So a few months ago, as part of an ongoing consultancy, I am hosting “Improvisation for Lunch” in the teched-up conference room at Twelve Horses, a kinetic and knowledgeable 60-person internet and social marketing company headquartered in Reno, with offices in Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Phoenix and Dublin, Ireland. We eat pizza from the Blue Moon pizzeria while I show improv comedy videos performed by the world’s best — I. O. Theater, Upright Citizens Brigade, Second City, et al — and point out how certain techniques employed by the likes of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler can also be effective in business. We have a quiz about the videos. The top scorers in the quiz face off in an improv game called Thunderdome. A champion is crowned. Prizes are awarded.

At a certain point in the proceedings, I notice a five-year-old kid sitting at the conference table, eating pizza and raising his hand to answer quiz questions like everyone else. What the — ?! Turns out it’s Cody LaPlante, son David LaPlante, the CEO of Twelve Horses. Cody is a full-on player. He jumps into the scene and plays the game 100%, even when there are 35 other grown-up players in the scene. For a kid, what’s not to understand about playing a game, right? Everyone’s ambition should be to engage in the world as unconditionally as a five-year-old. Cody’s support gives a definite lift to the group as a whole. He adds fun and lightheartedness to the scene. (more…)