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Stress isnt just an occasional visitor in our livesits more the houseguest who never got the hint to leave. Between economic uncertainty, workplace upheaval, rounds of layoffs, and the delightful unpredictability of daily life (surprise traffic jams, anyone?), most of us are living in a near-constant state of low-grade panic. But heres something most people dont realize: resiliencethe ability to stay calm, flexible, and creative in the face of stressisnt just an inborn trait. Its a skill. One that can be learned, practiced, and strengthened. And some of the most effective tools for doing that come not only from the world of business or psychology, but also from improv comedy. I stumbled on this connection over a decade ago. During the day, I worked with startups and leadersafter hours, I practiced and performed improv. Eventually, I noticed the overlap: The same tools that help improv comedians thrive on stage can help anyone navigate the unscripted, often absurd, realities of modern work and life. And research backs this up. A study I conducted in collaboration with neuroscientist Dr. Ori Amir found that improvisational activities improve creativity, confidence, and even sleep, some of the key elements of resilience. Here are three specific improv-inspired practices I use myself and share with leaders, teams, and individuals navigating change, uncertainty, and desiring a new way to cope with lifes stressors. Theyre deceptively simple but surprisingly effective, precisely because they work with the brains stress response, not against it. The ‘Yes, And’ Mindset: From Resistance to Resourcefulness Weve all been there: The project scope changes at the last minute. The client scraps months of work. The market tanks overnight. The instinctive reaction? Resistance. Frustration. Freeze mode. Thats not just emotional, its neurological. When our brains perceive a threat (even a calendar invite titled urgent), the body shifts into fight, flight, or freeze mode, flooding us with cortisol and narrowing our focus to survival. In improv, the foundational rule is Yes, and. It means accepting whats happening (even when its not what you wanted) and building from it. Its not about blind agreement; its about acknowledging reality so you can move forward instead of staying stuck. From a nervous system perspective, Yes, and mimics emotional acceptance and acts as a regulatory tool: It signals safety to the brain by reducing resistance, which helps shift you out of survival mode and into a more flexible, solution-oriented state. Consider this real-world example: When the pandemic hit, many restaurant owners faced ruin. Some who thrived, like those who pivoted to pop-up markets or meal kits, were effectively practicing Yes, and. They acknowledged reality and improvised forward. Next time stress hits, try this: Literally say to yourself, Yes, this is happening. And heres one thing I can do. Even identifying one small action helps break the paralysis of overwhelm. Fire Your Inner Judge: Quieting the Critical Voice That Blocks Action One thing that keeps people stuck in stress is an overactive inner critic. In improv, theres no time for the voice in your head that says Thats a stupid idea or Youll mess this up. You have to act before you overthink. In every workshop I lead, including one for a Fortune 500 team navigating layoffs, the first thing I ask everyone to do is fire the judge. Everyone pictures their inner critic, then, together, on the count of three, we say whatever needs to be said to let go of judging the activities were about to do, judging each other, and judging ourselves. The effect? Most people report feeling both lighter and sharper, because theyve bypassed the internal filter that often fuels stress and indecision. This isnt just theatrical. Its neurological. Research shows that self-criticism is associated with higher anxiety, while reducing it through self-compassion improves emotional regulation and cognitive flexibility. Softening judgment creates the conditions for clearer thinking and more effective action. If It Feels Weird, Do It: Using Unusual Actions to Ground and Reframe One of the fastest ways to disrupt a stress spiral is to do something that feels slightly ridiculous. In improv, weird is where the magic happens. The unexpected action, like walking backward while giving a speech, or delivering a toast in gibberish, pulls us out of autopilot and into the present. It breaks habitual thinking and creates space for a new response. When we do something weird, it works in two ways: First, it grounds us. Movement or gesture helps regulate our emotions and the nervous system. Second, it primes the brain for possibility. Engaging in unexpected behavior temporarily loosens our grip on the way things are, which makes space for the way things could be. Its a reset button for the brain. Heres one weird three-minute exercise to try. Start pointing at objects around you and naming them out loud. Point to a table and say table, a plant and say plant. Do this for 30 seconds. Now shift: point at objects and label them with anything they are not. Point to a chair and say giraffe, a laptop and say birthday cake. It feels silly, and thats the point. Research shows that simply naming what we see or feel can calm the nervous system by shifting attention to the present moment. Combined with deliberately disrupting automatic thinking (even by saying the wrong word), we loosen cognitive rigidity and open the door to more creative problem-solving. I’ve led this exact exercise with executive teams navigating pressure, and every time, it opens the room. People laugh. Shoulders drop. Ideas start flowing. Weird works. These tools arent about turning you into a comedian. Theyre about building a more responsive, resilient nervous system, and one that can meet chaos with curiosity instead of collapse. Stress may be the houseguest who never leaves, but improv is how you learn to live with it, laugh with it, and maybe even dance with it. Try one of these practices the next time stress hits, and you might just surprise yourself.
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E-Commerce
Spotify’s most senior engineers dont type code anymore. In fact, they have not written a single line of code since December, co-CEO Gustav Söderström revealed during a recent earnings call. Its not that theyve stopped working. Instead, through a combination of Claude Code and Spotifys specialized internal system Honk, engineers can now develop new features simply through Slack. As a concrete example, an engineer at Spotify on their morning commute from Slack on their cell phone can tell Claude to fix a bug or add a new feature to the iOS app, Söderström told analysts on the company’s Feb.10 earnings call. And once Claude finishes that work, the engineer then gets a new version of the app, pushed to them on Slack on their phone, so that he can then merge it to production, all before they even arrive at the office. Söderström said the new AI-fueled developmentswhich he traced to the December release of Antropics Claude Opus 4.5 within Claude Codeare just the beginning in how it will deploy these tools to build new features. The company has been on a big push of new user tools, adding more than 50 new features in 2025, most of which launched in the past few weeks. Söderström credits the combination of Claude Code and Honk with speeding us up tremendously,” noting that it’s changed how developers operate. Certainly [before AI tools,] I spent my entire vacation coding rather than being on holiday, and I think most people in tech did, Söderström said regarding the release. He isnt alone. A few weeks ago, the head of Anthropics Claude Code, Boris Cherny, shared that he also hasn’t written any code in more than two months. Across the rest of the company, he says pretty much 100% of code is also AI-generated, in a post on X. At Davos last month, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei predicted a year from now AI will be handling most or all of software engineering work from start to finish. “I think we will be there in three to six months, where AI is writing 90% of the code. And then, in 12 months, we may be in a world where AI is writing essentially all of the code,” Amodei said at a Council of Foreign Relations event, Business Insider reported. That timeline is looking increasingly realistic given that Spotify is s just one example. Pinterest is another. In the companys most recent earnings call on Feb. 12, CEO Bill Ready revealed roughly half of itsnew code is now AI-generated. Even as AI does the lion’s share of coding, developers are focused on learning quickly and refining their approach, according to Soderstrom. “The tricky thing right now is that if this was the end of the change, you could say this is what happened. Now let us retool for this,” Söderström explained. “The tricky thing is that we are in the middle of the change, so you also have to be very agile.” Söderström’s AI bullishness wasn’t entirely echoed among professional developers, some of whom took the opportunity to get a joke in. Its true, Epic Games programmer Ryan Fleury wrote on X. In fact, I was under the impression that Spotifys best developers hadnt written a line of code since 2014.
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E-Commerce
The global market for hair extensions is booming, and projected to hit $14 billion by 2028. What was once a niche luxury item for women is now widely available. Now, a new study from Silent Spring Institute says many hair extensionsincluding products made from human haircontain dozens of hazardous chemicals, some linked to cancer. The research, published in the American Chemical Society journal Environment & Health, provides the strongest evidence to-date about the potential health risks associated with these beauty products, which are largely unregulated. The risks disproportionately affect Black women: The study found over 70% of Black women report wearing hair extensions at least once in the past year, compared with “less than 10% of women from other racial and ethnic groups.” The findings come at a time when many women’s beauty products are under scrutiny, with a growing number of studies finding cancer-causing chemicals in products ranging from shampoo and conditioner, to soap and lotion, to skin lightener, eyeliner, eyelash glue, and even lipstick. Many hair extensions are made from synthetic fibers and bio-based materials, which are often treated with toxic chemicals to ensure they are flame resistant, waterproof, or antimicrobial. Researchers analyzed chemicals in 43 popular hair extension products, including compounds that are not typically tested, and using machine-learning software, were ultimately able to identify 169 of the more than 900 compounds. According to the study, all but two of the samples tested contained hazardous chemicals. Those chemicals included flame retardants, phthalates, pesticides, styrene, tetrachloroethane, and organotins, which are linked with cancer, hormone disruption, developmental problems, and disrupting the immune system. (In girls, they are also linked to early puberty and uterine fibroids.) Companies rarely disclose the chemicals used . . . leaving consumers in the dark about the health risks from prolonged wear, Dr. Elissia Franklin, scientist at Silent Spring Institute, said. “The fibers sit directly on the scalp and neck, and when heated and styled, they can release chemicals into the air that wearers may breathe in.” The study concludes more industry regulation is needed. “The findings make clear that stronger oversight is urgently needed to protect consumers and push companies to invest in making safer products, said Franklin.
Category:
E-Commerce
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