Summary: Do you wish you could run a meeting like Tina Fey? Or work a room like Stephen Colbert? It’s not just about humor in the workplace (although that too, is vital) but how to work as a truly collaborative team and learning to stop fearing failure. The new book Yes, And: How Improvisation Reverses “No, But” Thinking and Improves Creativity and Collaboration–Lessons from The Second City, coauthored by Tom Yorton and Kelly Leonard, incorporates lessons from the legendary improvisational theater troupe into business best practices. Tom Yorton has been CEO of Second City Works, the b2b arm of The Second City, since 2002. Before joining The Second City family, Tom worked in advertising and marketing, at agencies like Ogilvy, Grey, and Hal Riney, before jumping to the client side, with stints as a marketing VP at Sears and 3Com, where he actually hired Second City Works on a couple occasions. Second City Works now does over 400 engagements a year, half with Fortune 1000 companies. Tom and team are focused on refining The Second City’s unique capabilities—creating funny short form content, and using improv to develop vital skills in business people- to help companies communicate, collaborate and innovate better in a web first, social-everything world.
