Developing Improvisation Skills: The Influence of Individual Orientations

Abstract

The growing relevance of improvisation for successful organizing calls for a better understanding of how individuals develop improvisation skills. While research has investigated the role of training and simulations, little is known about how individuals develop improvisation skills when formal training is not an option and how individual-level factors shape development trajectories. We explore these issues in a longitudinal qualitative analysis of live action role-playing. Our findings reveal a three-stage process of improvisation development shaped by the presence of task and social structures, which act as both constraints and resources. Moreover, our findings illuminate how collaborative and competitive orientations shape whether improvisers perceive these structures as a resource that they need to nurture and renew (i.e., collaborative) or to seize and exploit (i.e., competitive). We also show that individual orientations are not always enduring but can change over time, engendering four types of improvisation development trajectories. Our work provides a longitudinal account of how individual orientations shape the process of improvisation development. In so doing, we also explain why individuals who are skilled improvisers do not necessarily improvise effectively as a collective, and we reconcile different conceptualizations of improvisation.

Design thinking as sensemaking: Developing a pragmatist theory of practice to (re)introduce sensibility

“…So, what does sensibility mean for design thinkers? Critically, this perspective recognizes that imagination and improvisation is not something that is extraordinary but rather is central to most people's everyday work as they make sense of new or unexpected situations (Cunha & Clegg, 2018; Mannucci et al, 2021; Weick, 1998). Similarly, the principle of design that focuses on quality of experience apply to all of those served by the organization (Buchanan, 2015).…”

“…This too requires a disposition which values the principle of quality of experience, nurturing skills for experimenting with and reflecting on qualities. Given the importance of collaboration and social interactions in design thinking, strong social ties and trust in co‐workers is particularly important for providing psychological safety in improvisation (Mannucci et al, 2021). This trust is built through sustained practice over time and is supported by flexible structures which allow design thinkers to engage in collective sensemaking, reflection on experience, and development of a shared vernacular to express the quality of their experience in their particular context.…”

Translating Member Ability Into Group Brainstorming Performance: The Role of Collective Intelligence

“…This suggests that an intervention administered in this early period could be impactful and yield better performance compared to the stagnation and lost time that might otherwise occur. Furthermore, it also suggests hybrid brainstorming structures are likely to be useful even in groups working for a very short period of time, which is a more common context than in past decades as the speed of organizational life has accelerated over time (González & Mark, 2005;Mannucci et al, 2020;Moorman & Miner, 1998).…”

“…Sometimes these groups come face-to-face and synchronously to work together over an extended period of time, while other times they might work remotely, asynchronously, with the aid of electronic tools, and/or over short periods of time or "bursts" (Maaravi et al, 2021;Majchrzak et al, 2021;Riedl & Woolley, 2017). Indeed, as the speed of organizational life increases (Mannucci et al, 2020;Moorman & Miner, 1998), many groups' work has adapted to include shorter collaborative sessions (González & Mark, 2005;Pluut et al, 2014) and greater incorporation of electronic tools enabling and managing it (Maaravi et al, 2021). Whatever the setting, to generate creative responses to novel problems, groups aim to capitalize on their available creative talent to produce creative output (Osborn, 1953;Stachowski et al, 2009;Sutton & Hargadon, 1996;Zhou & Hoever, 2014).…”

Improvisação organizacional: desafios e perspectivas para o ensino-aprendizagem em administração

“…Os resultados dessa pesquisa estimulam novos estudos em IO para enfocar, teórica e empiricamente, o ensino, já que as pesquisas existentes tratam somente da aprendizagem (Barrett, 1998;Falkheimer & Sandberg, 2018;Miner et al, 2001). Assim, pesquisas futuras poderão aprofundar o entendimento sobre como organizações dinâmicas requerem pessoas que desenvolvem suas habilidades de improvisação (Mannucci, Orazi & Valck, 2020;Tabesh & Vera, 2020). É necessário repensar, de forma teórica e robusta, a IO como um fenômeno de ensino-aprendizagem, levando em conta que o teatro e a música são campos artísticos fecundos para orientar pesquisas futuras sobre ensino-aprendizagem da IO em administração.…”