The Music of Teamwork

There are many examples of teamwork in the world – examples that can inspire us.

This past December, the Tokyo Philharmonic and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestras performed a special joint concert of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, to celebrate historical friendship ties between Japan and South Korea. It also got us thinking about how orchestras work and what we can learn from them.

The symphony orchestra is functionally and hierarchically organized, although there is more local decision-making and responsibility resting on each individual than meets the casual eye.

Performing music, such as a symphony, is an exposed kind of service delivery. Everyone – from the individual instrumentalist to the first chairs (the middle managers) to the conductor (the manager) meets the patron (customer), who scrutinizes and evaluates their actions and performance.

The conductor of an orchestra is the leader of the team and yet that individual never makes a sound. The role of the conductor is to make other people powerful. The conductor’s job, like that of any leader, is to awaken possibility in the rest of the team.

The teamwork of music stands as an inspiration to us in the business world. Every business will face challenges. This year, you may be looking at shrinking margins, new competition, disruptors that will enter your marketplace and upend your plans. As you face them, to do your best work, you will face them as a team.

We often talk about the need for individuals to work together as a team, but that’s true for business divisions as well. When I look ahead and see how diverse the Rakuten ecosystem has become, I look for ways for all Rakuten businesses to be organized as a team – or an orchestra. If you can provide the services as a package – as a collection of notes and melodies – it creates a powerful impression. My strategy, particularly in Japan, is to compete as a team instead of trying to compete one by one.

The most important thing about playing together in an orchestra though, is the fact that both conductor and musician are reaching landmarks in the music score together at the same time.  It is the music of teamwork. It is a lesson to us all. 

Read more at Rakuten Today.

Read my book on revitalizing Japan in the global economy, The Power to Compete. (Find it on Kobo, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Google Play).