IMPROVISE TOO SUCCEED

The world is becoming an ever more complicated place to work, to live, even to play in, at least for people of a certain age......not me of course. It is said that in 2020, just about every company of size is a technology company. Whether we need a ride, an MRI or a pizza, the orders are executed through technology. Life is moving ever faster, as technology is in every facet of life. At work, we are probably all hooked up to technology of one kind or another. Imagine a video conference call without technology? It just cannot happen. Algorithms are driving so much of the technology we use and see today. There seems to be a specific form and structure for everything, certainly in our work life. Is this such a good thing? Is it the only way to live, the only way to succeed?

My work career began in the 1970's. For the first half of my life, I was a purchaser, a buyer responsible for several stores and millions of dollars a year in sales. In the age before computers and spreadsheets, buyers needed to do their homework, At the same time, through experience, practice, mistakes, and repetition, many buyers became excellent in their work. We developed a feel, an internal knowledge of the right decisions much of the time. In 70's and 80's, we had to know our craft, because there were no crutches to use in order to make the best decisions. We had to study, to practice, and to know. As buyers we improvised using all of our internal gifts and an acquired feel in order to pull the right levers. We knew through practice and execution. We did not own miles of spreadsheets.

Today I am fearful that improvisation is not being developed, is not being used at work. Worse, I believe it is being frowned upon by organizations everywhere, to the point where the only guide, the only crutch is a spreadsheet, a laptop, or an app. Now I am not knocking technology here. What I am saying is that I would want to also have a team of smart employees around me who have exercised and practiced their feel for the work, the feel for their job. There are many ways to succeed in the world today. I suggest we add improvisation to the list of skills we want our people to have in order for the team and the organization to reach unimaginable levels of success. We need people to have a feel for their work, for when they do, we also know they will have a deepseeded joy for that work too. People need to feel the work in their gut in order to be a true part of the organization, a true part of the team.