Desenrascanço (loosely translatable as "disentanglement") is a Portuguese word used, in common language, to express an ability to solve a problem without having the knowledge or the adequate tools to do so, by use of imaginative resources or by applying knowledge to new situations. Achieved when resulting in a hypothetical good-enough solution. When that good solution doesn't occur we got a failure (enrascanço - entanglement). It is taught, more or less, informally in some Portuguese institutions, such as universities, navy or army. Portuguese people, strongly believe it to be one of the their most valued virtues and a living part of their culture. Desenrascanço, in fact, is the opposite of planning, but managing for the problem not becoming completely out of control and without solution.

However, some critics disagree with the association of the concept of desenrascanço with the mainstream Portuguese culture. They argue that desenrascanço is just a minor feature of some portuguese subcultures confined to some non-representative groups at the end of the 20th century. Critics point out that in the last 30 years the education and culture of the portuguese people improved considerably and that the importance of desenrascanço is declining. Sometimes, the concept is related by some to the discoveries period or to student activities in the 15th century. But sceptics doubt there is any substantial prove of that relation. Critics also argue that there are other sub-cultures in other countries with equivalent concepts and that desenrascanço is not an exclusive of the Portuguese culture.

Universities

Desenrascanço has a role in the academic juvenile sub-culture in some educational institutions. In some universities and politechnical institutes, the older students known as doutores (Eng. doctors) teach Desenrascanço to freshmen (Port. Caloiros) in a ritual, well known as Freshman Reception in Portugal. It is alleged that this skill is taught (informally) in the Portuguese universities since the 14th or 15th century. The freshmen are ordered to do the most impossible things. They must comply or they will be punished. To solve the problems (desenrascar-se) they must be really inventive and/or have a very convincing reason when they cannot do it. Normally, if they cannot or if they are not smart enough, punishment is done. The punishment is supposedly done under the Praxis rules (Port. Código de Praxe) and aleggedly no harm can be done to the student. But they can get dirty, do a lot of exercise, and do embarrassing things in public or end up doing nothing and standing still for an hour. Purists claim that this rituals are a deturpation of Praxis tradition. Freshmen perform this ritual because they want to be part of academic groups to have fun in the continuous parties these groups organize and to generally have lots of helping friends. In the rituals, the doutores are dressed in black (in 19th century traditional clothes) and freshmen dressed in white (normally a shirt and blue jeans nowadays).

Normal academic activities are also seen as a way to teach desenrascanço. For example, when the teacher does not disclose any suggestions to solve a problem, and the student must search himself.

Siemens, a well known German company, has development and engineering offices in Portugal due to this Portuguese characteristic, employing hundreds of Portuguese staff. They say "when a german gives up when encountering a difficulty, a Portuguese will work until it is solved." They also argue that is "due to the quality of Portuguese state-run universities and institutes".

Desenrascanço in the Discoveries Era

In the 16th and 17th centuries, it was very common for other exploring nations to bring a Portuguese national along during the voyages, for two reasons, 1) the Portuguese were skilled by previous knowledge and 2) and, alegedly, for handling emergencies well (what is also known among the Portuguese as "desenrascanço"). Of course, serious historians would disagree with the association between a 20th century idea and 17th century events.

Some groups from Portugal believe that they still have this characteristic, that, theoricaly speaking, make them the best people to handle emergencies, and the worst for situations where planning is needed. There's no impartial verification of those claims...