When you hear the term improvisational–whether it’s attached to jazz, theatre, or public speaking–you might think those involved are free to do whatever they want. In fact, experienced improvisers would confirm that improvisation depends upon having an underlying structure that supports their capacity to improvise. That structure gives them a set of rules, within which they have the freedom to explore and innovate.
Frank Barrett is well known in the Appreciative Inquiry community for his presentation of Destiny (in the 4-D AI model) using improvisational jazz as the metaphor. He uses the metaphor to support the notion that change is an on-going process in organizational life rather than a one-time intervention. Improvisation is an effective means for evolution in organizations if an intentional design that aligns with organizational outcomes is in place.
This valuable metaphor can be used by organizations committed to encouraging innovation and collaboration as a way to continuously evolve in excellence. If you want people to explore opportunities, innovate prototypes, and learn together, then it is important to develop organizational structures that will provide members the freedom to improvise.
What are your experiences of systems, structures, and ways of working that allow for improvisation in the workplace?
Delighted to see others exploring the metaphor of jazz for organizational and leadership development. And your focus on structure is crucial. For me, it’s finding the creative tension between structures that enable collaboration and freedom that invites individual creativity. Finding that ‘groove’ in any given situation is the key. In our Jazzthink keynotes and workshops, the connection with everyday work life we draw is that the most common form of jazz or improvisation is ordinary conversation. If you build your teams and exercise your leadership through conversations (and we all do), then you are a jazz musician and can learn a lot from the masters of the art. In the end, I think that managers and leaders need to create structures that stimulate and sustain conversations among the right people about the right ideas that result in people doing the right things, improvising on the core charts of great organizational performance discovered by Jim Collins.
Brian, I totally agree that it’s all in the conversation–verbal and non-verbal! You’ve quoted pianist Monty Alexander on your website:
Jazz, at its best, is a situation in which participants willingly support each other, working together as one, each player bringing virtuosity, optimism, mutual respect, good will, and the desire to make it feel good.
What a great quote, which totally captures what intentional collaboration is all about. In your work, what kinds of structures have you seen implemented in organizations or conversations that actually support this? What are leaders that you work with discovering?