Being the Future: creativefacilitating.com Blog

Without the Audience there is No Music

June 14th, 2010

I had the pleasure of listening to some great Latin jazz on Saturday afternoon: Claudio Roditi and his ensemble and Eddie Palmieri and his band. Both groups swept the audience up with them, we were resonating to the rhythms of the music. Claudio Roditi, in acknowledging the contributions of the several individuals from DC Jazz Festival, also made another acknowledgment of interest. He said “Thank you to our audience. Without you there is no music.”

I have observed earlier that the individual voices of an organization come together to create a music that is unique to that organization. Tuning in to the nuances of the voices and getting new ideas from surprising notes and rhythms help an organization create a really vibrant and constantly emerging music. With the maestro’s comment, I now reflect on the role of our stakeholders and customers in the music that we make.

People involved in the performing arts frequently talk about the signals they received from a particular audience and the effect that had on them. Are we in other walks of life so attuned to the signals we receive from the people we would serve. A healthy relationship between organization and customers is a reciprocal one. The business has something to offer and it provides information to customers about what is possible in relationship with them. The purpose of the business is embedded in what it offers its customers and other stakeholders. The customers or potential customers signal the business with information about what they value. All parties derive something of value from the others and when the organization is listening it can respond and keep the relationship valuable.

This same notion exists in literary criticism, from which came the phrase “the second poet”. The first poet is the one who writes the poem; the second poet is the one who reads and makes meaning of the poem. How are the “second poets” who view our organization understanding its purpose and value?

Sometimes we are the audience and sometimes we are musicians. In both roles our voices are important. And in both roles our ears are important. How skilled are we in listening to our fellow musicians, and in listening to our audience?

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