Research has identified improvisation as a creative and open activity that can be harnessed to encourage innovation and learning within the organization. In this paper, we present improvisation as a covert phenomenon, occurring in a climate of mistrust and fear of censure, and disconnected with wider organizational learning. Drawing on qualitative evidence of a UK Fire Service, we explore hidden improvisation, and identify the conditions and processes that can connect these local deviations to wider processes of learning. We show that whilst most improvisations remain hidden and contained to avoid wider scrutiny, certain conditions of frequency, connectedness, and scale escalate events to become more visible to supervisors and managers. The learning outcomes from these visible improvisations will then depend on management’s interpretation, evaluation, and translation of improvising behaviours. Dependent on prior relationships of trust and credibility, middle management perform a key brokering role in this process, connecting previously hidden improvisation to wider organizational systems and structures.

研究表明，即兴创作是一种创造性和开放的活动，可以用来鼓励组织内的创新和学习。在本文中，我们将即兴表演描述为一种隐蔽现象，发生在不信任和害怕谴责的气氛中，与更广泛的组织学习脱节。借鉴英国消防局的定性证据，我们探索隐藏的即兴创作，并确定可以将这些本地偏差与更广泛的学习过程联系起来的条件和过程。我们表明，虽然大多数即兴表演仍然隐藏和控制以避免更广泛的审查，但某些频率、关联性和规模的条件会使事件升级，使主管和经理更容易看到。这些可见的即兴表演的学习成果将取决于管理层的解释，即兴行为的评估和翻译。依赖于先前的信任和信誉关系，中层管理人员在此过程中发挥关键的中介作用，将先前隐藏的即兴创作与更广泛的组织系统和结构联系起来。