Group Mind

The Heart of Improv, part II

This article is part of a series about improv. Start at the beginning here

Group Mind & Ensemble Mindset

1. Group Mind is everyone tapping into a shared creative genius/inspiration in real time together

2. To be good at Group Mind we practice: a. receiving an impulse/idea from another, and b. clearly transmitting an idea to someone else. Works like Christmas lights - we're all plugged into the Group Mind and to each other

3. Group Mind requires being less in ego, as possible. (Cure for ego: make yourself feel psychologically safe - lower the stakes, connect with your teammates, connect with your body awareness, come back to the Now. Accept yourself fully as the fascinating glorious human mess you are - that's what people come to improv to see. Not a better version of you, but this version of you that you are right now).

4. Ensemble Mindset: We Ride Together. If we glow, we glow together. If we fail, we fail together. Good, bad, ugly, it's an Us experience versus a Me experience.

Read the next post in this Improv series here. Start at the beginning here.

—

Thumbnail image respectfully borrowed from The Wonderful Things You Will Be, by Emily Winfield Martin.