The Art of Figuring It Out on the Fly

I came across a Portuguese word that made me stop and think: desenrascanço. It means finding your way out of a tough spot without the tools or plan you wish you had. In simple terms, it means “figuring it out on the fly.” What makes it special is that in Portugal, it isn’t seen as sloppy. It’s seen as a skill, almost a kind of superpower. For centuries, people there have learned to deal with limits and still find creative ways forward.

Portugal’s Gift of Improvisation

Portugal is a small country that once sent ships across oceans with only rough maps and courage. Sailors had to improvise every day. Over time, this way of thinking became part of daily life. Even today, you see it everywhere, from families fixing cars with whatever tools they can find, to students patching up projects with recycled materials, to small businesses staying afloat by inventing low cost solutions. There is even a popular saying, desenrascar-se, meaning to untangle yourself from trouble, that people use in everyday conversation. It shows how normal and valued the act of improvising has become. Desenrascanço isn’t just a historic trait; it’s alive in the rhythm of modern Portuguese life. It is not only survival but also a quiet pride in making do beautifully when resources are scarce.

India’s Spirit of Jugaad

In India, there is a similar word: jugaad. It means finding a quick, frugal fix when resources are low. Jugaad is loved and mocked at the same time. On one hand it shows clever frugality, on the other hand it can be unsafe or too short term. That tension is part of its character.

The spirit of jugaad is best seen in stories. A farmer in Punjab once powered a small irrigation pump with spare scooter parts, villagers still talk about it. In many cities, people rewire broken electronics with parts pulled from old machines. Early Flipkart employees delivered books by hand on scooters when courier partners failed. These aren’t polished solutions, but they kept things moving when it mattered.

Jugaad and desenrascanço both show how quick thinking and resourcefulness can solve problems. In India, jugaad is a point of pride for many because it proves that when money is tight, creativity stretches further than budgets.

And if you look around, you will find every culture has its own version. In English, people say “winging it,” though usually with a negative tone. In Japan, there is gaman, enduring hardship with patience. In Brazil, there is jeitinho, finding a clever shortcut around rules. Different names, same truth: being resourceful under pressure is valuable everywhere.

Startups and the Art of Scrappiness

Running a startup often feels like building a plane while flying it. Resources are low, timelines are short, and plans fall apart. The founders who last are not always the ones with perfect plans but the ones who can adapt. They can pull off a demo hours before a big meeting or launch a product before the market disappears.

Think about it:

• You don’t know the answer, but you still put together a working version.
• You’re stuck with limits, but you find a clever way around them.
• You can’t see the future, but you keep moving in the present.

Some famous companies started this way. Slack began as a side tool when its team was trying to make a game. Twitter grew out of a podcast project that didn’t work out. Improvisation turned dead ends into lasting ideas. And if this spirit of scrappiness shapes companies, it also shapes how we can think about life more broadly, which leads naturally into the philosophy of desenrascanço.

Living the Philosophy

You don’t really practice desenrascanço like you would a skill with drills. You live it. Every time you choose to move forward without waiting for perfect conditions, you are inside its philosophy. Cooking with whatever is left in the kitchen, patching something with whatever is at hand, shipping a product that isn’t flawless but works, these aren’t tricks, they are reminders that action itself is the teacher.

To embrace desenrascanço is to accept that life rarely gives you all the tools. The gaps are not mistakes; they are invitations. Limits can spark imagination. Constraints can open paths you didn’t expect. What matters is not the polished plan but the willingness to step into uncertainty with confidence that you will find a way.

Lessons from History

The real point is this: nobody ever has all the tools or time they want. Waiting for the “perfect moment” is just another way to delay. The people who adapt, who move forward even when things aren’t ready, are the ones who shape the future.

History proves it in surprising ways. Isaac Newton pieced together ideas about gravity from simple things others ignored, like an apple falling. Superglue was discovered by accident when a chemist testing materials for gun sights noticed an adhesive that stuck to everything. Picasso used scraps and limited tools to flip the art world on its head. None of them had the perfect setup, it felt more like stumbling onto hidden paths. They acted anyway, and the discoveries changed the world.

So the next time you’re stuck, don’t wait for every piece to fall into place. Start with what you have. Trust yourself to untangle it as you go. That’s desenrascanço. It’s scrappy, it’s imperfect, and it’s one of the most real ways to get things done.