Embracing "Yes, and..."

You can think of "Yes, and..." as a simple organizing structure that alleviates group friction by bringing participants into a similar thought pattern. It encourages collaboration by inviting people to build upon one another's' ideas. By suspending judgement for a short time, participants respect and honor each contribution in a way that is playful and fun. The result is expansive, creative thinking that leads to a more connected team. Here's an example from one of our LMC teams:

Embracing "Yes, and..."

I recently led an afternoon meeting for our elementary school counselors, and I wanted to facilitate an activity that would not only be fun, but also illustrate a powerful lesson about collaboration. I chose to introduce them to the "Yes, and..." activity, a classic improv exercise I learned from the LMC, with a twist.

We began with the negative version of the game: "No, because..." One person would offer a suggestion, and the next person would respond with "No, because..." and provide a reason why the idea wouldn't work. The goal was for them to experience the frustration of collaborating with someone who is closed-minded. It worked perfectly. During our debrief, participants shared that once an idea was shut down, it became incredibly difficult to come up with an alternative. The "no" stifled all creativity and momentum in the room.

Then, we switched to the positive version: "Yes, and..." The atmosphere immediately shifted. The energy in the room became lighter and the ideas began to flow freely, growing bigger and more elaborate as each person added on. The counselors found it much easier to build on each other's ideas rather than tearing them down. As one person pointed out, it’s much easier to scale back a big, creative idea than it is to bulk up a small, restrictive one.

After the activity, we discussed how they could use this in their own practice. They immediately saw the value of using "Yes, and..." with students to teach them about the importance of accepting each other's ideas and exploring how it feels to have your own ideas accepted versus shut down. This simple activity not only taught a valuable lesson about the power of collaboration, but also provided a tool they can use to foster a more positive and accepting environment for their students. (Credit: Dee Jones, Vice Principal)

This approach can be used in as little as 5 minutes during a meeting. Invite people to organize into pairs. Have them determine who will start and then respond to every idea with a "Yes, and...". Set a timer for 2 to three minutes per round and the result will be a rich foundation for deeper conversation.