What does it take for experienced professionals to speak up, admit mistakes, and take risks in front of their peers? This study examines improvisational theatre as a pedagogical intervention for cultivating psychological safety — the shared belief that a team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking (Edmondson, 1999) — among mid-career leaders in executive education. The setting is a competitive 16-week certificate program at a major research university in the United States, designed to develop high-potential leaders across food retail, wholesale, and supply chain sectors. Twenty-eight participants (16 male, 12 female; ages 20s to 50s) completed Edmondson’s 7-item Psychological Safety Scale immediately before and after a single structured improv workshop. Three sequenced exercises — Yes And, Freeze Tag, and Genre Switch — were designed to progressively build active listening, vulnerability, and adaptive co-creation within intact project teams. Results revealed a statistically significant improvement in psychological safety scores (pre: M = 5.44; post: M = 5.92; p = .034), with a medium-to-large effect size (Cohen’s d = 0.60). Every team improved, with the greatest gains among those reporting the most friction — precisely where safety is hardest to build. Qualitative responses confirmed that improv worked where it mattered most: conflicted teams described laughing together for the first time and named the workshop as the moment things changed. A delayed post-test is underway; results will be presented at the conference. This paper offers educators a replicable, research-grounded framework for using improv techniques to transform classroom and team dynamics across disciplines and institutional contexts.

Authors:
Marco Aponte-Moreno, University of Southern California, United States

About the Presenter(s)
Professor Marco Aponte-Moreno is a University Professor/Principal Lecturer at University of Southern California in United States

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcoapontemoreno/

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