This I Believe

A friend asked me this week to write a This I Believe piece.  Seems like fair game for the ol' blog, so here goes...

I believe in improvisation.  Not aimlessness, mind you.  But, a loose hand on the reins and a willingness to create something special from the ingredients life brings into view.  I believe fresh basil that comes up in my backyard is a wonderful opportunity to make pizza for dinner.

When I was younger, there were many plans.  Plans of extraordinary detail and complexity.  When I get to thus-and-such point, I am going to do this-and-that.  The way I’ll deal with something-or-another is A, then B, then C.

I can’t remember the last project that went according to plan, and I’ve never seen a business plan become reality.  Don’t get me wrong: I still create plans.  But, not because I think that writing something down means that’s what’s going to happen.  I create plans because it shows me what to monitor and what levers are likely to be available for improvising. 

But, writing it down does not make it so.

I wanted to go to Wall Street after graduate school, because that’s where all the money was.  But instead I took a job at an airline, because that was the only offer I got.  Improvising, I jumped at every training and development opportunity.  I learned about technology and operations and marketing and corporate finance and a bunch of other things that ultimately prepared me to be a successful entrepreneur.  Not according to plan, I’ve created a great life.

I think there’s something divine about the unexpected. 

A life without unexpected events would mean I was God, and I would not wish that on the world.  The unexpected, the unforeseen, the random, the WTF moments – all these things remind me that I am not God.  But, they also provide a canvas on which to paint the most creative masterpiece – the highest expression of humanity, the greatest distance from ape and nearest reach to God – and that is what happens when I adapt, bend, solve, imagine, and build something just for that wonderfully unique moment in the timeline of the universe.  That is far, far grander a moment than some paint-by-numbers execution of a pre-packaged plan.

Control is an illusion.  I believe in improvisation.

Comments

[Chris Thomas]

I found out about control being an illusion when Rick, my pastor, died. Since then, it is so much easier to roll with the punches since I realize that the punches come no matter what. They are not a direct result of my inadequateness or non-piety. (Clearly I am both.)

Thanks for the thoughtful analysis of your view on this subject.

[Scott Bideau]

Love the post Scott, especially the reality of "business plans." I've yet to see an ROI model pan out exactly as planed either, yet that doesn't mean the project or technology wasn't a huge success.