Symphony Orchestras & Culture

If Pete Laburn has ever cornered you into a coffee shop, he has no doubt told you about Orchestras & Jazz Bands. It is a metaphorical analogy that compares companies (and how they have adapted to our age of discontinuous change) to the difference between orchestras and jazz bands. But let me not steal Pete's thunder. For now, my point is that there is a definitive way in which musical organisations mirror and relfect what happens in companies. The modus operandi is different, but the structural, systemic processes are similar. In doing some reading on organisational culture I stumbled upon the Symphony Orchestra Institute. The SOI was founded by Paul R. Judy who "was motivated by a lifelong passion for classical music and a keen interest in how organizations functioned, coupled with a serious concern about the longer term effectiveness and sustainability of the existing American symphony organization model." The SOI is a great example of an organisation that understands the dynamics of culture and how they play out in organisations. I recommend reading their series on Organisational Culture.

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