Jazz and Leadership

I've been to two great concerts at the The Basement in Sydney in the last month. I've seen the Australian Jazz star James Morrison play with his quartet, and last Saturday night I went to a special Frank Sinatra show where we had a Big Band and four singers all belting out some great tunes. And it got me to thinking about how jazz music relates to leadership.

I've always been a big jazz fan, and I find that I am thinking more about the broader concepts of leadership as my life progresses. Now linking leadership and jazz is not new. Indeed, about 15 years ago or so I bought and read Max Depree's Leadership Jazz

But as I was sitting and listening to James Morrison, foot tapping away, one of the connections that fired for me, was how conceptually we often talk about the need for some things to be loose, and others tight.

For example, when we set ourselves or our organisation different goals to achieve, we will have some goals - generally the simple and short term ones - that can be very accurately defined, measured and targeted. But we will probably also have some goals that seem to defy a definition in the same way. At best we might be able to describe how they will look or feel when we get there. But they are kind of fuzzy.

These two categories of goals are good examples of some things that are tight and loose. They aren't good or bad because, in truth, we need both. But what is important for our loose goals is that we have some sense of where we are heading in all this fuzziness - and an organisation's vision or its culture may provide the necessary tightness that allows the looseness!

Let's have a think about how jazz music might shed some light on this.

Perhaps the strongest differentiator of jazz music from other musical forms is its improvisation component. When I was sitting back listening to the James Morrison quartet rip, swing and bop their way through their two sets, often the highlights were the solos performed by Morrison on the trumpet, trombone or piano; by his brother on the drums; by the bassist or the guitarist.

The point is that they didn't just make it up as they went along. Each performer's improvisation had to fit the structure of the tune in which it appeared. It had to be in the right key, the right tempo and, perhaps most importantly, it had to add that special something that had never been done before.

In that sense, the improvisation in jazz music is the loose part. But the loose part can't survive without the tight bit - the rest of the tune of which it is a component.

Jazz musicians get it. They know that they can't all improvise at the same time - that would be chaos, and it would sound like crap. While there may be a band leader, in a very real and practical sense, they all take it in turns to lead when they improvise. And while one member of the jazz team is center stage, the rest of the team are in the background providing the harmony and the rhythm.

If we think about it, it's not a bad way for all of our teams to work and to be led. At different times it will make sense for different people to take the lead. Sometimes - and more and more frequently - someone will have to improvise. But being able to do something that is totally new and improvisational is often best supported with the tightness provided by the rest of the team sticking to the tune.

Does your work team have jazz?

Picasso, practice and leadership

I've just returned from a fabulous holiday to ... guess where?

Apart from the obvious enjoyment that one gets from holidaying in exotic locations - quaffing croissants, fine French wine and massacring local languages - one of the real pleasures of holidays for me is the chance to put my mind in a more neutral mode and to discover new things.

There are many things to discover in France, and I was able to do more than my fair share. But one particular discovery still sticks in my mind. It was the visit my wife and I enjoyed to the Musee Picasso in Paris.

I would be the first to admit that I am not much of an art buff, but when you do visit Paris, it's hard not to be taken in by the Louvre, the Pompidou centre etc. But the Picasso museum, for me, meant a whole lot more.

There's been lots written and said about Pablo Picasso, but most of us probably just know scraps about his most famous works like Guernica, or his relationships with the many women in his life.

But what was most interesting to me, was seeing his many, many sketchbooks that were on display at the Musee. Throughout these sketch books, and also on many pieces of scrap paper and cardboard, are literally thousands of his practice drawings and studies. As you move from room to room in the Musee, you can sense how Picasso developed his interests, his focus and his skills. He could paint and draw in a natural way, but clearly that was not enough for him - he was attracted to some different artistic challenge. So over his 91 years, Picasso continued to develop his skills and his interests. (Want to see more?)

So how does the art of Pablo Picasso relate to leadership?

To me, the key link is how even the naturally gifted work on their skills to get even better. No one would dispute that Picasso was a naturally talented painter, sketch artist and sculptor. But his natural talent was not enough. He continued to work on his skills throughout his life. He experimented with different media, styles, models and approaches. And by doing this, he transformed the style of painting and sculpting that was popular at the time.

How often do we sit down and fill a sketch book with our ideas?

How often do we look at a situation, and then "paint" it dozens of different ways?

How often do we try a new style, a new medium or a new model?

The big question is, what can Pablo Picasso teach us about how to approach our leadership art?