Improv and the Engineer

To view the images associated with this article, please refer to the flipbook above.

The methods used by educators to train future engineers creates analytical thinkers who can deconstruct complex challenges into manageable tasks. Through lectures, readings, homework, and experiments, engineering students develop their analytic thinking skills but often do not fully develop their communication skills. In my 27 years as an educator, I and my colleagues have incorporated more communication exercises into curricula but despite these efforts, employers continue to seek improvements in the student communication skills. Here I share an idea that I believe has potential for meaningful improvement.

Recall the old saying that “if a tree falls in the forest and if no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?” If no one is around, then there are no tympanic membranes which would convert the pressure waves into what we know as sound. A related concept applies to communication. If an individual talks at another and the receiver does not understand what is being said, has communication occurred? Good communication likely has not.

The 1970s tune, “The Logical Song,” by the band Supertramp exemplifies the challenge facing engineering educators. To quote,

We teach our students to be logical and, in the process, we restrict the exercise of uninhibited creativity, which is needed to produce well-rounded, engaged problem solvers who can communicate with a variety of audiences. I suggest that the engineering community look to the tools of improvisation, or improv, to improve communication skills.

Improv is founded on two rules: “yes” and “and.” The concept is that an improviser accepts the situation that has been presented to them (the “yes”) and adds information to the situation (the “and”). These rules are simple to learn but challenging to put into practice.

The skills of improv can be learned through a series of games which on the surface seem quite silly; however, they serve to practice active listening (the first part of good communication) and removing mental filters that restrict us from speaking our minds. One simple example is a game called “Introductions.” Participants are paired up and introduce themselves by answering questions: what their name is, where are they from, what kind of music do they like, and what is one location they have not yet visited but hope to travel to someday. These pairs match up with another couple and introduce their partner to the new tandem.

Many improv games have a history that connect with the works of Viola Spolin, often considered the mother of Improv. In Chicago in the 1930s, Spolin created The Educational Playroom for children in recognition that recent immigrants were not comfortable in speaking English.
Spolin developed a series of games which encouraged all the children to participate and to gain confidence in speaking. The games became popular and eventually her son, Paul Sills, brought the games to adults as part of workshops intended for enjoyment of the participants. The workshops gained an audience and eventually begat the Second City comedy club and then Saturday Night Live, SCTV, and others. Improv skills have been learned by many communicators, comedians, and in recent years business professionals.

Improv is not inherently about comedy or being funny. Sometimes funny happens, but that’s not the point.

The tools of improv are helpful in improving the communication skills especially of individuals who are reluctant to speak their minds. This includes introverts, non-native English speakers, and engineers who have been trained to not speak on any topic that is outside of their area of expertise. For the past two years the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has been teaching improv skills to our graduate students.

Another game to build active listening skills is the “One sentence story.” The participants arrange in a circle and start with a prompt including the profession of a protagonist and a challenge they must overcome. The group creates this individual hero’s journey by each participant adding one sentence. They should agree and accept what was said previously (yes) while adding new information (and) to move the story along to resolution.

I am not suggesting abandonment of good practice in engineering, but rather that we place some effort to exercise parts of our brains that in many cases have not had the opportunity to flourish. Bodybuilders who focus on growing their biceps, pecs, and shoulders exclusively tend to look out of proportion with tiny, under-developed legs. Don’t skip leg day!

The concept of “yes, and” can apply to many layers of communication. Contrast the effect of hearing “yes, and” relative to “no, but.” For example, if an individual goes to a supervisor suggesting that they add a popcorn machine to the breakroom as a perk for employees. The supervisor’s natural instinct ought to be to support hearing creative ideas from their staff even if they have misgivings. A response of “no, but, we should encourage healthy eating” will not be well received since after the word “no” the listener is likely to shut down. The word “but” often invalidates all of the words that came before; that “no” already has turned off the receiver. A better response is “yes, and, we should encourage health eating.” Same words at the end, but the start of the sentence changes what is communicated.

Similarly, the “yes, and” approach is useful in the design process. When developing new concepts, use this instead of brainstorming, or association-based ideation. Start with one idea, accept that this idea is worthy of discussion, then build out the concept as far as it can go. Don’t critique the concept immediately. Start with another seed idea and run it out to completion.
After the SEI Congress 2023, a survey of participants asked for suggested programming at future meetings. Communication skills and leadership skills were in the top 5. “Structural Engineering Improvisation” made the list as a desired topic for leadership development.

At NASCC24, we held a workshop on “Building a better structural engineer through improvisation.” About 100 individuals participated in a series of games to encourage active listening and to remove communication filters. They seemed to have a good time especially in the “One sentence story” that arose about a heroic chemical engineering savant who realized the error of his/her ways and switched to structural engineering. For this activity each participant had to accept what was already established in the story and add one more sentence to advance it. This was a good example of building upon what has come before, of teamwork, of creativity, and of a willingness to speak without concern for saying the wrong word in a non-judgmental space. These are important lessons best learned through practice.

There is not yet a wealth of literature on engineers or scientists using improv to advance their communication skills.

I encourage you to seek out activities that take you out of your comfort zone and allow you to gain experience using the practices of improvisation. Local community colleges often have improv or theater classes which may be useful. That’s how I got my start down this path and have enjoyed it tremendously.

Mark Riley, Ph.D., Chemical engineer, F. AAAS, F. AIMBE, F. IBE, as an Associate Dean for Research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Engineering.