Are You a Performer or Are You A Band

Run-DMC first said a deejay could be a band.?Stand on its feet, get you out your seat. - Bring The Noise, Public Enemy

I had a conversation with someone recently who had very much many ideas (even more ideas). You know the type? I know, because I used to be this same person. They come into any conversation with scores of ideas that sound great and they are, if you stay in that person’s chair.

This took me years to learn. Frankly, I only learned it over the last few years. It’s a bit like being a musician (I play several instruments poorly). You can be a good performer and know your instrument inside and out, and you might be able to create very unique melodies. But that doesn’t mean you can see or handle or manage many of the other facets of the business.

In the title of this letter to you, I was thinking about the song lyric I quoted. “Run DMC first said a deejay could be a band.” The idea is that Jam Master Jay (may he rest in power) could put together an entire song with his turntables and sampling and mixing equipment. He didn’t have to be great at the drums, or know how to lay down a great saxophone line. He created songs from a pastiche of sources, edited and altered the material, and created something new and something “more” from several original sources.

Work is About Band Thinking

I’m friendly with Twisted Sister founder Jay Jay French. I asked him one time about what it’s like managing a crazy rock band. He said that it’s very much a matter of doing what’s right for the band, steering everyone to understand why they have to do what they have to do, reminding them of what’s important, and working within a budget.

Think about that. Even one of the wildest, party-loving bands who wore dresses and make up and sang songs like “We’re Not Gonna Take It” had someone looking at all the angles of what it took to build a band, to manage tours, to handle budgets, to deliver their products on time.

You might be a great drummer or an incredible singer, but if you’re not looking at the whole band, all the angles, the details that mattered, you’re risking running everything into the ground.

Change Levels of Detail Often

Knowing your part at work is great, but the next step to getting ahead as a potential leader or someone more important to the team is to see from the seat above yours. What does your boss need and why? What does the company have to do and why? What are the priorities, if you look outside the walls at the current environment of business? And what can you or your team or a combination of people inside or outside of the company do to help you move towards success?

This lesson was tricky to me. I had lots of “great ideas” that just weren’t great ideas. They were interesting to me, and interesting in that abstract way of “Wouldn’t this be a cool idea to create in our industry?” While the answer might have been “yes,” it wasn’t what the company needed. We had to learn how to systematize our work. We had to reduce operational errors. You know, boring things. The kind that make you money by reducing work penalties and fines.

Look at the entire band, not just your instrument. Look at the business, not just the music. And learn beyond your direct role wherever you can. It’ll help.

Chris…