Saying “Yes, And” vs. Focusing by Saying, “No” – Video

“Yes, And” is a powerful improv comedy principle that seems to be at odds with the productivity tip of saying “no.” It doesn’t have to be, and this video explains how… (A full transcript is below the video)

Transcript

Avish: No no no

There is tremendous power in saying no. There is also tremendous power in yes too and how do you resolve the two? In this video, I’m gonna talk about how you can balance the idea of saying no versus saying yes and

So if you’ve read anything about time management, goal setting, productivity, you’ve probably heard about the power of saying no. The more you say no to things that you don’t wanna do or aren’t that important, the more energy focus and time you have to put on things that actually matter to you.

Now I happen to agree with this principle, I think it’s a great idea. Of course, I’m from the world of Improv comedy and in Improv one of the most fundamental things we talk about is the concept of saying yes and instead of no or yes but.

Every moment, ding or otherwise, you have the choice of saying yes but or yes and. Great Improvisers choose to say yes and.

Lady: I think it would be a wonderful idea to have your meeting at the Wyndham Grand Jupiter.

Avish: Yes, but I’m a Hilton member and I get points if we have our meeting at the Hilton.

Lady: Yes, but the Wyndham has excellent points as well and maybe you should try something new.

Avish: Yes and so why don’t you call them and set up the meeting?

Lady: Yes and we should celebrate with cocktails after.

Avish: Wohoo Alright. That’s all there is to it. Thank you very much. Great job

Avish: Then in fact, this principle is so important that I even wrote an entire book all about it.

So how do you resolve the two? Well that’s easy. You see saying yes and isn’t about saying yes and to everything. What it’s really about is your default mindset. And for so many people, the default mindset to an idea is to immediately say no. All I’m suggesting is that you step back and before you immediately say no, you consider the idea that came to you. Think about it. And think yes and, yes and what if I did this. Yes and what if I put my time and energy in there? Now when you have that conversation with yourself, you can think about your big picture goals and your alignment and your productivity. And you can ultimately say no. So saying yes and, and thinking yes and isn’t about agreeing to do everything. Its about making your default mindset to be open minded, positive and supportive. Then you can decide to say no but when you do, it’s not going to be reflexive. Rather it’s going to be because you though through the option and said, my productivity will best be served if I just focus on what I’m doing right now. And that is how you can use the improve comedy idea yea and, and the productivity technique of saying no.

Lady: What if we do it again but with a cat?

Avish: Nooo, yes and that would be great because it would make it a cat video and the internet loves cat videos. Hashtag cat video. NO! Well I’m here to tell you that it’s better to say yes and.

Yes and!