One of Tina Fey's rules of improv comedy [0] seems pertinent: Paraphrasing, it's don't say no, say "yes, and ...." [0] See Bossypants, apparently excerpted at

One of Tina Fey's rules of improv comedy [0] seems pertinent: Paraphrasing, it's don't say no, say "yes, and ...." [0] See Bossypants, apparently excerpted at, e.g., http://mycareertopia.com/tina-feys-rules-for-improv-and-the-workplace/ http://mycareertopia.com/tina-feys-rules-for-improv-and-the-... -- it's probably a copyright infringement (if memory serves, it copies Fey's text pretty much wholesale), but it's one of many, and probably the most readable of the bunch.