The controlled chaos of the social web sounds a lot like jazz. That means it's time to reinvent the standards.

The jazz musician's ability to improvise, take risks, adapt to change and forge new ground are the exact skills we all need to develop in our current economy of bureaucratic sameness.

Earlier this year, prankster group Improv Everywhere staged an event called "Frozen Grand Central," in which the participants synchronized their watches, and at a prearranged moment they all froze in place in the middle of Grand Central's Main Concourse, mystifying observers. Exactly five minutes later, everyone resumed normal motion. In an April 30 sweeps-week episode, the television show Law & Order: SVU made Robin Williams the leader of a similar public action group, and restaged the event for use in their own murder story. Read More »