The classic Miles Davis recording, Kind Of Blue, was produced without any prior rehearsal – and pretty much done in one take.
Talk about a creative provocation! Your work is being recorded for posterity, and you’ve NO idea where you’re going before you start.
So how did Miles make this creative provocation work so brilliantly? And what can a business leader learn from it…and become a jazz-leader?
What’s the secret to a successful creative provocation? How can it not only stimulate innovation in your organisation, but also have the potential to be one of the most evocative and imaginative explorations ever recorded?
5 key steps:
- Create a stable environment
- Provide a clear framework
- Choose skilled, diverse ‘players’ who you trust and respect
- Give the players complete freedom and responsibility for their performance
- Let go of the outcome
Miles would put these elements together
because he would trust the spirit,
the honesty of each of the musicians
trying to figure out a way to make it work.
Herbie Hancock
Jazz-leaders get out of the way
If they’ve done their job well, the jazz-leader doesn’t need to judge, feedback, or incentivise.
They can just watch, as the players devote themselves to achieving peak performance.
The jazz-leader chooses the right players and provides them with the perfect environment to do their best work – and then gets out of the way.
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