Leadership lessons from…band practice?

Posted on 19. Dec, 2011 by Mike Brenner in Uncategorized

As many of you know, I have been a professional musician (on and off) since I was a teenager. Although the saxophone is my primary instrument, I can get around on a few others including clarinet and flute. I currently play in a Philadelphia-based funk band called The 9′s. I want to share with you an interesting insight I had the other night at rehearsal.

We came prepared that evening with several funk-flavored 70′s and 80′s TV show theme songs. Our initial thought was to weave them into a fun nostalgic medley. However, as we practiced the familiar theme from the hit show “Night Court,” our bass player had an idea. Instead of including the song in a medley, why not drop it in the middle of “The Chicken” (a song by former James Brown saxophonist Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis that we’d learned over the summer)?

At first, I wasn’t sure I liked the idea. Why take a perfectly good song and mess it up? But the other guys thought it was worth exploring so I went along. After a few attempts that didn’t quite work, we found a way to incorporate the “Night Court” theme song into “The Chicken” in a way that was clever, surprising, and totally unexpected. It was a small triumph, to be sure, but one that struck me as having implications for organizational leaders.

Strategizing and planning are, of course, critical to any organization. But despite our best efforts, planning for the unknown is hard. That’s where improvisation comes in. As leaders, sometimes we have to ask “What if…” and open ourselves to new possibilities. In other words, just as improvising musicians are musical “voyagers” (to paraphrase jazz vibraphonist Gary Burton), so must leaders learn to accept that life has no script. In other words, plan thoughtfully…but allow enough freedom and flexibility to explore and experiment. Effective leaders are able to walk this line with courage and optimism.

Perhaps film director Guy Ritchie said it best: “I like to think that we’ve got a plan, so let’s stick to it. That said, once we’ve stuck to it, we’re allowed as much improvisation as anyone cares to indulge themselves in.” You know, sort of like what we did with “The Chicken.”

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