Improvisation is being appreciated by the management literature because of its key role in a variety of contingencies in the current turbulent times. Improvisation can be described as a form of extemporaneous, situated action. To date the study of both phenomena has been mainly cognitive. This exposes them to the critique according to which they would not add value to the symbolic knowledge and representation paradigms developed in Artificial Intelligence and knowledge management systems. The paper suggests a different point of departure: improvisation should be regarded as a mood, and not a mindset. We can learn about improvisation by contrasting it with other moods such as panic and boredom. The new perspective indicates that the cognitive approaches are limited since they disregard the 'situation of the actor". Moods capture the situatedness of the actor as opposed to the situation of the action only. Also, a phenomenological analysis unveils the fundamental relationships between moods, existence and time, which can lead to a new explanation of the "extemporaneous' character of improvisation.