The Bottle, The Spill, The Reveal

A message from Chris...  

This week, I knocked over a bottle of water at the team huddle. Naturally, the question came up: Why is there water on the table? The answers came quickly:

"Because you weren’t paying attention."

"Because you knocked over the bottle."

"Because you wanted to make a mess."

But the simplest, truest answer was this: There’s water on the table because there was water in the bottle. Knocking it over didn’t create the water, it simply revealed what was already inside.

This is exactly how improv works.

When the average person steps into an improv exercise, they’re placed in moments of challenge, change, or ambiguity. These moments don’t invent our reactions… they reveal them. Just like the water in the bottle, improv reveals what’s inside: our habits, our instincts, our preferences, and our tendencies under pressure.

At Game On, we often say: “The games don’t lie.” In a safe, playful space, improv uncovers what’s real about how we communicate, adapt, and collaborate. And that’s where the real learning happens.

Why Improv is Impactful for Learning

Improv isn’t solely about being funny, it’s about being present. It creates an environment where people can explore how they respond when things don’t go according to plan.

Unlike theory or lecture, improv doesn’t just talk about adaptability, listening, or collaboration, it puts you in the action. And that’s where growth takes root!

So how does this translate into the workplace? Here are three ways you can apply the improv principle of “what spills out is what’s inside” in your work environment.

Build Trust Through Shared Vulnerability

When people step into improv, everyone is in the same position. No script, no plan, just responding in the moment. That shared vulnerability breaks down hierarchies and builds trust quickly. In a professional setting, this translates into stronger teams who feel safe taking risks and speaking up.

How to put it into practice:

If people are only asked to be vulnerable, collaborate, or pivot in high-stakes moments like a client pitch, leadership review, or crisis, they’ll naturally fall back on old habits. The key is to create practice opportunities that are meaningful but not consequential, with leaders modeling the way. When managers openly admit what they don’t know or share their own learning challenges, they signal that risk-taking is safe for everyone.

Treat Revealed Tendencies as Starting Points, Not Judgments

Just like the water bottle, what spills out isn’t “good” or “bad”, it’s simply what’s there. If someone freezes when they don’t know the answer, that’s valuable information. If another person dominates a scene, that’s insight too. Leaders can use these moments as opportunities for self-awareness and growth, not as reasons to criticize.

How to put it into practice:

After a project wraps up, teams can shift from blame to discovery by asking questions like, “What did this reveal about how we tend to work?” or “What does this tell us?” before moving into critique. Using awareness tools such as formal after-action reviews (AARs), DiSC assessments, or facilitated debriefs can also be great ways to help surface natural patterns in how people show up, with the goal of sparking conversations about how those tendencies support or sometimes hinder collaboration.

Develop the Muscle to Pivot with Purpose

In improv, a scene can change directions in an instant, and the players must adjust without hesitation. The goal isn’t to resist the change, it’s to find a way forward together.

In business, the same is true: markets shift, strategies evolve, and unexpected obstacles appear. Improv trains teams to adapt quickly, stay present, and pivot with purpose rather than panic.

How to put it into practice:

Teams can strengthen adaptability by running small “what if” scenario drills in meetings.

For example, asking how they’d respond if a major client suddenly canceled, as a way to practice flexible thinking in a low-stakes setting. Pairing this with improv’s “yes, and…” approach encourages team members to build on each other’s ideas rather than shutting them down, so when plans inevitably shift, the team is prepared to respond with creativity and collaboration instead of resistance.

When a bottle tips, it reveals what’s inside. When we step into improv, the same thing happens. And if we pay attention to what spills out, our instincts, our patterns, our habits, we gain a powerful starting point for growth, both individually and as a team.