The Art of Making Sh!t Up Using the Principles of Improv to Become an Unstoppable Powerhouse

Work together to up your chances of business success

The Art of Making Sh!t Up combines the lessons learned from a personal journey with the teachings derived from years of honing valuable skills through performing and presenting to thousands of people to demonstrate how working together has helped others found and grow several multimillion-dollar companies.

By focusing on topics that serve as pain points and detailing the tools and techniques of improv, this book helps people and organizations utilize new skill sets to be more productive, more accepting, and more "all in" to create a stronger teammate and team.

• Remove the fear of failure
• Recognize when and how to trust your instincts
• Celebrate and embrace the ideas of others
• Listen effectively—to both people and your environment

Thinking is hard. Listening is easy—and is most often the springboard to huge ideas. Find out how it can work for you with The Art of Making Sh!t Up.

NORM LAVIOLETTE is the Co-founder of Improv Asylum, IA innovation, Laugh Boston and Asylum Gaming and Esports (AGE). He leads Improv Asylum and IA Innovation's strategic business and artistic vision locally, nationally and globally. Norm has firsthand experience in building companies from start-up to multimillion-dollar businesses. Norm knows why culture is integral to long-term success and has built a team that exemplifies why communicating, listening and trusting are so important.

Introduction ix

Chapter 1 I Am Who I Say I Am 1

Chapter 2 Listening to Understand 9

Chapter 3 Building Off of Other People’s Ideas 17

Chapter 4 From Spark to Flame 23

Chapter 5 The Fear of Looking Stupid 33

Chapter 6 People Don’t Think about You as Much as You Think They Do 37

Chapter 7 Facing Failure: Be Wrong to Be Right 45

Chapter 8 Heightening 55

Chapter 9 Yes and, Maybe, No 61

Chapter 10 Small Decisions Add Up 77

Chapter 11 The Cult Factor 85

Chapter 12 Be Patiently Impatient 93

Chapter 13 Pain Tolerance 99

Chapter 14 Luck Is Like a Train 105

Chapter 15 Fire the Assholes 109

Chapter 16 Ushers, Vomit, and Why People Clean Bathrooms 113

Chapter 17 Diversity Is a Choice 119

Chapter 18 Are You Worth $10 an Hour? 123

Chapter 19 Nobody Knows Anything 127

Chapter 20 Who Gives a Shit? 131

Chapter 21 Everything I Know in Business I Learned from Coaching Girls Softball 135

Chapter 22 Trapped in the Bowels of the Grand Bazaar 145

Chapter 23 The Ambassador and the Bathroom 149

Chapter 24 China Talk 153

Author’s Note on “Shit” 163

Acknowledgments 165

About the Author 167

Index 169

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