The art of adaptation

What if we tell you jazz and teamwork have more similarities than you might think? It is indeed hard to believe, isn’t it? Thus, in this blog, we will give you 9 tips from this music style to learn how to lead and work in a team. 1. Weaknesses Vs Strengths
2. Be different
3. Improvise
4. Take advantage of your team strengths.
5. Give everyone their time to shine.
6. Listen
7. Keep calm
8. Be in the moment
9. Last but not least… HAVE FUN! Keep yourself active and be ambitious, be aware of new trends and fix your goals with high expectations. If your ambition is high, your goals will be too. To achieve it, never stop moving.

Jazz music is full of genius as Duke Ellington or Ella Fitzgerald but… Do you think they had succeeded if they would have listened to people who didn’t trust them? Probably not, so don’t create your own limits. Once you know your strengths and your weaknesses, change your mind. Instead of focusing on improving your weaknesses, find someone in your team who can complement the weaknesses and develop your strengths, this is the key. Jazz is much more than a music style, it is the very cradler of many trends. Imagine it as an old tree planted 100 years ago with a huge trunk and many branches. The same trunk holds every branch despite all of them have different characteristics. This may happen in your company, let the company be the trunk of all the branches.Bloom, be unique in your sector and demonstrate to your clients the reasons why they may choose you.

This is the jazz essence, invent, improvise and improve along the way. Rules are boring if there is a challenge don’t doubt and face it. Expect what is unexpected and address every new idea and change. But there’s a catch. As any jazz “soloist” will tell you, improvisation isn’t just about sitting down and playing anything that comes to you. Every great musician has spent hours rehearsing and crafting their solos. Before improvising, you may really know the technique to be mentally prepared and help your band.

The same in your company, to introduce some flexibility and spontaneity, you may have planned the strategy in advance. Get ready and discover your habilities and field to reduce contingencies. Remember, never forget your core values, in jazz, even the most unpredictable solo always returns home.

Keep in mind, a great soloist knows the technique as well that he can adapt it to every circumstance. The best jazz bands became famous for highlighting the strengths of their members, and not run ahead of their colleagues. To make it clear, they were the first Marvel’s Avengers, each member had a different superpower and complemented the others.

It is said that Miles Davis felt awkwardness and squeakiness when he heard John Coltrane for the first time, but he also heard his strength, a unique and risk-taking voice. He decided to build on this strength and they created the best seller album of the jazz’s history.
If any of your team members have an unexpected strength, take advantage of it. If your new colleague is a great photographer, renovate your website images. If one of your designers has a great sense of humor, write new articles. Take advantage of every opportunity. If you have ever listened to a jazz concert, you will notice how every musician gets a solo, anyone gets the spotlight. In the solo, each one has the opportunity to express his feelings and show his talent and art while supporting his teammates.
This is a great lesson to apply in teamwork.

Each member has his own story to tell and deserves to shine with his teammates’ support.

If we implement this working methodology in the ideate process, it is important to know who is the best at each creative level to know how to organize and make the most of each person. Listen to the rest of your team when they have something to say. It is said that jazz musicians have “big ears” because of their ability to listen to every member of the band. This act of deep listening helps them connect to the most complex, obscure ideas in the music, which informs about their own playing.

Empathy is the key to do it. Listen to your mates will strength the team and create new concepts or ideas. Empathize puts yourself in other person position and create projects with a common goal. Yes, you need to move fast, be lean and adaptable but first of all, be smart and conscious of your acts.
Take a step backward, and pay attention to the overall feel of the soul of things. Discover your environment will give you unexpected results.

Jazz music is known not just for the rhythms and speed but also for the mood and emotions it creates. Taking a break will establish core values, the mission, and vision, thus strengthening work and improving results. Yet be patient, this results can take time, as it is said a happy outcome is worth waiting for and every effort has its rewards. “Jazz is about being in the moment – Herbie Hancock, enjoy it but get ready for what is coming too.”

Writing a song either building a company, there are many facts which take time. If you only look at what’s next, you will despair because if you are too ambitious you will feel you are never good enough. Pause occasionally and look around to give yourself credit for what you have built and how far you have come. As you do with music, enjoy working and share with your team all of your succeeds. After all, a company is like a big family, we spend our day a day together. It doesn’t matter how difficult or disappointing can it be, pleasure and entertainment are part of the great big journey.
Do not think about your job as an obligation, change it into your hobby and your team into your support.