Every Wednesday, join us for a 30 minute show. You bring the lunch and we'll bring the laughs.
It has long been accepted that practicing improv helps people better adapt to change and think more creatively, but there was little scientific evidence to back it up...until now!
The Washington Post noticed that Chicago's typically very serious mayor Lori Lightfoot has turned to humor (and some famous Second City alumi) to spread the word about, and get people to pay attention to, her stay-at-home orders.
Second City Works collaborated with client partners Lennox International, GE, and others to produce Real Biz Shorts Anti-Harassment video content.
The Second City Brings Comedy to Your Couch! New live-streamed entertainment, education & business programming launches online.
Kelly Leonard to deliver webinar 'Developing Leadership At Every Level: An Improvisational Approach' presented by Chief Learning Officer.
I’m writing this from my home. I’ll be here for awhile. Doesn’t feel great. But some of my colleagues at Second City Works reminded me that these can also be lemonade days where we try something new and different.
There is an ever-increasing amount of data and research that shows humor is a vehicle for insight and behavior change. I wouldn't believe us either, so we have proof!
SCW facilitators join the 'Private Equity Funcast,' a podcast hosted by firm ParkerGale to discuss their recent professional development for senior executives to foster growth, teamwork, and innovation. Oh – and don’t miss the end when the crew improvises a song.
ReFED, an innovative nonprofit committed to reducing food waste, wanted to celebrate a year of milestones with their stakeholders in a memorable, entertaining, and uniquely-Chicago way, so they turned to The Second City to host a festive bash for guests.
When building ethical cultures, leaders need to model the behaviors we desire for our employees: we need to operate in a mode of value and respect; we need to be radically candid with one another; and we need to do all of this in a useful and timely manner.
Second City Works is attending the HRPA Annual Conference & Trade Show. Visit us at Booth #633 to discover the different ways Second City Works can power up your HR department.
Burnout doesn’t manifest because employees aren’t working hard enough to prevent it. Burnout is a result of a work environment that doesn’t provide employees with the resources needed to meet their organizations’ expectations.
Job stress is cited as an increasing source of anxiety for many, and when unmanaged, it causes employee burnout. Check out this infographic on the emotional and financial toll associated with the pervasive problem of burnout.
Comedy has the power to disarm people. You can make the toughest subjects digestible through a comedic lens, even workplace harassment.
There are specific risks associated with today’s work environment—data security and inappropriate social media posting, for example—in which it is important to communicate about best practices with far-flung employees.
Here are three exercises that can help individuals discover and implement a resiliency practice for themselves and their work teams - virtual or otherwise.
In improvisation we are taught to play the scene we’re in, not the scene we want to be in which forces us to embrace uncertainty, unease and disconnectedness.
It has long been accepted that practicing improv helps people better adapt to change and think more creatively, but there was little scientific evidence to back it up...until now!
Second City Works collaborated with client partners Lennox International, GE, and others to produce Real Biz Shorts Anti-Harassment video content.
I’m writing this from my home. I’ll be here for awhile. Doesn’t feel great. But some of my colleagues at Second City Works reminded me that these can also be lemonade days where we try something new and different.
There is an ever-increasing amount of data and research that shows humor is a vehicle for insight and behavior change. I wouldn't believe us either, so we have proof!
ReFED, an innovative nonprofit committed to reducing food waste, wanted to celebrate a year of milestones with their stakeholders in a memorable, entertaining, and uniquely-Chicago way, so they turned to The Second City to host a festive bash for guests.
When building ethical cultures, leaders need to model the behaviors we desire for our employees: we need to operate in a mode of value and respect; we need to be radically candid with one another; and we need to do all of this in a useful and timely manner.
The tenets and skills of improv aren’t just for the budding comedy star. In a recent National Law Review article, legal marketers were encouraged to “unlock their Yes, And” as a way to stay relevant and agile in the ever-evolving industry.
In LinkedIn’s third-annual LinkedIn Emerging Jobs Report, soft skills (or as we like to call them, human skills) are listed as 1 of 3 trends set to define the jobs of tomorrow in 2020.
Stanford University lecturer Dan Klein was recently interviewed by This Working Life regarding failure, Netflix, and why more offices need improv training.
Kelly Leonard and Anne Libera speak at the Coca-Cola CMO Leadership Summit about how they managed their daughter Nora's cancer journey with deliberate practices that created an ensemble out of caregivers.
Sarah McEneaney is a Partner and the Digital Talent Leader for PwC who joins Improvised Conversations to discuss infinite learning, the Digital Accelerator program, and using improv as a lens to practice the human-centered skills centered around the change strategy at PwC.
Humor is a vehicle for insight and improvisation provides a practice in applying that insight into real-world situations. In other words: comedy grabs the attention and improv improves the action.
Members of Second City Works enjoyed a packed three days of learning and development content, got our steps in, and basked in the sunshine at the Woodstock of learning, aka Learning 2019, held at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort.
A recent article in Psychology Today by Clay Drinko, Ph.D., examines the brain activity while improvising (or being totally focused and present) and suggests how we can utilize improv thinking to make our work and daily lives richer.
Comedy clubs are more than just laugh factories these days. Increasingly they are making cameos in your office with workforce and leadership training initiatives.
Humour is something that the majority of us use and enjoy instinctively, but there is plenty of scientific research to confirm what those natural impulses tell us: humour is good for us.
The Washington Post examined how an increasing number of workplaces are relying on new methods to tackle anti-harassment training. Second City Works was featured in the story as an industry innovator using humor and empathy to create safer environments.
Kelly Leonard presented at the 2018 NIC Conference (National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care) last month on the future of aging. Kelly talked about Second City's Improvisation for Caregivers program and how it has helped him during his own caregiving story.
What is the link between empathy and leadership performance? Find out in a new and interesting podcast with Deloitte's Kim Christfort.
Bumper Carroll, VP of Creative at Second City Works, joins the Content Experience Show to discuss comedy in marketing and risk-friendly environments.
Harvard professor and behavioral scientist Francesca Gino writes about what improv training can teach leaders about having meetings that actually accomplish something.
Cox Automotive Canada's annual Women With Drive event is an inclusive movement built to support female successes and aspirations. This year's event did not disappoint and Second City Works was there.
What happens when 55 million followers engage in an online game of one-word story? Twitter decided to find out with a simple less-than-280-character tweet.
"Critical skills and expertise are imperative for companies and their employees to succeed in the future, and the most forward-thinking companies are being proactive in adapting to the shift in the workforce."
An estimated 12% of all US adults experience social anxiety disorder at some time in their lives, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. If you take the current population, that's nearly 40 million people. Find out how an improv class is helping the anxious.
The Innovation Crush podcast provides all the “who-to-know” and “what-to-know” you'll ever need to know. Kelly Leonard joins long-time idea maker and host Chris Denson to talk about Second City’s evolution as a business and how improv often leads to the best innovation.
Second City Works is pleased to announce that our new site is the winner of the prestigious Awwwards Mobile Excellence Site of the Week. We are excited to see our work recognized for its innovative concept and execution!
New York Times critic and author Jason Zinoman ultimately makes the case for the power of comedy. ("Comedy has become essential to how we see ourselves.") In the article, Second City Works is referenced as an effective, on-trend way to improve the bottom line.
A behind the scenes look at The Second Science Project: A collaboration between Second City and The Booth School of Business that blends insights from Behavioral Science with applied improvisational exercises to inform and engage people to be better communicators.
Improvisation for Caregivers is a unique and compelling collaboration between Second City Works and Caring Across Generations.
A career as a dentist means balancing a passion for patient care against the perils of overseeing the business side of a dental practice. These competing priorities can trip-up even the most seasoned dental professionals...
It turns out improv isn’t just about comedy — in fact, it didn’t even start out that way.
For the fourth year in a row, M&M'S is partnering with Red Nose Day to help America come together to raise money for children in need.
When it comes to getting ideas and creativity flowing, sometimes laughter is the best option—at least, that’s what leaders at Kantar and The Second City have found with their new collaborative improv-based event coming to Atlanta.
On Wednesday, July 24th, Chicago Innovation and The Executives' Club of Chicago will co-host the 4th annual Chicago Innovation Summit where Executive Director of Insights & Applied Improvisation, Kelly Leonard, will be on the panel for "Every Innovation Tells a Story."
Second City Works hosts Members of Association of National Advertisers (ANA) for the ANA Content Marketing Conference on Thursday, July 11 in the UP Theater.