The Playful Path to Trust: How Improv Builds Psychological Safety at Work
Katie Facilitating a Workshop at the Hashtag Comedy Space.
January 2025
The best ideas from a team usually do not come from careful, calculated perfection. They come from people who feel safe enough to state half-formed thoughts, stumble through uncertainties, and take risks—knowing their team will support them.
Yet far too many offices function according to an unvoiced directive: Make a mistake, and you’ll be judged or punished.
I once worked in an office where a minor spelling error in an email led to unexpected consequences. My manager fixated on this small mistake, scrutinizing my work more closely and questioning my decisions. This overreaction strained our relationship, overshadowing my contributions and diminishing my motivation. The focus shifted from collaboration to caution, stifling creativity and trust. I ended up leaving this role after only 10 months on the job.
Individuals restrain themselves. They question their decisions. They shy away from taking chances because, for them, not failing is the goal, and they believe that working in a space where it’s okay to fail is not a path most people want to walk. Why is it that we work so hard and spend so much time to create conditions where not failing is the thing that everyone silently strives for? When teams don't just lose ideas, but also lose momentum, creativity, and trust, do we really think that is okay? This is where the idea of “quiet quitting” comes into play. This is when employees do only the minimum required work to meet expectations but not go above and beyond. Is that really a work environment we want to create?
The teams that perform best don't limit their error-making. They make plenty of room for mistakes in their conversations. They take more risks with their teams. And when something totally unexpected happens, they don't just stand there in shock—they put on their capes and save the day through improvisation.
What Psychological Safety Looks Like in Action
An improv scene has no script. No one knows what will happen next. The only way to succeed is to trust your team, support their ideas, and adapt to the moment. There’s no time to hesitate. If someone gives you an outlandish idea, you don’t shut it down. You build on it.
This is exactly what occurs in teams that have psychological safety. When an individual shares an idea, it is met with curiosity and not critique. When a blunder happens, it is recognized and learned from, not punished. Our conversations flow, are open, and full of potential, precisely because we know we matter, and so do our voices.
Creating this environment does not happen by coincidence; it demands intentional work. The culture of improv becomes a kind of magic that occurs when trust is present, when adaptability is a norm, and when people have fully embraced the uncertainty that is an inherent part of collaboration. These same principles fuel a culture where folks truly want to be part of something, and where they do feel that their presence is very much needed.
Before every workshop, class, or show that WitWorks is a part of, we start with a check in to review what the group is consenting to that day. Most often we agree to portray scenarios and topics that are appropriate for the work place or amongst mixed company. This creates alignment in the group and guardrails so everyone feels safe jumping in, showing vulnerability, and getting creative with each other.
Breaking Down Barriers to Creativity
Consider in your own personal or professional life the most recent occasion when you paused before asserting your presence. It could have been in a gathering where you had something to say but you weren't convinced it was necessary to speak on. You might have been on the cusp of contesting a choice but held back, uncertain if that was the direction you, or the group should be going.
It's that moment of hesitation that prevents teams from hitting their full potential.
In improv, there’s no time to waver when you are on stage. The moment you second-guess yourself, the scene starts to drag and your fellow performer is stuck doing all the work trying to fill time. We often say “think in your feet”, meaning if you are on the sidelines of a scene and you take a step as if you are going to go in the scene, DO NOT PAUSE, lean in fully and add to the scene. When you are in a psychologically safe space, the group you are stepping into will welcome a new perspective or new idea.
Now, picture your team operating with that same flow. Instead of judging and holding back their thoughts, individuals voice them. Rather than fearing judgment, they trust in support. This is the essence of psychological safety.
Not only that, the best improvisers don't just accept mistakes—they celebrate them. now, yes we want to prevent mistakes from happening and do what we can to create an environment where mistakes don’t happen, but when mistakes do happen we cannot shut down and start over, we have to lean in and turn that mistake into a gift! (This is where innovation often happens in the workplace)
Exercises like the "Failure Bow" encourage performers to own their errors with enthusiasm, reframing failure as a step toward learning. This mindset fosters an environment where curiosity replaces fear, and experimentation thrives.
The Power of “Yes, And” in the Workplace
You’ve may heard us go on and on about “Yes, And”, and if you’ve read a book on improvisation you have a pretty clear idea on how this principle can positively affect your workplace. If you haven’t heard of this, the principle of "Yes, And" means accepting what’s offered/established and adding to it. This doesn't imply agreement with everything but it creates a space where ideas are explored before being evaluated. A lot of organizations start their improvisational journey with ”Yes, And” and sometimes their journey ends there, but that is not enough!
In teams with high psychological safety, "Yes, And" becomes a mindset. It’s shown in brainstorming sessions where ideas are built upon rather than dismissed. It appears in meetings where individuals expand on others' perspectives. It reflects leadership styles that invite curiosity instead of shutting it down.
The reality is, the best ideas often start as rough, unpolished thoughts that need space to grow. If your team doesn't feel safe to share idea early on in the process, the most innovative solutions may never surface.
From Play to Performance: Bringing Improv Into Work Culture
Psychological safety isn't a soft skill—it's the foundation of real, measurable business success. Teams that have it innovate faster, solve problems more creatively, and adapt better to change.
But you can't just tell people, “Speak up more! Take more risks!” without changing the culture. You have to create conditions where those behaviors feel safe.
That's where WitWorks comes in.
At WitWorks, we help teams experience psychological safety firsthand—not through lectures or presentations, but through play. We use improv-based learning to rewire team dynamics, strengthen trust, and make adaptability second nature.
If you want to build a culture where people bring their best ideas forward, where mistakes fuel learning, and where collaboration feels effortless—let's talk.
