Let’s see a bit of jazz in action:
I’ve said in my own work that jazz as a business model is mainly for those enterprises that want to innovate continuously and it can therefore be wasteful for companies that are operating in a more steady state way. Richard Branson also says that many business cannot do complex things, which brings me back to 4/4 and rock music of course ! What do you say to this?
Using jazz as a business model is more about how organisations can respond effectively to change, about having the best organisational structures for today’s environment. Business needs structure, but the structures must be at the service of what’s going on within the business, rather than being the master and they must be adaptable enough to respond to change. The jazz-leader establishes clearly defined boundaries, roles and responsibilities, plus the overall vision, which everyone then works within as individuals, speaking with their own voice. This fully engages everyone, as not only are they being heard and shaping the outcome, but they have to listen keenly to others in order to respond – that’s improvisation. They’re not following a pre-written score, or playing pre-rehearsed licks. It’s uncomfortable, certainly…as is the seismic change we’re going through. But it’s also exhilarating, and it’s possible when the structures are supportive.
You discuss 5 barriers in the book. What are they and why are they important?
My work at Barrier Breakers is all about soft skills development, and soft skills are innate human competencies. We all have soft skills like creativity, communication, leadership, self-motivation, and teamworking to some degree already. Unlike hard skills, which have to be learnt, or input, the soft skills have to be accessed. If we’re not using them it’s because there are barriers in the way. Sometimes the barriers are ones we’ve set up ourselves; sometimes they’re ones we encounter. So to develop soft skills you need to identify where the barriers are, and then remove them. The five Barrier Profiles are the “lenses” we use at Barrier Breakers to do this, which is the mechanism that underpins all our training and consultancy work with individuals and organisations.