Are You Getting Rave Reviews?
Organization Development Journal, Fall 2005
On July 25, 1975, A Chorus Line opened on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre. It closed there on April 28, 1990, after 6,137 performances. For some time, it held the record as the longest-running musical in history. A Chorus Line would revolutionize the way audiences view musical theatre. It broke away from the rigid storyline of traditional musicals, instead weaving together the stories of the ensemble cast into a seamless whole. A Chorus Line was the perfect combination of artistic achievement and popular appeal. People in and out of the theatre found their own stories on that stage - -joys, disappointments, fears, memories and hopes. It created a consistent "singular sensation" every day, every night for fifteen years.
Surely … there must be something we in the world of business can learn from that huge success.
A Chorus Line is not a unique experience. Most everyone has attended theatre, on or off Broadway, professional or community. We have sat in the audience listening attentively, tapping to the music, smiling, and eager to recognize the talent at the final curtain. Perhaps one or two hours have passed by but time does not weigh heavily as we sit engaged with the action before us. The energy is audible, contagious and lingers. Theatre engages people!
Theatre rewarded with rave reviews and delivering dazzling performances offers organizations vital lessons on how to create business success. The elements that come together to capture the hearts and minds of audiences for years are the same elements that must come together to result in businesses that are built to last. If we allow ourselves to study Business as Performance Art ™ we open a new door to learn and grow, a new lens from which to create a high-performance organization.
Others have touched on the connection between theatre and business. We were introduced to the idea that "Work Is Theatre and Every Business Is a Stage" in the groundbreaking text, The Experience Economy by Pine and Gilmore (1999). The authors inspired us with insights and strategies on how to create a rich, compelling experience for our customers. Artful Making by Rob Austin and Lee Devin highlighted what managers need to know about artists' work to be successful. The Ariel Group is composed of business consultants, all of whom were in the theatre. They offer techniques to integrate acting skills such as improvisation to enhance interpersonal communication. Constance Goodwin focuses on Leadership as Performing Art emphasizing the art of being present.
However, none of the above takes a systemic point of view. Business as Performance Art ™ illuminates theatre as a model for business and leadership development, discovering strategies to achieve precious alignment, the key to organizational high performance. Business as Performance Art ™ reminds us that without a perfectly oiled machine, a completely aligned and integrated system, our output will always be compromised. Unfortunately, creating this vital and powerful synergy seems to be illusive for most companies.
Misalignments break engagement!
We become disoriented when actors' facial grimaces do not resonate with their spoken words or the music starts a bit early or ends a bit late. I know that if during a production, live or film, I keep seeing the actor rather than the role, there is a disconnect. Kevin Spacey is one of my favorite performers. However, when he chose to cast himself as Bobby Darin, it just was not possible for me to see him as a lanky teenager and young adult.
As employees, we become angry and frustrated when we are told to do one thing and our performance is measured on other criteria. And how meaningless does the corporate platitude "Employees Are Our Most Important Asset" become, as our health benefit costs continue to escalate while our senior leadership team's compensation grows exponentially?
Improving organization effectiveness and health is an ongoing quest and necessity for leaders and employees. Changing landscapes impacted by technology, demographics, competition, economics, global expansion, and more force organizations to plan and predict for change in an attempt to minimize disruption and optimize outcomes. It is too easy to get stuck in traditional ways of thinking that limit our ability to respond creatively for our clients and customers. Leaders must foster discovery, the process of seeing things that others do not, and nurture innovation by arming their companies with the talent to resolve problems by taking new approaches.
System Alignment Is the Non- Negotiable Success Ingredient
Let's preview some of the parallels between theatre and business organizations. We begin with inputs. Both entities ask:
What purpose do we serve? What is our history? How will our current culture help or hinder our performance? Who is our competition? What will be our competitive edge? What is the economic climate? What is the current pulse of our target market? What resources are required to build our entity?
The answers to these questions inform strategy, or the drama. Each will be expressed by developing a vision, mission, plans, and competitive imperatives that will serve as their respective roadmaps to success. Form follows function. Strategy defines the work/tasks to be done, as does the drama. These in turn dictate who (people/talent) will be needed to accomplish the work: the staff, the cast. Both entities seek to place very person in his or her "sweet spot"- - the right person, doing the right work, which the person is both good at and enjoys.
Formal processes define the most efficient and effective ways to do the work and organize people. An organization design allows us visually to see a company's decisions on specialization, departmentalization, chain of command, span of control, centralization/ decentralization as well as the formal arrangement of jobs.
The script serves this function in theatre, providing the basic code of events for the cast and technicians. "Walk the talk" is a timeless cliché and in three simple words boldly warns us about the consequences of misalignment between the formal and informal processes.
Formal processes dictate how an organization tackles communication, recruitment, selection, promotion, succession planning, training, technology, measurement, etc. The informal processes reveal how things are really done. Gaps between rhetoric and behavior, the explicit and implicit, hinder anyone's best-laid plans, resulting in politicking, prima donnas, low morale, and poor performance.
Leadership plays a key role in business and theatre. A leader who enlists the collective wisdom and combined energy of the individuals in an organization will outperform one who relies strictly on his or her own powers. A leader who facilitates harmony among members of an organization will see unprecedented levels of productivity. In an organization, the question of leadership is answered with a CEO and Senior Management Team. A producer and director originate and drive the drama, script, cast, and crew. The director must enable the drama to become an operational reality, coordinating all while securing the producer's approval of decisions at key junctures. He or she schedules, conducts auditions (recruits), ensures timelines are met, guides the selection of appropriate costumes and props (support tools and methods), determines day-to-day movements, prepares rehearsals (practices, educates, coaches) and more. The director must harmonize all with a gentle balance between collaboration and command. Is this not exactly the same menu of tasks and challenges of business leadership today?
Kevin Asbjornson, founder of PianoOne posed, "What if the best artists are also leaders, and the best leaders are also artists?" He concluded that traditional models of leadership were inadequate for the multidimensional demands inherent in leading others because they failed to tap the individual's capacity for such things as self-awareness, creative expression, and empathy. As a composer, musician, and entrepreneur, Asbjornson knew these to be fundamental competencies of the practicing artist and critical to leadership effectiveness.
Great leaders understand the value and power of effective performance. It communicates authenticity, sparks excitement, and moves people. Passionate leaders know who they are and what they want. They exude an energy that creates followers. Leaders with Heart strive to see the world through others' eyes, acknowledge and address legitimate concerns, empower, educate, and raise the self-esteem of those around them. Determined leaders stay the course, with courage and integrity. The new leadership credential will be a PhD only earned in the field: Passion, Heart, and Determination.
Finally, both theatre and organizations must measure success and inform improvements. Reviews, box office sales parallel any organization's quest for customer feedback and shareholder confidence. Each entity strives to enhance its outputs. Business as Performance Art ™ provides a vehicle to finding one's authenticity, strengthening personal presence and power to connect and motivate. This newfound leadership will set the stage for enhancing organizational performance-infusing energy, providing edge, executing and energizing.
Members of an ensemble in front and behind the scenes join cohesively to produce a performance that is consistent and memorable, that engages the audience every time. Each and every action contributes to the total experience. Theatre masters the essential synergy between the parts, roles, and tasks. Whenever companies integrate the outcomes of work across many disparate business performances, they, too, perform theatre. Unfortunately, most organizations continue to struggle to create the analogous seamless overlap between functions and roles, consequently falling short compared with the results of a successful ensemble. Any lack of alignment, anywhere in the system, diminishes the output: the product, service, shareholder value, and credibility of the enterprise.
Arthur Shaw, senior vice president of electronic brokerage at Charles Schwab, told Business Week in a 1998 interview "The challenge is to make the branch and the Web a seamless experience". Charles Schwab paved the way and retains the lead as a financial institution and broker. Judith Rodin, seventh President of University of Pennsylvania, proclaimed in her inaugural address in 1994, "We will design a new Penn undergraduate experience. It will involve not only curriculum, but new types of housing, student services, and mentoring, to create a seamless experience between the classroom and the residence, from the playing field to the laboratory."
I love the theatre. I fancy my alter ego on stage. But I am also a pragmatic businessperson. After decades of working with organizations, there is no doubt in my mind about the multitude of lessons we can learn from theatre to align our organizations and optimize our performance.
Irving Berlin said, "The toughest thing about success is that you have got to keep on being a success."
Are you creating dazzling performances? Are you getting rave reviews?
The curtain is rising. The stage is yours if you choose.