Organizational Improv
Course Features
In an era of unprecedented change, adaptability has become the cornerstone of effective leadership.
Organizational Improvisation is designed to equip leaders with the mindset and skills necessary to thrive in a dynamic and unpredictable business environment.
Drawing inspiration from the arts, science, and successful business practices, this course delves into the essence of improvisation – the ability to navigate the unforeseen with creativity and agility. We will investigate and apply the techniques employed by experts in fields such as improvisational theater, jazz, social entrepreneurship, and conflict resolution.
Participants will explore how specialists seamlessly "think on their feet," playfully adapt to changing situations, and engage in radical collaboration for real-time creativity. Through a practice of applied improvisation, community dialogue and collective play, we will also explore the roots of social anxiety and the fear of speaking in public. Participants will walk away with strategies for feeling grounded and present in their bodies; expressive and resonant in their voices; and confident in their ability to communicate on the fly. Scientific insights from this research will be translated into actionable strategies for entrepreneurial purposes, enabling participants to prepare for the unexpected in their organizational endeavors.
Using innovative learning techniques, this session takes the theory behind the creative process and applies it to the everyday, fostering communication skills ideal for business, where such skills are often overlooked in favor of the purely technical. Designed for folks without any acting experience, there are no prerequisites to participate. This session will push the boundaries of your thought, facilitate greater awareness, and expose you to powerful tools to enhance your professional success.
Join us for an immersive experience that goes beyond theoretical concepts, providing you with the tools to lead with confidence in an ever-evolving business landscape. Prepare to embrace uncertainty, think creatively, and lead your organization towards a future of unparalleled success.
Organizational Improv can be taken as a standalone course or as a prerequisite for the Executive Certificate in Organizational Leadership.
This course includes:
Industry-leading faculty
Practical applications
Personalized solutions
Hands-on training
Effective presentation skills
Verbal and visual techniques
Program Details
What you will learn:
- Extemporize upon subject matter with a moment’s notice
- Communicate information thoughtfully and thoroughly with an authentic voice
- Engage an improvisational mindset that reframes our relationship to failure
- Be able to listen, adapt, and respond as a leader
- Strengthen emotional intelligence through exercises in empathy, self-reflection, and community dialogue
- Increase sensitivity to biases, values, and needs
- Innovate and discover connections using associative thought
- Develop a variety of strategies when listening
- Cultivate reverence, immediacy, and fluency while giving and receiving feedback
Who should attend:
This highly interactive program is designed for leaders who want to expand their interpersonal skillset, develop their creativity, and enhance their ability to adapt, innovate, co-create, and manage risks. This program is ideal for business professionals who are taking on a new leadership role or who are facing increased demands to adapt to change.
Faculty
Carl DuPont, DMA
Carl DuPont is an artist, innovator, and educator with a creative approach to improving peak performance for individuals, organizations, and communities. He leverages his expertise to implement strategic initiatives at the intersections of communications, diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and sustainability. This includes training, programming, talent acquisition, executive presence, and utilizing holistic evidence-based solutions for organizations. His scalable strategies have been tailored to clients ranging from small cultural institutions to Fortune 100 companies.
DuPont’s unique approach draws on his experience as an international performer and published author, as well as his curiosity as a life-long learner to make the aspirational actionable. Highlights of a dynamic career include an internship in the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine Otolaryngology Department, published articles with Oxford University Press, The Laryngoscope and the Voice and Speech Review, and appearances in a recurring role on the German soap opera, Unter Uns. He has created artistic and scholarly presentations for venues in Mexico City, Salzburg, Rome, Stockholm, New York, and Miami. He is the artistic director of the John F. Kennedy Center’s Washington National Opera summer institute which he designed to focus on blending citizen artistry with elite training for high-school aged students.
An associate professor at the Johns Hopkins University (JHU), he delivers interactive workshops in the Carey Business School’s Executive Education department and one-on-one applied vocal instruction at the Peabody Institute. At Peabody, he developed a course on art song by African American composers, co-chaired the Culturally Inclusive Task Force, and served on the Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee. His efforts recently helped recruit the most diverse and highest-ranked student body in the school’s history; he is also a part of the team that earned a $1 million dollar grant to create the Pathways to DMA program. He achieved JHU’s Diversity Recognition Award in 2021 for his outstanding contributions in this area.
DuPont is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music (BM), Indiana University (MM), and the University of Miami (DMA). He has earned certificates in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace from the University of South Florida, Management Development and Financial Management, both from JHU’s Carey Business School. He regular sub-contracts with Diaz Inclusion Consulting and is the founder and CEO of DuPont Consulting, LLC.
Tavish Forsyth
Tavish Forsyth (they/he) is the artistic director of Bird City Improv and a practitioner of Theatre for Social Change. He is a queer artist and educator with Celtic roots. They were born on Penacook Land in Lowell, Massachusetts under a Virgo moon. Since 2011, they have lived on the ancestral land of the Piscataway people, where they became the founder of Bird City Improv, a teaching artist with the Maryland State Department of Education, and a five-year faculty member at Johns Hopkins University.
Presently, Tavish is co-facilitating the Arts & Social Justice Fellowship at Strathmore and Woolly Mammoth Theatre, which invites young people to explore the intersections of art and activism. He is an artistic associate at the John F. Kennedy Center’s Opera Institute, a training ground for the next generation citizen artists and vocalists. He facilitates classes at Art Works Now, an organization that offers free, grant-funded art education to older adults. Tavish recently served as an anti-racist consultant for the Black Anthology Project, an ongoing documentary that aims to uplift Black improvisers and comedians. Over his career, Tavish has collaborated with innumerable arts organizations, local and international, including Everyman Theatre, Second City, Butterfly Art Project, New York Stage & Film, Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Smithsonian and Womb Work Productions, LLC. As DEI educator, Tavish offers coaching, consulting, and embodied practice for arts educators, school systems, and fellow academics. He has presented his research at the Applied Improvisation Network’s Global Conference, the AEMS Anti-Racism Symposium and the Southeastern Theatre Conference.
Tavish holds two degrees in theatre, but more importantly Tavish is an experienced artist and liberation-focused practitioner. They are versed in multiple styles of improvisation, embodied practice, and comedic theory. Centering healing, queerness, and connection in his work, Tavish empowers folks to listen, adapt, and respond. Their hope is to co-create in ways that are joyful, patient, and honest. Learn more about Tavish’s work by visiting www.birdcityimprov.com.