UNSUNG HEROES
participative learning practice; the consequence of research by education specialists such as Howard Gardner and David Golb, leavened with a legacy of hands-on learning processes. How- ever, whilst as artists we may feel comfortable in this arena, in the time- bound results-driven culture of the business world, with its own traditions and language, it is a much more distant proposition. It is essential therefore to develop a common sense of articula- tion between practitioner and client, and is why, after leaving the ROH, I diverted my attention towards a course in culture change in organisations at Ashridge Business School. I also acquired the mentorship of two corporate heavyweights; both board- level corporate communications executives with a passion for the arts. Their pragmatic advice was essential for creating a grounded methodology that could be accepted within a business context. I participated recently in a
conference in the heart of the Ruhr Valley that marked the culmination of a three-year research project, exploring the connections between organ- isational theory, avant-garde jazz and architectural patterning. In addition to some of the top jazz musicians in Germany it involved a number of high-profile organisational theorists, government representatives and business people. The project is to be extended.
One of our first clients at Sound
Strategies was the InterContinental Hotel Group. They were in mid-throes of a global re-branding exercise and felt that sound and music had a place in their positioning materials. Their initial and somewhat simplistic concept of changing the background music in their restaurants and bars to satisfy customers was redirected and expanded into a two-year commitment, which found us working on their overall strategy, advising on the acoustic design of properties, creating training tools for dissemination globally and even advising on their staff engagement programmes. The ignition point for all of this, surprising as it may seem, was a day of music workshops in Abbey Road Studios for their global brand team. These hands-on workshops are
crucial because they act as a lens on the brand, surfacing insights that their more conventional branding exercises fail to identify. The methodology we use is a blend of some of the latest psychological and neuro-scientific re- search into music, combined with the
skills we have derived from our education work across a wide diversity of communities. I find the cultural contrasts particularly interesting when working with different organisations. Bankers have quite a different take on things from brand managers. In some ways it is not that dissimilar from my freelancing days when I was fortunate to work with all the London-based orchestras. Keeping a full diary meant adapting not only to the different stylistic nuances but also the social behaviours away from the platform. Mix this with a multi-national context and the challenges become even more intriguing. I have been fortunate to work in Japan for some time and the differences are more deeply rooted, and more in philosophy than social interaction. This is played out particularly in how the Japanese approach music and art. There is a commonly held assumption that people throughout the world tend to listen to Western-style music using the same sort of sensibilities. My experiences in Japan suggest that this may not be the case. The cultural heritage is Confucian and form, proportion and beauty are the main determinants of artistic endeavour. In the West we have more of a Socratic legacy. We tend to say, 'here is a proposition now let’s argue it through.' So there is an interesting contrast in paradigms, between one that is predominantly aesthetic and one that is dis-cursive, but with no difference in validity. By way of example, on a number
of occasions I have delivered a project based on the Rite of Spring. The translation of the title, 'Haru no Saiten', literally means 'spring festi-val', and the perception in Japan is that this is
Left: Michael Spencer works extensively in Japan
Above: Michael leads at a LacLeman conference
a piece of music which has more to do with daffodils than sacrificial virgins! I was invited to help devise a cross-cultural training programme for the accountancy firm of Ernst & Young recently. Shortly, I will be introducing the Rite of Spring along with John Cage’s Music Circus into a training programme with the engineers at Fuji Electric Company (Tokyo). The aim for this will be to add impetus to their plans for broadening their reservoir of intellectual resources when dealing with innovation, and the Rite has been asked for specifically as a means of strengthening their internal corporate persona. In September I spoke about music and sustainability at the World Wildlife Fund's first global TEDx conference from Geneva. Sound Strategies is currently working on a pro-ject with the British Society for Immunology, looking at cross-disciplinary ways in which to raise the profile of this fascinating and crucial area of medical science. So, as you can see, quite a long
way away from the nine-year-old at his first violin lesson. But what a fortunate position to be in! If I had but one observation to make about music, it would be to comment on the way in which it seems to be a passport to a much wider range of opportunities, if one remains open. But one should also be well prepared to take advantage of them when they appear. Bill Clinton once said: 'If I had not been a musician first and learnt from its disciplines, it is my belief that I would never have be- come President.’ Not a bad result for a saxophone player!
More information from
www.sound-strategies.co.uk
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