We're all just making it up as we go along

Harold Jarche posted School, Work & Improv, in which he mentions how his son is excited about an improvisation class.

Harold notes how the non-core school subjects end up being the most important in the long run. He lightly ponders a world where the education system consists of the electives and non-core topics. I will not opine on the education system, but I think most of the disciplines encountered in modern enterprises are sorely compromised by their failure to acknowledge the value of improvisation.

Any discipline not actively embracing the value of improvisation is, in my opinion, on the road to decay. We are deceived, whether by ourselves or by others, if we believe that all things can be planned or written down. Not all problems are solvable. Sometimes we need to fudge it. Sometimes we need to fake it. As long as we acknowledge it, it all has a tendency to work out in the end.

I've always been intrigued with the skills acquires from an intentional study of improvisation. I count what I learned in music improvisation as some of my most valued treasure.