Be Changed: The Improv Principle That Teaches Real Leadership

Leadership Workshop - San Jose, California

May 2025

I was talking with a senior leader at a tech company who was stuck. Her team was capable, experienced, and well-intentioned, but they had become change-averse. Every new idea was met with hesitation and every proposed shift came with pushback. “They nod along in meetings,” she told me, “but nothing really changes afterward. It’s like they’re listening, but not letting it in.”

As she described the dynamic, I realized her team was doing what so many of us do. They were communicating, but not connecting. They were hearing the message, but not letting it change them. And it reminded me of one of the most subtle but powerful principles in improv: be changed.

This principle asks us to let the moment affect us. To allow another person’s input, emotion, or perspective to shift our response. Not because we’re weak or indecisive, but because we’re present. Because we value responsiveness over rigidity. In that leader’s case, her team had mastered the art of polite participation but hadn’t yet embraced true adaptation.

At WitWorks, this principle shows up consistently in our leadership workshops and team development sessions. While many people are familiar with improv’s “Yes, and” mindset, “be changed” goes one level deeper. It invites real-time transformation, and in today’s world of hybrid work, complexity, and constant transition, that’s exactly what teams need.

Improvisers who ignore this principle tend to derail scenes. They come in with a pre-planned idea and stick to it regardless of what their scene partner just said. (Check out Katie’s video on servant leaders for more!) The result is disconnection. The story stalls. The audience feels the mismatch. The same thing happens in meetings when people cling to their agenda instead of adjusting to what’s unfolding.

In the workplace, we often mistake communication for connection. People listen politely, take notes, and nod along, but then nothing changes. Feedback is gathered but never implemented. Insights are shared but decisions stay the same. That’s not collaboration. That’s performance. To truly collaborate, we have to be willing to adapt in real time, to shift based on what we’ve heard and experienced. That is the heart of being changed.

This principle aligns closely with emotional agility, which psychologist Susan David defines as the ability to stay flexible with our thoughts and feelings in order to respond effectively to everyday situations. The best leaders don’t just listen. They allow themselves to be influenced. They make space for other people’s ideas to reshape their own. They model responsiveness instead of rigidity. And when they do, teams take notice.

When a leader demonstrates this kind of openness, it sends a powerful message: This is a flexible space. Your input matters here. That one shift creates psychological safety, something we build intentionally in our improv-based training experiences. For more on this topic, read our post on how improv builds psychological safety at work. When people know their contributions can change outcomes, they become more willing to speak up, challenge ideas, and share openly. This fosters trust, innovation, and stronger collaboration.

Take feedback, for example. A manager might receive feedback during a one-on-one and respond with a simple nod and a thank you. But if that feedback doesn’t lead to a visible shift, the moment is lost. Contrast that with a manager who says, “You’re right. I’ve been overloading our meetings. Starting next week, I’m adjusting our agenda.” That’s being changed. It turns passive acknowledgment into active evolution.

This principle also fuels team resilience. When people see that the group can flex together, they’re more willing to experiment, to fail forward, to improvise. That’s why we often use this concept in our sessions for agile teams or organizations navigating rapid change. In many of our sessions with leadership teams, we've seen how practicing “be changed” can open the door to more inclusive conversations, especially around topics like process improvement, where listening deeply and adjusting course based on frontline insights makes a real impact.

Practicing this doesn’t require a full cultural overhaul. Start small. After your next meeting, ask yourself: What changed for me as a result of that conversation? If the answer is “nothing,” get curious. Were you truly listening? Were you too locked into your original plan? Could you try something different next time?

Another practice is to replace “I hear you” with “Here’s how that changes things.” It’s a subtle but powerful shift. It shows that you didn’t just hear someone. You were moved. And if you want to build this skill with your team, try some of our intro-level improv exercises. Or check out Anxious, Invested, and Showing Up Anyway, a reflection from our co-founder Katie Drown about the courage it takes to stay present in uncertain moments.

“Be changed” is not about being indecisive. It is about being responsive. And in today’s workplace, that responsiveness is what builds trust, fuels creativity, and unlocks better outcomes. According to research from Amy Edmondson, the most effective teams aren’t the ones with perfect harmony. They are the ones where people feel safe enough to take risks, speak up, and know their voice will be heard and acted on. That is what this principle supports.

At WitWorks, we design interactive, human-centered experiences rooted in applied improvisation to help leaders and teams practice these very skills. “Be changed” shows up in our facilitated offsites, our psychological safety programs, and our custom learning and development engagements. Because in the end, the best teams don’t just talk to each other. They let each other in. They evolve together.

If you're looking to explore how “be changed” could reshape the way your team connects, leads, and learns, get in touch with us to bring a session to your organization. This isn’t just about better communication. It’s about building a workplace that’s dynamic, human, and ready for whatever comes next.

Welcome change with grace,

Alex