Photo by Tammy Cadence Tso

The current issue of The Economist features a short piece in its Business & Finance section entitled, “The Pivotal Moment:  Bet on a boss who can twirl on his toes.”

In it, venture capitalist Alan Patricof of Greycroft Partners is quoted indirectly as saying he is looking to invest in “young firms whose bosses know how to pivot: ie, dump their old business model and adopt a new one. Difficult times demand flexibility.”

There is a science to pivoting, a science that generates predictably positive outcomes from unforeseen circumstances. That science, despite the article’s continuing use of the metaphor, is not Dance.   It is Improvisation, which has as compelling a body of work supporting it as any business ethos that’s relevant to the networked era of business.

This ethos is both pedagogically sound and creatively liberating.  Works by visionaries like Viola Spolin and Keith Johnstone, and many yes-anders like myself, have, together, laid a solid foundation for ‘applied improvisation.’   With approx 1,600 members worldwide, the Applied Improvisation Network is a loose affiliation of improvisers, many of whom understand how to apply improvisation techniques to business.  Improvisation, in addition to being a key attribute of a successful start-up, plays a huge role in social social media strategies like ‘fanthropology,’ as well as in agile development processes, biomimicry, transmedia, and branded entertainment.

The ability to improvise IS the ability to pivot when the time is right in order to consistently grow through change. In this science of ours, preparation is emphasized over planning, thematic consistency over replication, flow over stock, and trajectory over position. Improvisation is, we believe, a vital skill for organizations and individuals doing business in a networked world—and who isn’t?