ENTREPRENEURSHIP AFTER 50
Yes is Not Enough
The Power of “Yes, And” to Make Truly Great Things Happen
Early in my career I had a killer opportunity to attend an ideation session led by the folks at Second City in Chicago. They introduced me to a concept at the heart of improv performance called “yes, and.” Learning about yes, and not only changed my career, it changed my life.
Great improv is driven by the actors on stage working together to build narratives from scratch. The actors often use an audience suggestion or a “game” concept as the foundation of the narrative, but the dialogue and on-stage antics are all generated on the fly. The spectacle they create is inherently performed for the first, and commonly last, time.
Using yes, and forces the players to not only agree with the direction that a fellow actor gives them, by first saying/thinking “yes,” but also to build on that direction by using “and” to then drive the narrative further forward.
If an improv actor says he’s petting a purple dog named Carl, then saying “yes” affirms that that’s exactly what he’s doing. By then saying “and,” the other actors can make Carl the world’s first canine skateboarding champion, if they so choose.
Pulling Yes, And Into Real Life
But where yes, and gets really interesting is when you pull it from the improv stage and apply it to everyday life. That’s exactly what I did when I got a call from my now-business partner Joe in July of 2020.
He called me with an interesting possibility: adding indoor pickleball courts to his current business, a 50,000 square foot facility dedicated to the sport of fowling.
While it turned out the building was not a good fit for indoor pickleball, what began that day was a years-long ideation session powered by yes, and. Here’s how it went:
Joe: “Let’s build an indoor pickleball facility.” Me: “Yes, and let’s make it one of the largest in the country.”
Joe: “Let’s incorporate food into the concept.” Me: “Yes, and let’s partner with a seasoned restauranteur who makes amazing pizza.”
Joe: “Let’s add event space so companies can host meetings and team building outings.” Me: “Yes, and let’s break that space into three separate rooms that can hold up to 70 people at a time.”
And so on.
The outcome of this particular yes, and session is The Pickle Lodge, my after-50 entrepreneurial venture that has already introduced hundreds of new players to the sport, helped experienced players play uninterrupted pickleball 364 days a year, and hosted dozens of Corporate and other group outings.
“No” in a Tuxedo.
The alternative to the magic of yes, and is of course the dreaded “yes, but.” As improv actors are known to say, “yes, but is just ‘no’ in a tuxedo.” Yes, but is also where great ideas go to suffer a quick and painful death.
As proof, imagine the above scenario playing out as it did, but substitute yes, but thinking instead:
Joe: “Let’s build an indoor pickleball facility.” Me: “Yes, but I’m worried it will be too difficult.”
Joe: “Let’s incorporate food into the concept.” Me: “Yes, but then we’ll have to clean the whole place constantly.”
Joe: “Let’s add event space so companies can host meetings and team building outings.” Me: “Yes, but companies already have plenty of options for team building. They can just go to Top Golf again...”
Choosing Yes, And
I don’t know about you, but I’ll take one of the largest indoor pickleball facilities in the country with a full bar and a killer pizza restaurant over this soul-crushing scenario.
So the next time you have an opportunity to ideate, to envision, or to collaborate in any way, remember that “yes” is not enough. Your dreams will only truly take flight when you say “yes, and.”
