Teacher Materials

1. SkimaTalk Official Course
Advanced Improvisation – Business Problems
Lesson 1: Bob’s Bad Behavior

2. Story: Bob’s Bad Behavior
2
Bob is a long-time employee of XYZ Industries, a publicly traded company. He has been
with the company for 10 years, and has always been a top performer.
Three months ago, Bob’s manager began to notice a change in Bob’s behavior. Bob
seemed disengaged at work, and he was arriving late to work several days per week.
Despite two warnings about being tardy, Bob continues to show up late at least one time
per week.
The leadership of XYZ Industries recently sent a memo to all managers outlining a new
policy about tardiness. Simply put, the new policy states that tardiness is unacceptable
and tardy employees should be fired if the behavior continues after two warnings.
Yesterday, Bob showed up late after receiving two warnings. Bob’s manager likes Bob,
but doesn’t want to disobey the company’s leadership.
Teacher Instructions:
Ask the student to read the story out loud, then discuss the questions on the next page.

3. Task 1
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1. What do you think is a likely cause of Bob’s new behavior?
2. If you were Bob’s manager, what steps would you take to address this
situation?
l What questions would you ask Bob?
l What additional information would you like to know?
3. If you were Bob’s manager, would you fire Bob? Why or why not?
Questions

4. Task 2
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Additional Information:
Just today, Bob’s manager became aware of an illness in Bob’s family. Bob’s mother
became sick three months ago and has been hospitalized ever since.
Teacher version only
Teacher Instructions:
1. Tell the student that you are going to reveal some additional information for the story.
2. Read the additional information to the student.
3. Discuss the follow-up questions.
Follow-up Questions
1. Does this new information change your analysis of the cause of Bob’s bad
behavior? If so, how?
2. Knowing this new information, would you fire Bob? Why or why not?
3. If not, how would you explain yourself to company leadership?

5. Task 3
5
Teacher version only
1. Often, people jump to conclusions without understanding all of the
facts. Can you think of a time when this happened to you?
2. As a manager, how can you limit these situations?
Discussion

6. 6
End of Lesson
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