What is yes and thinking and how does it apply to entrepreneurs?

Q: What is yes and thinking and how does it apply to entrepreneurs?

Yes and is the improv principle of accepting whatever your partner offers and building on it instead of blocking. For entrepreneurs, it shows up in how you handle co-founder ideas, customer feedback, and your own bad first drafts. It accelerates decision-making and lowers idea-mortality.

The story

Yes and started in improv theater and quietly took over leadership development because it solves a recurring failure mode: smart people kill ideas in meetings before the ideas can breathe. The rule is simple. Whatever the other person offers, accept it (yes) and add to it (and). The energy shifts from defending positions to compounding them. SideHustle LIVE uses the same engine onstage. Founders watching the 90-minute show at Pershing Hall in Austin are watching yes and at speed, with stakes. The point isn't that they should host comedy; it's that they should run their next product meeting like a yes and scene. Block less. Build more.

What it means

If your meetings die in objections, try a 30-minute experiment: ban the words "but" and "actually" and replace every response with "yes, and". You'll feel awkward for ten minutes. The next twenty will produce more usable ideas than your last month of standups.

Try it

• Play free at playsidehustle.com
• See us live: Sept 25 at Pershing Hall in Austin. luma.com/playsidehustle
• Email team@playsidehustle.com