Once ‘too wacky’ for business, jazz improvisation has new parallels in the corporate world, says Tina Bexson.

Think of jazz. Think rhythm, communication, interpretation and improvisation. Then think of the relationships and dynamics of your workplace. Notice any comparisons? You should. According to forward-thinking management gurus, the jazz metaphor is now especially relevant to what people want, need, and increasingly do at work. As the American leadership consultant said, “Running an organisation is like leading a jazz ensemble: it’s all improvisation.” In the past it had been described as being “akin to conducting a symphony orchestra.”

Over here, Dominic Alldis, a London jazz pianist and composer, is giving presentations to companies and business schools using music as a metaphor for a range of organisational issues such as teamwork, leadership and, most of all, creativity. Many of his eclectic mix of clients, including Barclays Bank, Diageo, Mars, New Look, the Work Foundation (formerly the Industrial Society) and LVMH, are now using the information as part of their training packages. “When I approached them three years ago, I wouldn’t even get a letter back.” says Alldis. “It was seen as too wacky for them, but now there is a lot of interest.”

“Music is a universal language for communicating ideas and emotions, and musical concerns such as technique, listening and preparation all provide a stimulating insight into familiar management concerns.”

In the leadership presentation, Alldis contrasts the role of the conductor of an orchestra with how leadership functions in jazz. He reveals how the orchestral metaphor is old and hierarchical and how the jazz metaphor of leadership is more rotational and empowering where people build on each other’s ideas. “Metaphorically you can say everybody wants to be a jazz musician. Everybody wants that kind of freedom and creative input.

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If you are managing people you can help them create their own melodies and develop their own ideas so they can be blended with the group. In addition to releasing their individuality and creativity rather than follow scores that have been predetermined. It’s also very important to establish a kind of rhythm or groove, to lock in to some kind of pulse, which is something everybody hopes to feel when they are working in a team.”

It is during the “interactive workshop” that you can actually experience these concepts in practice. You are put into small groups and given percussion instruments, such as bells, xylophones and chimes, to prepare pices of music within a fixed period of time. Alldis hopes each group will succeed in creating an imaginative piece that will be performed and appraised by the others.

“All the ideas are coming in spontaneously,” he explains. “It’s incredibly powerful for people because it’s in a language other than speech where one can express one idea at a time. It opens up their emotional side and they get away from the rational way of perceiving everything. It’s a rich space.”

David Linthwaite, a director of sales at the BBC, thought so too. On the back of a departmental reorganisation, he arranged for his team to have a two-hour session with Alldis, which included the creation of a “musical experience.”

“Dominic connected music creation with business challenges and it helped re-enforce important messages about teamwork and leadership. The musical performances were remarkably good, given the short time and lack of talent, it has given us a motive to talk further about how we work together, and most of all it provided a common language regardless of ability or experience, prompting us to think about listening more. It gave me great confidence in our business challenges going forward.”

Tina Bexson
Business Correspondent
June 2002