role other than yourself.

Reflecting on what’s happened since publication, I notice that the world has experienced a pandemic, which interrupted all our plans and reminded us just how improvisational life can be. Perhaps people will more readily appreciate the pragmatic value of approaching it via an improvisational lens such as LIFEPASS.

Improvisation can be central and practical, not only for when things go wrong or depart from the plan, but as first choice when it’s going steadily (so we can respond to bumps along the way) and – for maximum added value – to make the most of peak performance and flow states when it’s going well.

By responding skillfully to what’s around us, we can pay attention to what’s most salient. We can inhabit the moment to adapt to change and lead others more effectively. It’s no surprise that the ideas in Easy are now applied increasingly in the world’s most innovative and successful organizations. And we can expect that to continue as we assert our human capabilities in a rising tide of automation and artificial intelligence – the other AI.

Easy offers numerous benefits that transcend the book’s pages. By embracing improvisation, readers can: