Music and Organisations

What can organisations learn from Music?

In the music world, whether Classical, Pop, Jazz or Folk, the live performance has to be ready for the audience at the planned date and time.

The venue may be booked months or even years in advance (the 2007 Glastonbury Festival is being planned now), musicians are be booked long ahead of schedule and the program is agreed and printed. In a large concert or festival hundreds of people may be involved: the set designer, the costume designer, set builders, prop makers, etc. The manager or promoter will be responsible for all the performers, stage crew, sound, lighting, and special effects, the stage crew, the sound and lighting team and the special effects team. Then there are the front of house staff, the publicity department and the PR agents doing all they can to secure success. In a large open air festival portaloos, catering and security are also required. And then there are outside broadcast stations, posters, programmes, t-shirts, internet connections, food stalls and more to be organised and scheduled.

For the manager, headlining act, music director, promoter, financial director and the investors there is a huge amount at stake. The success of the event can make and break careers. Investors must gamble huge sums of money - a fortune may be made or lost.

Every member of this team is united in a common goal - the success of the performance. The cancelling of one show could have huge financial implications.

When did you last hear of a concert being cancelled or postponed because it wasn't ready on time?

But when did you last hear of a major project completing on time and budget?

The Standish Group (2003) reported that about 70% of IT projects are late, incomplete or over budget. Source: Government IT Projects Also see Why Government IT Projects go wrong

How does the music world deal with these huge levels of stress without people dropping to their knees with exhaustion or having heart attacks. Successful musicians don't put their own health or emotions before the greater good of the show.

How many people are off sick at any given time in the average organisation?

How many people in your organisation are suffering from stress and nervous tension?

The Health & Safety Executive says that over 105 million days are lost to stress each year. Source: The Stress Management Society

Live performance releases huge levels of energy and adrenaline in musicians and for many it is a daily fact of their lives. The adrenaline rush before performance is exciting and enjoyable - when it's no longer there it's time to retire!

How is this all achieved?

Musicians learn how deal with stress and to use it to enhance their performances. They learn how to go beyond stage fright, fear of forgetting lyrics or melodies and learn how to live totally in the moment so that they can respond to their fellow musicians. They must have the courage to take risks, adaptable, flexible and responsive.

How adaptable are organisations to change, how prepared are managers to take risks, to innovate and to act on their intuition and gut feelings?

Well established organisations have an inbuilt resistance to change, as their existing practices and culture have become embedded. Mistrust between management and the workforce, perhaps through a history of downsizing or poor industrial relations, also make it difficult to introduce change. Source: High performance working, March 2004

How responsive are organisations to the needs of their customers?

"It'll be all right on the night" is a theatrical saying, often used in the music world and often untrue. Microphones might not work, strings may break, singers may have a bad throat or fellow musicians get delayed. The musicians must then improvise their way through the situation, often in such an accomplished way that the audience are completely unaware of the problem.

How often do things go wrong in organisations?

How often do staff prove inflexible and unable to adapt to a new situations, allowing whole departments to grind to a halt because of one small error?

The role of the music director or manager is key in all this. His job is to inspire and release unlimited creativity in the musicians to create a product of unparalleled artistic excellence. His task is often to create something new, bring a new slant to an old piece of music or to bring out the talent of as yet untried and unknown musician. Even up to the dress rehearsal there may be no knowing if the concept will work or not and if the talents of everyone involved are going to gel. The director must hold the vision for the concert, shape its end, and yet allow the creative and technical talents of the musicians to flow.

How many managers succeed in directing without controlling, inspiring without coercing, getting results without damaging relationships?

In putting on a concert, everyone works as a team. The event succeeds and fails on the strength of this. Often there is huge diversity or abilities, views, age, race and temperament. This diversity is the ingredient that makes a performance dynamic and exciting.

In this age of technology you can listen to your favorite style of music from the comfort of your armchair - listening to your favorite recording where you know exactly how the piece will be performed. But millions of people all over the world still choose to visit live music events in pubs, concert halls, festivals... The thrill of live performance is key to the enjoyment of music.

How much diversity is seen as a benefit in the average organisation?

How often do interdepartmental barriers lead to complete breakdown within an organisation?

How many people leave their true selves at the door of the building they work in, saving their passion for their personal life?

How many people have lost all connection with their passions and emotions by being 'rational, sensible and businesslike'?

How much creativity and new solutions are lost to organisations?

Working with musicians can change an organisation's way of looking at the world. Working with musicians releases huge amounts of energy in individuals and teams. It develops flexibility and creative skills people never knew they had, encourages risk taking and enables them to connect with their intuition and gut feeling. It improves presentation skills, helps manage stress and encourages effective communication.