Lessons About Business - From Music?? It’s Not What You Think!
The metaphor is obvious…
Everyone in a business needs to be on the same page, accurately following the same musical score, under the baton of a strong, focused leader (mission/vision + strategy + leadership).
Teams need to play together, listening to each other, harmonizing (teamwork + communication + synchronization).
People in a company of any size can also learn the art of creativity and innovation by opening up like a jazz musician i.e. letting the feeling flow, catching the spirit of play, finding the swing in work.
Clearly there is a lot to bring to the world of business from the world of music (and vice versa by the way). However, it also turns out that most of what really applies is the exact opposite of the conventional wisdom.
Leadership – dictatorial versus democratic?
Anyone with a basic knowledge of music performance would think that jazz combos are free and spontaneous, whereas symphony orchestras are dominated by autocratic conductors. Do those images correspond to reality?
Well, unless you’ve been inside a jazz combo or an orchestra you just can’t know how they really work.
For example, there is actually a very strong leader in the jazz group. For all the talk of openness and spontaneity, a jazz group can’t adopt the attitude of “we’re all equals here.” That’s because there is a need for vision and concept - and (in this scenario) only one person can effectively establish and define the musical vision.
Once you have this vision, your job as leader is to bring out the best in the people who are working with you.
Yes, I do want my keyboard player to have as much input as possible – but only as long as it doesn’t bump into the overall vision I have for the performance. I need to communicate to her what my vision is, so the stuff she contributes fits it perfectly.
Just how collaborative are jazz combos really?
Well, this really does depend on the leader, but in many groups the leader’s judgment is ultimate. They will talk with their musicians about how they see the song. Each song is like a little impromptu play. Usually it’s about 30 seconds of information – perhaps a chord sequence, a tempo, a mood, and a concept. They will then take that and spin it into a story for the next 8 or so minutes.
Within the context of that vision, individual players start to contribute their ideas. Everybody makes suggestions, they are discussed, and eventually the combo works it out. If there is a standoff, the leader makes the decision and everyone goes along with it. And occasionally the leader will have to say, “What you’re doing there doesn’t really work. Could you try something else?”
One of the greatest jazz leaders of all time was Miles Davis. Yet he had a reputation for being demanding, intimidating and eccentric. So why did the best jazz musicians (many of them stars themselves) love to play for him?
It was because he was the most creative and daring musician of them all. They wanted to play with Miles because they knew that he could get them to go places musically that they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to go. He was strong enough to encourage them to do their best individual work and to meld them into a cohesive group.
Are you seeing the business connection yet?
Just like the conductor of any symphony orchestra?
The general image is that the conductor is like a CEO who defines a vision and then makes sure everybody executes it appropriately.
But there is a “dark side” of orchestras that most people don’t know about - a strange battle of wills between musicians in the orchestra and the conductor.
It is very common for the members of the orchestra to constantly harass and challenge the conductor, doing anything they can (sometimes very childish things) to try to mess the conductor up.
Whether you call this politics or gamesmanship, it seems like the musicians, having been disempowered because the conductor literally has all the control, then act defiantly, forcing the conductor to make them toe the line. The musicians can then abdicate themselves of any responsibility.
You will hear things like “I just play (type/make/sell/etc.) whatever they give me” and “Every time I make a suggestion, nobody cares anyway, so why should I care?”
Finale : Simply put, the primary role of the conductor, the jazz ensemble leader or the CEO, is to take responsibility for implementing the strategic direction of the organisation. The key method to achieve this is generally by working with their team members to develop and oversee the culture, values, motivation and subsequently, the performances.
Whichever leadership approach is used - be it autocratic, benevolent dictatorship, or purely democratic – it is the buy-in of the team members to the vision and values that will ensure a sparkling performance.
