What can organizations learn from the Intersection of Business and the Performing Arts to strengthen alignment, leadership, learning, and performance?
That was the very question I set out to explore when I worked with The Alliance Theatre and The Jewish Theatre of the South. I found out the answer is, plenty.
It makes sense the world of theatre offers organizations insights and lessons on the relationship between people, passion, and performance. After all, most everyone has attended theatre - listening attentively, moving to music, smiling and eager to recognize the talent at the final curtain. Theatre engages people!
A theatre ensemble is a dynamic integration of performers in a production, tapping the inherent energy and skills of members and demanding each individual is aware of how his or her work aligns with fellow actors. An ensemble, like an organization is a system, a group of interdependent elements forming a complex whole, a condition of harmonious, orderly interaction. Performance is the culmination of their shared efforts. Whenever companies integrate the outcomes of work across many disparate business functions, they, too, perform theatre, creating a rhythm and choreographing roles front and back stage. Any lack of alignment anywhere in the system diminishes the output: product, service, shareholder value and/or credibility of the enterprise. (read a NY Times interview with Clarence Otis Jr, CEO of Darden, to learn why he credits his work with theatre as the most important source of learning about leadership and teams http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/business/07corner.html?em )
My work with theatre revealed the emergent and provocative intersection of Business and the Arts, and led me to want to know more, to want to know how I could make what I learned useful and accessible for my clients and students. That journey led to the discovery and potential of Aesthetic Intelligence (AeI©) and the possibilities it holds for individuals, leaders, and organizations.
I would like to share my learnings with you and explore: What kind of theatre/culture are you creating? And what
kind do you want/need to create?- Do you, and/or your employees have a passion to perform?
- Are you, and/or your leaders prepared to conduct your organization?
- Are you, and/or your employees and clients getting rave reviews?
Let’s talk.