The Human Side of Project Leadership #001

What Improv Can Teach Us About Leading Projects

Featuring Blythe Meyers, Digital PM Summit 2026 Speaker

One of the things I'm most excited about this year's Digital PM Summit isn't just the presentations. It's reconnecting with folks. And, of course, the conversations.

That's why I'm launching The Human Side of Project Leadership on my YouTube channel, a series of conversations with this year's Summit speakers about the ideas shaping modern project leadership. Rather than simply asking speakers to preview their sessions, I wanted to dig into the experiences that shaped their thinking and explore the bigger questions behind their talks.

It felt fitting to begin with Blythe Meyers.

Blythe and I worked together years ago at Happy Cog, back when she was beginning her career in project management. Since then she's become a creative program manager, an accomplished improviser, and someone who has found a fascinating connection between those two worlds.

At first glance, improv and project management don't seem to have much in common. One is spontaneous and unscripted. The other is often associated with plans, timelines, and carefully organized work. But as Blythe points out, that's not how project management actually feels.

Clients change direction. New stakeholders appear without warning. Feedback takes unexpected turns. The plan changes. You rarely control what happens next. What you can control is how you respond. That idea became one of my biggest takeaways from our conversation.

We talked about the improv principle of "Yes, and…", not as a way of agreeing to everything, but as a way of staying curious and building on what someone else has offered rather than shutting the conversation down. We talked about active listening—not simply capturing notes, but listening for the real problem underneath the feedback. And we talked about one of my favorite improv principles: make your scene partner look good.

As Blythe described it, that's exactly what great project managers do. The best PMs aren't trying to be the star of the meeting. They're creating the conditions for everyone else to do their best work.

We also couldn't avoid talking about AI. As administrative work becomes easier to automate, Blythe made an observation I couldn't agree with more: the real job of project management has never been the status reports or meeting notes. It's helping people navigate uncertainty, adapt to change, and make good decisions together. AI may handle more of the mechanics, but it can't replace trust, facilitation, or human judgment.

Finally, I asked Blythe what she hopes people take away from her session. Her answer wasn't about improv. It was about joy.

Project management can be stressful. Things go wrong. Clients change their minds. Projects take unexpected turns. But if we lose our sense of humor along the way, we're probably taking ourselves a little too seriously.

I think that's a wonderful reminder—and a pretty great way to kick off this series.

If you'd like to hear the full conversation, you can watch it above.

And if you'll be joining us in Asheville this October, don't miss Blythe's session, "No Script, No Problem: How Improv Makes Better Project Managers."

T L ; D R - I'm launching The Human Side of Project Leadership, a new conversation series featuring Digital PM Summit speakers. First up: Blythe Meyers shares how improv has shaped the way she leads projects, listens more deeply, and helps teams navigate uncertainty with confidence—and a little humor. Check it out on my YouTube channel.