Putting Improv to Work: A Facilitator’s Review

This is a course in book form

Hohn says in the Preface that the book follows an applied improv course he has taught to MBA students since 2000. The chapters build from self consciousness and connection through process, collaboration, creativity, physical awareness, status, emotion, presentation and open scenes.

The sequence is important. Participants are not pushed immediately into a demanding scene and then told to be brave. The book first creates awareness, introduces manageable risk and gives the group a language for examining what happened.

That resembles how I prefer to facilitate. The exercise is not the learning by itself. The learning comes from experience, reflection and a careful connection back to work.

This is not a list of games. It is a learning journey with exercises inside it.

Why facilitators will keep returning to it

The practical detail is excellent. Hohn gives versions for individuals and groups, often adds online options and explains what a facilitator might observe. Kitty Wants a Corner on print pages 12 to 17, Paired Drawing on print pages 69 and 70, and Systems Check on print pages 98 to 108 all show how a simple activity can reveal several different patterns.

I also appreciate that Hohn does not promise one universal lesson. He repeatedly leaves room for participants to make their own meaning. A status exercise may matter differently to someone in sales, finance or human resources. The facilitator can hold the frame without pretending to know every application in advance.

The book is particularly strong on process. It reminds readers that creativity is something people do, that collaboration requires losing some control and that awareness includes the body as well as the words.

The honesty matters

Hohn writes openly about embarrassment, fear, control and the wish to look competent. These are not side issues in a corporate workshop. They are often the real reasons intelligent adults hesitate to play.

He also distinguishes fear from danger and encourages facilitators to consider perspectives different from their own. That is a useful reminder because a familiar exercise can feel unusual, childish or exposing to someone else.

His humour is informal and sometimes irreverent. I find it human, although I would not copy every phrase into every workplace. The deeper lesson is to speak like a person while remaining responsible for the safety of the room.

Where I would adapt it

This is a substantial manual, not a quick executive guide. Readers looking only for a short explanation of why improv helps teams may find more detail than they need. Facilitators will probably value that same detail.

Some activities come directly from theatre training and need a clear workplace purpose. Physical movement, personal reflection and status work also require options for different bodies, cultures and levels of comfort. The instructions are a starting point, not permission to ignore the people in front of you.

I would also shorten several exercises for a business audience and spend the saved time on the debrief. The most useful question is rarely whether the group completed the game. It is what the group noticed and what they want to try differently at work.

My verdict

Putting Improv to Work is one of the most useful books I know for someone designing a serious applied improv programme. It offers depth, variety and a teacher’s attention to what happens between the written instruction and the lived experience.

I would recommend it most strongly to facilitators, trainers, coaches and learning professionals. A curious manager can benefit too, especially if they are willing to try the activities rather than only read about them.