Try this thought out for size: “All human behaviour is in some way or other improvisational in nature.”
We often think of Chaos as happening in an emergency; when “the building’s on fire!”. But this is not so. Wherever you look across the field of the Musician’s Way there is uncertainty, to a greater or lesser extent. Across the entire spectrum of experience, chaos and complexity exist in one form or another. Even in the lens we refer to as Structured we found that it is inevitable that change will occur. In highly ordered setups where there is a defined object or process in motion, circumstances change, the context evolves and neither the object nor the process ultimately fulfil their original purpose.
You will by now have recognised that we also have an issue with our ‘bubbles’. Some of us seem to prefer being in denial or turning a blind eye to what might actually be in plain sight. There seems to be a correlation between the way in which we allow ourselves to accept discomfort, or the prospect of it, and the way organisations like to invoke a belief of order when in fact what they say isn’t true and not connected to reality. How often do we accept discomfort as part of the ‘order’ of things instead of ‘disorder’ being more present than we’d like to believe? This is how ‘normalisation’ works. We have found a way of accepting something we really shouldn’t. In this sense we magically perceive order when reality couldn’t be further from the truth.
What does this mean for both the individual and society as a whole? If we stay in our bubbles then life will inevitably consist of wholly unexpected surprises for which we have few mitigations to attempt to reduce risk. Waking up to just how ‘improvisational’ our life’s experiences actually are leads us to better responses to the risks we face and being more able to take advantage of opportunities which come our way.
Human collaboration and interaction is therefore a complex symphony of words, tones, and unspoken gestures. Through this intricate dance, we create meaning, forge connections, and share the elusive truth of our experience. Our choice of words, the subtle brushstrokes of tone, and even the act of listening itself, form the instruments of this orchestra.
Words – the tangible notes – carry explicit meaning, but their impact transcends mere dictionary definitions. The rhythm, the weight, the emotional resonance woven into each syllable shapes our understanding. A whispered "I love you" resonates deeper than the same phrase shouted across a crowded room. Nuance becomes the maestro, guiding the interpretation of our melody.
Yet, truth whispers not only in the words chosen, but also in the gaps between them. The attentive, active listener completes the musical phrase, recognising the unspoken emotions that linger in the silence. Conversely, a distracted ear leaves chords hanging unresolved, distorting the melody and muting the truth.
In the digital age, however, this intimate orchestra faces challenges. Emails and social media posts become static renditions, devoid of the dynamic interplay of tone and silence. Sarcasm can be mistaken for anger, humour lost in translation. Nuance, the lifeblood of meaning, fades in the pixelated echo chamber. Further complicating the symphony of truth is the human struggle with understanding our own emotions. We stumble over the vocabulary of feelings, our descriptions hesitant and inadequate.
An organisation’s ability to recognise and process change is strongly improvisational. Our ability to improvise is one of the most outstanding examples of how human groups working together can be adaptable and be able to process multiple strands of input producing truly immeasurable results. In the serious matter of ‘doing business’ we therefore improvise more than we know or would care to admit. Improvising (or making it up as we go along) therefore doesn’t need to be regarded as a separate thing, but as something thoroughly laced within the business activity. As organising entities, our function in business may be significantly more improvisational than is generally recognised and rather less deliberate than is often portrayed. Complexity exists across the Musician’s Way depending on the context which means that just hoping our lives and our work will remain structured and stable could well be an unhelpful illusion. Reality appears to be much less orderly which leads us to the inevitable conclusion that it is far better to lead our lives, and our teams, businesses and families improvisationally.
With a clearer vision of the improvisational nature of ‘the game’ of life, it becomes obvious that we need intelligent long term responses to the problems we face. Short termism isn’t the answer. We also need to recognise that we are in ‘the game’ to keep playing ‘the game’.. In musical setups we just want to keep on playing. Winning in music, except in the occasional music competition, is actually a rather silly concept. Organisationally though, why do we often find ourselves in the business of winning? When we are, then we only have winners and losers. The winners get everything and the losers nothing. Our tendency towards toxicity and divisiveness is driven by this divisive model of success. Mastering Chaos: Musician’s Way allows for any type of ‘games’ to be played but the underlying process embedded in the Musician's Way is not to ‘win’ but to ‘continue playing’. In the long term businesses and organisations also need to continue playing. We need ways of structuring ourselves to stay safe, feed ourselves, continuing to grow and hopefully achieve contentment. Any set up which is wholly based on ‘getting away with it’ will leave some parts of humanity with little or nothing...more
